Hi,

We purchased a home in eastern WA last September. Last fall, there was a bunch of large dry iris foliage in one of the planting beds. We trimmed this in a fan shape about 1 foot off the ground, and left it for the winter. The area got covered by a bunch of leaves that blew into the yard, but we only had a few days with snow on the ground (I think we're in zone 7 here.) This spring, the dried iris foliage just pulled easily out of the ground, but I didn't see any sign of the irises until a couple of days ago. The tips of the foliage are starting to pop up -- which seems odd, since I've seen irises already in bloom in my area.

I'm excited that the irises may still be alive, but am wondering if it's normal for them to show up so late -- is there a variety that tends to bloom later than the others?

thanks!

Michelle