Renee, that's a very nice article with beautiful photos of a beautiful garden. Thanks for sharing it.

Lovely. What is means, I guess, is that every so often you have to dig up the mass, pull out the original rhizomes -- which get very corky and unproductive in a couple of years -- then put the mass back where it was. You can't just leave the mass planting, or else it will die out from the center, right?
Or is this another myth I inherited from my mother?

Kay

Every garden should have an area dedicated to a mass planting of a favorite plant. It will look spectacular for a few weeks, long enough for the memory to keep it alive until next year! An individual bloom may be perfect enough to win a contest, but I will take a mass planting of glorious color anytime. Al

Kay, your mother was right. All of those irises must be dug up and divided about every three or four years. The old rhizomes are tossed in the compost and extra rhizomes go to friends and to the iris society sales. If you plant the rhizomes about a foot apart, you get more time before dividing again, but the first year is a bit sparse. Thankfully, irises are planted pretty much at the surface of the soil, so it's not as bad as it sounds.

I'm with you, Al. I need more room!
Renee

Thanks, Renee, good to know that at least some gardening knowledge we learned from our ancestors is valid. (Actually, there's a pretty funny new thread in there, waiting to get out.) And yes, Al, you're absolutely correct. We all need more space. Now is the time for action. Cheat that edging a wee bit further into the "lawn." So far, I think I'm about 14 inches or so to the good, and DH seems none the wiser.

K

yes, it's so sad, I don't have room for a mass planting of anything.