There is a common purple that blooms off season here also.

I would cut off dead foliage but not healthy --- it is feeding the rhizomes.

Sounds like you're hooked on iris :-)

There's a historic iris called Crimson King, a deep purple intermediate with a white beard, that blooms for me very early in spring & then again in late May or early June.

I guess it might bloom very late if it had been disturbed/transplanted & had missed or skipped its regular bloom time.

Thanks both for your replies. Yes irisgal, I'm getting completely hooked and am already eyeing my paddock for the possibility of new iris beds!!

sylvia you are spot on - my stolen irises are indeed Crimson King. I've read up on them and it seems they often bloom at strange times so the first weeks of winter may not be all that uncommon for them, especially given the season seems completely out of kilter so far. I have jonquils flowering already (Spring is supposed to start September - ie two and a half months away!), roses blooming and various other things happening that make me think somehow the garden has been forced into a false early spring.

I'll be interested to see if I get a second bloom on Crimson King..and when!

Thanks again.