![]() ![]() ![]() Unless there’s a drought, rainfall should be enough to keep them happy. Grow miniature varieties through a lawn, plonk water irises around a pond, or plant a row of bearded irises on the allotment to liven up the house with cut flowers. Irises do well in patio pots and windowboxes, on sunny balconies and in beds and borders. If you’re growing on poor ground or clay, dig in plenty of grit and well-rotted organic matter or plant the bulbs in raised beds. They spread over time and can be divided every few years to increase your blooms and keep the plants healthy.īearded irises love full sun, although winter-flowering varieties will cope with some shade.īulbs will be happiest in well-drained, fertile soil. Bearded irises and water irises often grow from rhizomes. Rhizomes are thicker, longer and fleshier-looking and grow just at the soil surface. These chirpy fellas are perennials and will grow back each year. They usually produce small to medium-sized blooms which are ideal for pots and spring displays. Irises can grow in a few ways: from bulbs, rhizomes or even roots. Spring and summer varieties such as Iris hollandica and Iris siberica will flower fabulously through May and June.īearded irises ( Iris germanica) and water irises ( Iris ensata) can be planted from August to October and will bloom through July and late summer. Get them under the soil as soon as you get your hands on them and they’ll show their heads in February and March, bringing early colour and heralding the return of spring. Winter-flowering irises like Iris reticulata and Iris histrioides are perfect for pots. After buying iris bulbs, check the packet to see whether your bulbs prefer to go in the ground early or late in the season. When to plant iris bulbs in the UKĪutumn is a good time to plant irises. And, being perennials, they come back year after year so you won’t need to go on an annual spree to top up your beds and containers after flowering. To top it off, iris bulbs are easy to grow, even for beginner gardeners. ![]() cute fluffy tufts on their lower petals). Choose from miniature alpine irises for pots, rockeries and borders or go for tall, bold and brightly coloured flowers with distinctive ‘beards’ (i.e. Winter, spring and summer flowering varieties make it possible to enjoy irises in your garden from February until August. Every 3-5 years, divide your Bearded Irises (see below).Is it any wonder that ‘iris’ comes from the Greek word for ‘rainbow’? These flowers have an ethereal beauty and come in hundreds of sumptuous colours, often with delicate, vein-like markings and contrasting painterly splashes.For Reblooming Iris, after the second bloom fades in fall, cut leaves 6 to 8 inches from the ground, especially if foliage disease occurs.After flowers fade, cut flower stalks back to an inch or two above the rhizome to prevent seed formation.Irises perform best with shallow (1 to 2 inches) cultivation (meaning shallow planting) and should not be mulched.Fertilizers can burn the rhizomes they should be applied around but not directly on them. If you fertilize, apply ½ cup of 5-10-10 fertilizer per Iris clump after flowering. Reblooming Iris should be fertilized in the spring as new growth begins, and after spring flowering ends. Plants that are growing well (good green foliage) may not need fertilizing.Be sure to keep your garden free of weeds and other debris to give your Iris as much sun as possible.Once established, Bearded Irises do not require regular watering. Reblooming Iris should be watered during the summer, while Spring-flowering Iris will tolerate drought.Before flowering, water plants occasionally to keep the soil moist but not soaking. ![]()
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