Bearded Iris

My mom came to visit this weekend and brought a little gift from her yard. She has the most beautiful bearded iris... I remember loving them when I was little because they have little fuzzy beards that looked like colorful caterpillars. And when you examine the petals up close they have a opalescent sheen that sparkles in the sunlight.

Who would think that iris grow from this funny looking thing? It's called a rhizome, and for this little lesson I broke out my plant propagation book from school- 880 pages of mind numbing instructions on how to grow plants! So here is a basic description of what we're working with:

"A rhizome is a specialized stem structure in which the main axis of the plant grow horizontally, or just below the ground surface. The lateral stem is composed of nodes and internodes. Adventitious roots and lateral growing points develop in the vicinity of the node. Upright-growing, above-ground shoots and flowering stems (culms) are produced terminally. The rhizome is thick, fleshy, and shortened in relation to length. It appears as a many-branched clump made up of short, individual section. It is determinate; that is, each clump terminates in a flowering stalk, growth continuing only from lateral branches. Rhizomes grow by elongation of the growing points produced at the end of terminal and lateral branches. Length also increases by growth in the intercalary meristems in the lower part of the internodes."

Get all that? Told you it was mind-numbing! Basically, rhizomes are underground stems, and the off-shoots can be broken apart and re-planted. This is known as division. Let's move on to the practical part of our tutorial.

Step 1. Chose the location. Iris prefer a sunny, well-drained position in the landscape. They need at least a half day of sunlight.

Step 2. Prepare the soil. Soil should be cultivated 12 to 18 inches deep and amended with organic matter. The bed I chose was covered with that nasty weed barrier stuff, so I had to rip it all out and start from scratch. I turned the soil and added the last of my potting soil/organic matter and turned it in the best I could. Every little bit helps!


Step 3. Lay out plant material. The rhizomes should be spaced 12 to 18 inches apart.


Step 4. Plant! Dig a hole about 6 inches deep and wide enough to fit the roots of the rhizome. Build a small mound of soil in the middle, set the rhizome on top and spread the roots down around it. This assures that the roots are deep enough, while keeping the rhizome itself in reach of the sun's rays. They should not be planted too deep! The growing point (where the green begins) should be at surface level when planted. Firm the soil around the roots and water in.


Step 5. Long for beautiful blooms next June!

(Photo courtesy of plantanswers.com)

That's all for today's gardening adventure. It might be the last for this year... but I will try to keep things interesting with indoor projects! Oh, and I thought you might like to see my side-kicks! (pj's and all)