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celestron2000_gw

Irises? Can I plant these?

Celestron2000
11 years ago

So this is a little embarrassing, but I gotta ask...

Last fall one of my neighbors was dividing their irises and left bunches of them out on their sidewalk for anyone to take. I loaded up my wheelbarrow, it was already evening, I told myself I'd put them in the next day.

I didn't.

Instead the Irises sat in my wheelbarrow in the garage all winter.

Any chance they would still grow?

Comments (7)

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    11 years ago

    Hi Celestron,

    No way to know without seeing them in person, but if they're not completely desiccated, I'd plant them and wait to see what happens! Nothing lost but the planting time if they don't make it. You might even want to stick them in a bucket of water--or fill the wheelbarrow up with water if there are a lot of them--for a couple hours first to rehydrate them some before putting them in the ground. And be sure you plant them with the tops of the rhizomes slightly exposed if you do plant them--if they're planted too deeply they won't bloom. If they do make it I wouldn't expect to see flowers this year, but by next year they should recover enough to bloom--IF they're not too desiccated to survive.

    Welcome to RMG,
    Skybird

  • tomatoz1
    11 years ago

    If your irises don't make it, just let us know if you'd like some later this summer. I'm sure many of us will be dividing iris and we'd be MORE than happy to share. There are times when we can't get rid of them!!

  • Celestron2000
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the quick reply guys, I'll definately try soaking them and plant one or 2 to see what heppens.

    TomatoZ, thanks for the offer. ( :

  • aloha2009
    11 years ago

    Last summer I picked up a few iris that my DD had discarded to the side as they did a MAJOR overhaul of their back yard. Knowing how easy iris are to grow, I stuck them in the ground. The foliage is looking wonderful but so far no flowers. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. If nothing this year, I will even give it till next year giving it some more recovery time.

    I know what everyone means about giving away iris. Last house I had 2 trash cans full of iris. I was able to give some of them away but sadly had to discard most. Now that there is CL though, their's always someone out there willing to take them.

  • lazy_gardens
    11 years ago

    Celestron - Go ahead and plant them all, but closer together in case of failutres.

    If they plump up at all when you soak them, they will probably survive.

  • Celestron2000
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for weighing in everyone!
    ( :

  • Celestron2000
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    So I got these out yesterday, and they actually looked kinda decent. I soaked them for about 3 hours, then put 9 of them in the ground. we'll see if they wanna grow...

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