Iris Growing Information

Iris Growing Information

Beautiful & low maintenance!

Tall bearded irises are truly an elegant focal flower that add a touch of grandeur to the garden or bouquets with their long stems and large blooms.

There are many types of irises that come in multiple sizes with different growing needs.  Presently, our farm is focusing on tall bearded irises so I will discuss the conditions required for growing those.

Beauty & Joy

Why Irises?

  • Diverse: Bearded irises come in a variety of colours, from delicate soft tones to bold hues that command attention, allowing you to choose the colours that suite your taste and garden style.
  • Bold focal flower: Tall bearded irises are around 3 feet tall with large statuesque blooms. They are truly a majestic site in a spring garden when little else is blooming.  Their unique form also makes them stand out in any bouquet
  • Hardy: One of the most appealing traits of bearded irises is their resilience and minimal care requirements. These hardy perennials can withstand various weather conditions, and once established, they thrive with little water or extra care.
  • Low maintenance: Bearded irises do not require the work that some flowers do. No staking, no digging to store over winter, no fussy fertilizer or watering regimes, and they come back every year!
  • Enchanting Fragrance: Beyond their beauty, many bearded irises produce a light, alluring fragrance. Their sweet scents can be enjoyed as a cut flower or to enhance your garden's ambiance.
  • Great Cut Flowers: The magnificence of these flowers can be enjoyed indoors in creative floral displays, wedding work, or as a single large stem in a vase. They have long, sturdy stems with multiple buds on each allowing you to enjoy one bloom after another.
Understanding Iris Features

Parts of a Tall Bearded Iris

  • Irises have two types of petals. The standards, which are the upright petals at the top of the flower. Then there is the fall, which refers to the three lower petals.
  • The beard is a fluffy bit between the standards and falls that looks like a fuzzy caterpillar. There is usually only one, but sometimes multiple beards or none, depending on the iris variety.
  • Fans- the leaves create a fan like shape while growing
  • Rhizome- an underground stem that sends out shoots and roots (turmeric and ginger are also rhizome plants). In simplistic terms, the rhizome is a chunk of root that I dig up and mail to customers.
Site Selection

Choosing a spot for Iris plants

  • Choose a sunny or part shade spot for irises. They require at least 6 hours of sun a day
  • Choose a well draining area, you can add sand, pea gravel or organic materials if the area has too dense of soil, or plant them in raise beds.
  • Ensure humus rich soil or amend the soil if it is packed clay
  • Choose an area where the rhizomes can spread
  • Irises are drought resistant when established, so don’t choose an overly wet site for them
Successful Planting

Planting Irises

  • Plant your irises anytime after they are done flowering from midsummer to early autumn.
  • Loosen the soil in the area you are planting and dig a shallow hole of 4”, add in some bone meal if available.
  • Build a little mound in the center and place the rhizome on top of the mound, allow the roots to spread down along the sides.
  • Gently backfill, while barely covering the top of the rhizome. Most iris growers leave the top of the iris rhizome fully exposed.  I personally just cover it lightly for insulation through their first winter or protection from the hot sun in the summer. But I check my irises a lot and sometimes clear the dirt back away.  When in doubt, leave it uncovered as coverage can lead to rot.
  • Press soil down in place and water in.
  • Water periodically (every 7-10 days) while the iris is getting established and when the top inch of soil is dry. After your iris is established, they will not need much watering, except in quite dry conditions.
  • Plant large irises 12”-24” apart to accommodate multiplying and spreading.
  • I recommend mulching just before winter for the first year while they are getting established. If you are in a climate with freeze and thaw cycles, this can heave the new roots out of the ground. An airy product such as straw or evergreen boughs works well for this. I have skipped covering them for winter, but it does provide peace of mind in Laberta when we hit -40 and little snow coverage.
  • Take care not to add extra manure to the area as high nitrogen can lead to less blooms and more leaves as well as rot. Irises can handle a less nutrient dense soil.
Ongoing Care

Care and maintenance

  • Don’t mulch irises, or only lightly mulch in iris beds to ensure rhizomes stay dryer and prevent rot. However, it can be beneficial to mulch with straw before winter in areas with low snow, or high freeze thaw cycles. Remove mulch in early spring once new growth appears.
  • Remove spent flowers so the plant does not use energy producing seed pods (unless that is what you would like)
  • Let leaves continue growing all summer, unless they are rotting or diseased, then remove.
  • In the fall, you can cut back leaves to 6-8” to tidy up beds if desired, but wait until after winter when the rest of the leaves have died in order to fully clean up the plant.
  • Clean up the plants in the spring, trimming away old leaves and ensuring that the top of the rhizome can be exposed to a bit of air in wet springs.
  • Irises can be lifted and divided every 3-5 years (in summer after blooming) to prevent over crowding which can sometimes cause less blooms.
  • Irises are drought resistant once established so you don’t need to worry about watering them too much. Water once every week or two during dry spells and water while they are getting established.
  • If you are using a fertilizer, use a low nitrogen one or balanced fertilizer (6-10-10 or 10-10-10) in early spring and once again after flowering. Apply only around the area, not on top of the rhizomes to prevent burning.
  • If everything goes well for your iris you should see blooms the following season.  However, sometimes it takes an extra year for them to establish and bloom if conditions weren’t quite right.

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