Iris bulbs

[Riverrose28]

Calling all you flower garden people, I need some help. EVery three or four years I dig up my iris bulbs and separate then replant. This morning I went out and raked up the beds in preparation for Friday, as it is going to rain on Thursday so the ground will be softer for digging. Usually by this time of year the bulbs are dorment and I just dig them up, put them in a dark closet, prepare the bed and separate then replant for next spring. Well when I raked the beds this morning some of them have about four inches of green growth. Question is will it hurt them if I dig them up and then replant several days later as the beds need a lot of work, or should I wait until all the green shoots are gone. We have frost every morning, but the iris are on the South side of the house so they get a lot of sun during the day.

 

[MBennettp]

If you keep the bulbs somewhere above freezing it won't hurt them to dig them up for a few days. I wouldn't keep them out of the dirt for a long period of time but they will be fine for a few days.

I have hundreds if Iris and they are pretty hardy. It is a good thing they are because I can kill a plant fast.

I have transplanted Iris and didn't get them in the ground until like a week after digging and they were fine, I didn't lose a single one.

Mary

 

[MindyLee]

OMGOSH!!! I thought I was the only iris person here! So glad to see Im not! I too have a brown thumb and LOVE iris as they are so easy to keep. I have hundreds of colors and sizes which cover about 2-2.5 acres and I collect more each yr.

HINT HINT... I love trading!!!

For the question, they should be just fine. I do it all the time and plant right up till Christmas!

 

[Riverrose28]

thanks guys! I was going to dug them up this Fri. as the weather man said some rain tomorrow to soften the ground. Then replant them next week on Mon. or Tues. I would need to get some sticky weeds out, hate them, I've already gotten them cut down to the ground, but need to get the roots out. I'm not sure what they are, kind of look like wild grape as far as the leaves go, but the stems have stickers. They grow up in my iris beds and into my azelas. We spend our weekends trimming hooves and working either in the vegtable garden or on fire wood.The veggies are almost all gone, so we will need to bush hog soon. Seems like hubby and I spend way too much time trimming hooves, but it comes with having minis. Love my iris, would you believe the first bulbs were planted 32 years ago and I keep breaking them up and replanting, now the whole side of the house is covered with them. I'm thinking of planting some on the west side too. Thanks again!

 

[HGFarm]

One of my most FAVORITE flowers! I have some purple ones that are very old- they were dug up and transplanted from a friends mothers place when her mother passed away. They die back a lot in summer but even with our heat here, are hardy and just keep growing. Love them

 

[bevann]

Terry, iris are really hard to kill.I dug up some many years ago to separate and threw what I thought were dead over the fence into a field.they rooted and grew like crazy.Dug them up this past summer and replanted them elsewhere.I have a Black thumb and I can't kill them.the secret is to plant the buld(actually it is called a rhizome)just beneath the surface of the ground and spreat the thin roots out well down in the dirt.I bought several new varieties this year including orange and black.there is a 93 year old lady who lives about 2 miles from the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington,DE who has spent the last 50 years growing iris and daylilies(my 2 favorite flowers.)Her daughter is trying to catalog them and selling off some.She has about 10 acres of flowers and got some awards for developing a new variety.I hope to have some to sell in a few years.I love looking at them in the spring.