Each morning, all during the spring and summer, I start my day with a walk around my flower beds. I just love to see what has happened from the previous day. I’ve been waiting for my bearded irises to bloom so it was a lovely surprise today. This particular variety is one of my great early spring bloomers.
Irises grow from rhizomes, not bulbs. See my article to help understand the differences between bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers.
The Bearded Irises are out in Bloom today.
Today’s delight was seeing my first irises in bloom. I moved clumps of them last spring. They were growing, and not too well, in a bed surrounding an old well casing.
I dug them up, amended the soil in several new beds that I have made over the last few years, and planted them in clumps. (Click here for an article on how to grow irises.)
In previous years, when they were growing near the well, I only got one or two stubby flowers and lots of greenery. They were scraggly, spindly and not at all pretty.
In my amended soil, the irises are thriving. The soil is wonderful with dark humus and lots and lots of earth worms. The are wonderful this year, with lots of big plump buds, and many flower stems, like those in this picture.
The colors are lovely, with a combination of pale and dark mauve with a yellow beard. In 2013, I got a lovely show of them, but nothing like the following year. Here is a close up photo:
Update for 2014. The iris show in my garden this year is amazing. I have huge clumps of these beautiful beaded irises in all of my garden beds and they are lasting and lasting. Here are some updated photos:
This is a fabulous show of the bearded irises in my front garden bed. I have three clumps of them about this size.
Close up of the iris shows the beard so clearly!
These bearded irises are in my test garden and doing beautifully!
Not bad for just replanting? I wish I had taken photos of the original irises in near the well casing, in the bad soil. They look NOTHING like these beauties.
For more gardening ideas, please visit my Facebook page, The Gardening Cook.
Irises are one of my favorite perennial bulbs. My mother has always loved them and the sight of them is very nostalgic for me.
Heather @ new house new home new life
Wednesday 7th of May 2014
I'm waiting for my transplanted irises to do the same thing. Someone told me that in order to get a bloom, the plant must have clusters of five leaves. So I've been busy counting leaves on my morning walk around my garden.
admin
Wednesday 7th of May 2014
I've never heard that Heather. Good to know. I just dug 'em up and transplanted. I figured that ANYTHING was better than where they were (in caliche soil with no water.)
Carol