Gardening with Tracey Fitzgibbon
Ipromised I’d teach all I know about working an established iris bed, so here goes. First, water the bed a couple of days beforehand so the iris are stiff and plump but the soil isn’t soggy or muddy.
The tools and things I think will be needed: a pitchfork, a stiffly-tined rake, soil amendment — especially if the bed is three or more growing seasons old — granular superphosphate, powdered sulfur and a big paper bag, disposable plastic gloves, a pair of especially sharp clean scissors, a workspace that’ll be out of the sun (so you and the iris aren’t cooked), a coffee can half filled with water and some dish soap, a tarp for tidiness, and your determination!
Remember to dress appropriately, too — closetoed shoes, a hat, long sleeves, garden gloves and sunscreen. Take care of yourself.
OK, first thing you’ll do is dig up the iris bed. Start at the edge and lift what should be clumps of plants, setting the dislodged clumps on the tarp and continue until all the iris clumps are out of the bed. Move the tarp to a shaded space and work the bed.
If you’re going to, add the soil amendment and turn it under, breaking up the existing soil as you go. Now is the time to be watching for grubs. If you find any of those chalk-gray colored wormy-caterpillar creatures pitch them into the coffee can and dispose of the whole kit and caboodle later.
Once broken up, rake the area smooth and apply the superphosphate according to label application rates, then rake the area again to incorporate it into the soil.
Now the iris. Get a clump and start to wriggle it apart. The soil should fall off leaving just the plant clump. You’ll have Mother Irises and the pups they’ve grown in the past seasons. Determine a “Mother” and, holding the base of that clump, snap the pups away. This is why you watered a few days previously. You want that rhizome, the root or foot of the iris stiff so the pups snap away cleanly and easily.
The root foot looks like a knobby whitish carrot sort of looking thing with stringy hair root that has the green leaves poking up out of it. Be sure each snapped off piece is wearing some root foot. The more you look at these structures the more all of this makes sense, so don’t be shy.
OK, you’ve snapped apart all the clumps, so next it’s time to tidy the leaves. With your sharp scissors you can either blunt them straight across or cut them into the shape of an arrowhead pointed up. Take off a bit more than a third — not quite half — of the leaf length. That way the leaves should stand stiff and upright. Even the young pups need a bit of topping off, too.
As you cut the leaves, lay the tidied pieces down for a rest period. Keep them out of the sun but somewhere with good air flow. It’s best and I’ve always allowed my tidied leaves 24 hours of rest before the replant so the snaps have sealed and the cuts aren’t fresh before continuing.
Meanwhile, have you noticed that you now own lots of irises? You can work through your collection, glean the ones you will keep, and either prepare another bed or give away the extra ones you now have.
The next step is stinky. Donning your disposable gloves pour the powdered sulfur into the paper bag. Add several of the rested irises into the bag and do a “shake and bake” movement to coat the iris. Lay them out on top of your bed and plant. Bury the root-foot completely but not too deep. There is usually a wee color change from root to leaf and that’s how deep they go. I’d recommend several inches between each piece so they have room to spread, grow new pups and give you something to do again in a couple of years.
After you’ve gotten everyone replanted, give the bed a slow, soft, deep drink of water to settle the area. A good watering, weekly until the end of September, should be sufficient, then remembering to water throughout the late-fall and winter months. Reworking an established iris bed is fairly labor intensive, I know, but the rewards are many.
Need tips on growing your garden? Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send your gardenrelated questions to Digging In, Rio West, P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, NM 87103.