A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Can I move iris??

I'm moving tomorrow and just spent 2 hrs. with the former owners on Sat. She showed me where everthing is planted, but the area that I had planned for glads and dahlias is full of iris and japanese lantern etc..
Most of the snow has melted and you can already see the "crowns" of the irises here...there...everywhere.lol
I would really like to move them, but will I kill them if I move them before they mature and blossom?How long will they bloom??

You can move them, some will probably bloom...in fact, if you divide them, carefully, you might get more blooms than if you didn't. You "can't kill" irises! plant them very shallow...

Dave's right. Irises are easy. I once had an iris rhizome in a jar of water for months and months before I planted it, and it did just fine.

When you plant them, have them all facing in the same direction, i.e. rhizomes to the back, foliage to the front, or if in a circle, rhizomes to the center. I think they say to replant them every five years anyway.

Drea, I see no problem with you moving the irises now because I just moved some of mine last week-end. In the past I've even moved them much later in the year and I've never had any problems with them. I plant the rhizomes so they are barely covered with dirt and they do fine.

patches

Iris are so great. They seem to live through anything.

Can you leave Dahlias and Glads in or do you have to dig them and store them in the winter? Is there room to put a few Galds and Dahlias around the Iris area? It takes them a long time to bloom and the Iris might be a welcome flower in early summer until your favorite flowers bloom.

I asked these questions because I made the mistake when I brought my house of moving plants and planting things before I gave it a lot of thought.

The next house I buy. I will wait a year and watch what is growing and get a good feel for everything before I plan my gardens. I have so much re-do now because I did not plan.

I hope you are not offend by the suggestion.

Iris' are difficult to kill, but you can cause them to NOT flower if you plant the rhizomes too deeply. They need to be just below the soil surface and in full sun.

one year, i moved some of my iris in late may. they did just fine. no blooms and not the amount of growth they would have had if i'd left them where they were. they came back the following year better than ever!

Yes, I do have to dig up the glads and dahlias. I'm in zone 3.
I have read about side-dressing with fertilzer, periodically, and I would like to know what it would do to other plants if they are too close..??