The Great Iris Planting

  
 
      Finally, my horde of Iris bulbs are in the ground. I dug up this very overgrown bed of Iris that the previous owner of our house let go crazy. I was able to give away about 30. But, still I counted planting 30 plus the four of a different variety my dad gave me. (Of course). Then I broke down and threw out the very smallest because who really needs more than 30 Iris bulbs in one planter?

     I am worried they stayed out of the soil for too long and won't bloom again. But, sometimes if it is not a "must do" item on the to do list it just won't happen. So I am OK with losing some of the Iris because I made other choices that I think were good choices and take care of my health.

     Other happenings in the garden included planting up other fun bulbs. My Daffodils are already in (of course they had priority). Then I was able to put in my Muscari and Anenomi. Two new plants for me which will make spring exciting! As advised by bulb experts, Brent and Becky, I put another layer of compost on top of the soil. This is the time of year to do garden maintenance if you live in California. This means there is still plenty to do to prepare for the spring and think about another vegetable garden. I think I need to start a calendar to keep track.

   

The Great Iris Divide

Last Year's Iris Bloom

     Last spring I was delighted to find that our house came with some very nice and classic looking Iris. But, there are so many of them. It looks like the previous owners never dug them up and divided them for at least 5 years. They are growing on top of each other. It really is a mess of tubers/ rhizomes.
     Since fall is the best time to dig up your bulbs and tubers I set about cleaning up the Iris bed. What I learned is that an Iris tuber does not bloom from the same place twice. It must generate a new portion for the following year's blooms. Over time the old parts can rot away or are no longer useful. For this reason it is a good to dig them up every few years to clean out the bad stuff. It also allows you to create new clumps with the good portions.
     Since this was maybe never done I had a huge task on my hands. Here's my progress so far.

 

Before Digging- Iris are the tall spiky leafed plants

Dug up Iris

Large tuber- it bloomed from the center part

Same large tuber- they look like lobsters to me.
The bottom portion is no longer useful.

  
















 
   After digging them up with a pitch fork (bought specifically for this task and turning the compost) I was ready to divide and break off the old parts. Sometimes it was really easy to tell what to break off. There were a lot of times I had no clue what I was doing though. I decided that if it looked healthy then I shouldn't chop it up.

Small good portions divided

     I separated my Iris by size. The tiny singlets are on the left. Midsize are in the middle. And the big ones are on the right. There are at least 30 big and midsize tubers. So, if you think you'd like some I am giving some away to good homes. My dad and I are already planning an exchange. :)

All the Iris after division

One particularly lobster like Iris

Should I break off the little ones?

     If you managed to read through this entire post - then you are either my parents, very curious about Iris, or wanting to see my after photo. Sorry you'll have to wait for the after photo because I don't have them in the ground. So, now I have a question about the tuber in the picture above. Should I let the little ones develop more before breaking them off? Or break them off now?