Reblooming takes a lot of energy from the plant you need a good soil lots of organic mater and need to refertalize a few weeks after the blooms stop, if you hope to get a second bloom. Here it Texas I need to water in the summer if I want to rebloom.

Some iris are prone to rebloom so try to pick up a few you might check with your area garden club most have events aimed at new people and I have seen good varieties of iris priced at $1. The sales are usually from August on till fall so look now. Also if you hang around as people want to leave they often make some great deals and you might luck out with some nice Iris for little expense. Last year we went and a lady was moving and just said call and come by and dig what she was not taking with her. We got several of the older Dykes winners that no one wanted and added some nice yellows just for digging them up.

Make your own compost, with the cows you have a ready supply of manure add grass clippings the weeds you pull, old leftovers and add a few handfuls of hardwood leaves for minerals. Layer the materials and water if needed when you plant mix the compost half and half with your soil mixing with clay may be dificult if so bags of topsoil can be found inexpensivlewy and you will not need much. Dig a nice sized hole about 12 X 12 X 12 and fill with the mix and plant the iris into this soil.

I have clay soil and I made a raised bed for my fancy iris so this is another way to improve your soil.

Bill

Reblooming takes a lot of energy from the plant you need a good soil lots of organic mater and need to refertalize a few weeks after the blooms stop, if you hope to get a second bloom. Here it Texas I need to water in the summer if I want to rebloom.

Some iris are prone to rebloom so try to pick up a few you might check with your area garden club most have events aimed at new people and I have seen good varieties of iris priced at $1. The sales are usually from August on till fall so look now. Also if you hang around as people want to leave they often make some great deals and you might luck out with some nice Iris for little expense. Last year we went and a lady was moving and just said call and come by and dig what she was not taking with her. We got several of the older Dykes winners that no one wanted and added some nice yellows just for digging them up.

Make your own compost, with the cows you have a ready supply of manure add grass clippings the weeds you pull, old leftovers and add a few handfuls of hardwood leaves for minerals. Layer the materials and water if needed when you plant mix the compost half and half with your soil mixing with clay may be dificult if so bags of topsoil can be found inexpensivlewy and you will not need much. Dig a nice sized hole about 12 X 12 X 12 and fill with the mix and plant the iris into this soil.

I have clay soil and I made a raised bed for my fancy iris so this is another way to improve your soil.

Bill

Reblooming takes a lot of energy from the plant you need a good soil lots of organic mater and need to refertalize a few weeks after the blooms stop, if you hope to get a second bloom. Here it Texas I need to water in the summer if I want to rebloom.

Some iris are prone to rebloom so try to pick up a few you might check with your area garden club most have events aimed at new people and I have seen good varieties of iris priced at $1. The sales are usually from August on till fall so look now. Also if you hang around as people want to leave they often make some great deals and you might luck out with some nice Iris for little expense. Last year we went and a lady was moving and just said call and come by and dig what she was not taking with her. We got several of the older Dykes winners that no one wanted and added some nice yellows just for digging them up.

Make your own compost, with the cows you have a ready supply of manure add grass clippings the weeds you pull, old leftovers and add a few handfuls of hardwood leaves for minerals. Layer the materials and water if needed when you plant mix the compost half and half with your soil mixing with clay may be dificult if so bags of topsoil can be found inexpensivlewy and you will not need much. Dig a nice sized hole about 12 X 12 X 12 and fill with the mix and plant the iris into this soil.

I have clay soil and I made a raised bed for my fancy iris so this is another way to improve your soil.

Bill

Hi there,
I move them all of the time by digging up a dirt ball with the roots.

In my yard, which has GREAT soil (valley bottom) the roots can go down eight inches or so. Usually, though, I find that they don't go much deeper than four to six inches.

Perhaps this is unusual, but I think you would be safe if you dug them out with a normal shovel, kept them well-watered after moving, and staked them if they started to flop.

Good luck.
Renee

I have a different experience. The tall bearded roots here go as deep as 20 inches. I certainly think you don't need to go that deep but I would try to get 10 inches.

Because I do deep soakings only, it may have forced the roots deeper. As well as being established for several years.

Thanks for the replies. So should I wait to do this until after a hard frost?

Not too sure what a Re-blooming iris is.. In time they all rebloom Eventually - Hopefully
The BEST time to divide and replant irises is in August - Sept... I'll write more on the subject of Itises later

So should I wait to do this until after a hard frost?
No, you must not wait until too late in the season to move them, in case they can't be moved with a big clump of soil with them. Irises planted too late in the season to get established and rooted in well, will heave out of the soil in our colder zones, with the numerous freezes and thaws we have.

I would just move them anytime now, and hope for the best, taking whatever soil is comfortable when moving them. I have had roots here about 12 inches long, but of course trim them back before planting them.

Welcome wuzzuplarry-2!

Not too sure what a Re-blooming iris is.. In time they all rebloom
Rebloomers rebloom more than once in a gardening year. What is a rebloomer in one garden zone/area, may not necessarily be a rebloomer in another garden zone/area.

Check out the link below for more info on them.

I am starting to collect mainly rebloomers.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: rebloomingiris.com

many gardeners think that irises have a short blooming season.. It does appear that way BUT irises bloom from early spring to late fall.. Most think of Tall bearded ( German Irises,etc.
Let me explain (Time allowing )

BEARDED irises are divided into several classification as determined by size and time of bloom -

Miniature dwarf bearded (MDB )
First to bloom - with or before tulips 4 to 10 inches tall. They provide masses of bloom in striking color

Standard Dwarf Bearded (SDB) 10 to 15 inched tall. Also come in a wide range of color..

MORE on five (5) more classes Later

Iris sold as rebloomers rarely rebloom for me. I have 'CRUDDY' soil, nearly no top soil, quite a bit of clay. I grow Iris primarily because they bloom anyway, same with the daylilies, and disability income doesn't allow for purchase of top soil. I fertilized only with Miracle Grow because my extra large yard is now a cow pasture for an orgainic farmer, so the cows get within the 20 ft. of the garden part, off and on throughout the year. (He thinks the Miracle Grow gets soaked in fast enough to not contaminate his cows milk even if he puts cows in there within 2 weeks of my using it.) My Iris, mostly historic, don't like cow and horse manure, and the weeds always settle between the rhizomes to grow, causing frequent up-taking to get them out.
My question, does anyone know of any re-bloomers that re-bloom in my zone 5, or is the desire to get more more my labor a hopeless project?

What a wonderful idea! You can see why they only let me out in the day time, right? I have maple trees in the yard and usually just burn them up, what a waste. Next year, Iris, you start getting the good life! I have a compost pile,but don't put food in it, and try to keep the iris waste out too, in case of bores. Never occured to me to only add a little top soil and stir it together. I do that for potting soil mix, etc, and never transferred to the bed. Boy! There is a good reason I've finally hooked up with you guys. THANKS!

What a wonderful idea! You can see why they only let me out in the day time, right? I have maple trees in the yard and usually just burn them up, what a waste. Next year, Iris, you start getting the good life! I have a compost pile,but don't put food in it, and try to keep the iris waste out too, in case of bores. Never occured to me to only add a little top soil and stir it together. I do that for potting soil mix, etc, and never transferred to the bed. Boy! There is a good reason I've finally hooked up with you guys. THANKS!
Diana

I have eight varieties of reblooming irises and they all rebloom for me in Oct. without any special attention. I have some old-fashioned single bloomers as well, but all new additions will be rebloomers.