Most plants reproduce and get bigger over time. Some increase very slowly, others increase faster. This post is about one of the latter.
I have several medium size irises. Like all bearded irises, they make new shoots every year, and I divide them every three years or so.
However, not so with the purple one below which is twice as prolific as all the others I have.
It was given to me by a friend, and I do not even know its name. I am hoping there is an iris expert among you who will know this cultivar. It is about a foot tall.
I used to think it was wonderful to have an iris that was so productive, but not any more.
I have long since filled up most vacant spots using it. Needless to say, none of my gardening friends wants any.
They were all given some over the years, and now they also have to dispose of their own unwanted babies.
As I said. the other medium size irises I have, like the three below, do reproduce, but just like most bearded irises. I would guess each clump increases by a third each year. I like medium size iris as they are very sturdy.
The purple ones at least double in size. For the last three years, the clump below has been lifted most years just after it had finished blooming and was replanted in the same spot. The extra plants are composted, and the next summer the clump is blooming away and just as big as the year before.
It is a real performer - too much of a performer, in fact.
I have several medium size irises. Like all bearded irises, they make new shoots every year, and I divide them every three years or so.
However, not so with the purple one below which is twice as prolific as all the others I have.
It was given to me by a friend, and I do not even know its name. I am hoping there is an iris expert among you who will know this cultivar. It is about a foot tall.
I used to think it was wonderful to have an iris that was so productive, but not any more.
I have long since filled up most vacant spots using it. Needless to say, none of my gardening friends wants any.
They were all given some over the years, and now they also have to dispose of their own unwanted babies.
As I said. the other medium size irises I have, like the three below, do reproduce, but just like most bearded irises. I would guess each clump increases by a third each year. I like medium size iris as they are very sturdy.
The purple ones at least double in size. For the last three years, the clump below has been lifted most years just after it had finished blooming and was replanted in the same spot. The extra plants are composted, and the next summer the clump is blooming away and just as big as the year before.
We have a purple bearded Iris but not quite the same colour as yours that is just the same problem. It quickly produces far too big a clump. I usually lift and divide it and take the shoots we don't want to the allotment. I'll use them as cut flowers from there.
ReplyDeleteThey are nice as cut flower even if a bit short. They only grow to about 1 foot tall.
DeleteIt is rather lovely though!
ReplyDeleteIs it quite pretty - and you quickly can get a drift of them!
DeleteGreat color and great bloomer, but I can imagine the annual replanting could get a little tiresome. I have a few prolific iris, but as long as they can handle some neglect and keep blooming I can look the other way!
ReplyDeleteI suppose the advantage of having to replant them every year is that you get an opportunity to weed the patch.
DeleteMine seem to be the every three years type, even though they're purple (with white, too). I love them, but they tend to grow in weird patterns. It actually takes them a couple of years after dividing to flower again. I'm hoping I'll have many blooms this year, since I divided them a couple of years ago. Bearded Irises are great cut flowers, aren't they?!
ReplyDeleteIt has also been my experience that most irises sulk for a while after having been divided. But not these.
DeleteI think it looks similar to one I have called Cherry Garden. It grows like a maniac and I can't use all it makes. So that sounds very similar. If you go to my blog and search under that name you should find a picture and you could compare it with yours.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I did not really think someone would know the name but from your description (grows like a maniac) and the photo on your blog, that is it.
DeleteJust think of this plant as contributing to your compost production as well as your garden blooms. I think for most gardeners it just goes against the grain to throw good plants on the compost pile, but sometimes it is the only sensible thing.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right Jason. We hate to discard healthy plants.
DeleteNice pictures Alain, I tend to stick to the Sino-Siberian and Japanese Water Iris types for my conditions although I do grow a couple of flags in an area which gets more sun. One thing I do know is that rhizomes need to be exposed and sun baked to get the best results.
ReplyDeleteThey get all the baking they need. Here it is the wet loving ones that are tricky. As we have noticed a few times before, it would appear that your garden conditions are just the opposite of mine.
DeleteSounds like you have too much of a good thing. :o) I think most irises are like that. Maybe you could arrange a community plant swap to help them find a new home. You might end up with something lovely in return.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a local plants swap where you can find treasures. The only problem is that they have it in early June - too late in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHello Alain, that rampant purple iris is pretty but I'm not a fan of the wide-leafed irises. I prefer the more graceful Iris Sibirica, which has much more slender, almost grass-like leaves. Iris Sibirica also needs dividing every few years too as the rhizome seems to migrate along the soil. I have many clumps already and the ones in pots will need splitting this year, making many more plants.
ReplyDeleteThe sibirica are nice and very hardy. I have been trying to naturalize them for a while. In a few years they should be quite nice.
DeleteI was about to suggest Iris pumila Cherry Garden but see it has already been suggested. I have to say though it doesn't increase quite so much in my garden but I suspect that's more of a climate thing than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about how fast they increase. You might not get the summer baking they like.
DeleteAlain, I can understand you, I was given a first iris too and it grew getting bigger and bigger. At once I divided roots and gave to neighbor. The rest of irises I planted to cover a spot near a well and others I planted in a tub and sunk in the pond bottom. And wow! they liked in the pond!
ReplyDeleteSeveral irises grow in bogs. You must have some of those.
DeleteSomeone once told me that if a gardener is offering to share a plant, you can bet that it can be a bit of a weed. I don't think that's to say that gardeners only share thuggish plants, but the tendency is for us to admire a plant in a garden and then be offered a little of it out of gardener generosity. If the offer comes before admiration, it's a plant which will be going for border domination, so politely refuse. It's a beauty though - there are uglier thugs.
ReplyDeleteIf a plant is being offered it is obviously doing well, but sometimes that might be an asset. I have started moving the excess of these irises along a path to a shed outside the garden proper. I reckon that in a few years I will have a long drift of them. I don't plan to weed them they will have to fight the weed but I think they will manage.
DeleteI wish you were a bit closer. I'd take some of those irises! They're quite pretty. I know what you mean though about having too much of something. I always feel a bit guilty when a surplus of some plant has no better home than the compost heap.
ReplyDelete