How to Divide Bearded Irises
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Bearded irises are lovely, drought-tolerant flowering rhizomes that need very little care. The only maintenance they need is dividing, sometimes called "lifting." Dividing makes your flowers healthier and provides you with additional rhizomes to plant or share. Appropriate for all levels of gardeners, from novice to expert, this video shows you the few tools and simple techniques you need to master this important and rewarding task.
For more information about bearded irises:
Napa Master Gardener Column
ucanr.edu/blog...
UC Master Gardeners-Diggin-in it SLO
ucanr.edu/blog...
UC Master Gardeners, Santa Clara County
Water Wise Plants
mgsantaclara.u...
ucanr.edu/blog...
For more information about UC Master Gardeners:
ucanr.edu/blog...
For more information about UC Master Gardeners of San Luis Obispo:
ucanr.edu/site...
#iris #floweringplantgarden #rhizome
I've divided irises many times, but it never occurred to me to put them in water to help separate them. And writing on the leaves? Genius.
So easy to follow your clear instructions. Now to do it!
I just learned so much!! I’m renting a house and it has a 5’ X 10’ bed of irises that haven’t flowered in two years. With all the buildup of dead material I thought they were just dying since they haven’t been tended to in years. I was about to rip them all out and plant all new bulbs. Now I know I just need to remove dead material and divide them! My wife will be so happy in the spring!
This is a great teaching video for beginners and pro gardeners alike. 👍 Many new gardeners would not know to break off any dead rhysomes and discard them. Thank you for sharing!🤗
I'm so glad I watch this before I start to divide my iris, great lesson on what to do and not do. Thank-you so much.
This is the best, most helpful, easiest to understand iris video I’ve ever seen. Just what I needed to know. Thank you.
Thank you!
Thank you! This was the most detailed explanation I’ve seen with great specimen examples ❤
I didn’t know that you can leave it in the garage and plant them next spring!! That is awesome.
This is my first time experimenting with flowers other than geraniums. Great video. Thx
Great video, I and my irises thank you.
I don’t store my irises. Just leave them in the ground year round here in zone 7. Appreciate the comprehensive tutorial. TY
This is a very helpful video done at a pace that I found to be relaxing. A note I offer is that the part declared as being "dead" actually isn't. That part is referred to as the "mother". Rather than discarding it, honor her value by replanting with her "daughters" or in a R & R bed. That part will make new offshoots. While it may be slow, she will give forth many new plants.
I have a 'Mother's garden' where I have older bulbs & rhizomes planted from plants I received from my late mother in law, my grandmother, my ex mother in law & my mom.
Thank you so much for making this video. I'm dealing with my Iris plants now. Our turkeys decided to stomp all over them and broke them down so I'm having to clean them up and put some wire or something around them to protect them. Poor plants are so grateful for any love they get! (We're in Atascadero and miss all the Iris farms that used to be around here!)
Excellent video! Thank you!
I will be dividing my iris for the first time this fall. Giving some away and separating some for myself. This was extremely helpful. And, you are right. If something happens, oh well. It has to be separated.
Very helpful!!
This video and presenter are amazing
I'm so excited to separate mine this fall!
I had no idea of what i was doing. Now i know from watching your video what to do. Thankyou.
That's about how huge mine usually are before I get around to dividing them! Love to transplant them around my yard and share them out with friends. 🌺
WE HAVE grown Iris for so many years and at one time had over 800 named Iris, all neatly named and labeled (don't ask, My husband is a scientist and detail oriented! ) but now we are 75 and 78 and I'm doing good to label with COLOR, and type (, tall bearded (TB) Standard Bearded (SDB) etc. One of the things we really enjoy is receiving photos from friends of the Iris we have sent to them, then they produce more, and I just received a box of WHITE CHRISTMAS TALL BEARDED from my darling cousin! we sent some to her years ago, I thought we had lost them and she sent more! Happy dancing. sharing is so much fun! this year I am dividing Iris I propagated from my MOM'S garden! I grew up with these HISTORIC Iris from the 1950's! I'LL BEING SENDING TO MY COUSINS and friends WHO LOVED MY MOM! I THINK WHO EVER said "what goes around, comes around" , had to be thinking of IRIS!
This is very helpful!!!
This was so very helpful. I had no idea on how to take care of the beautiful plants I inherited when I bought this house. Looking forward to following your instruction in the fall. (Zone 6b CT) Thank You!
I’m very pleased that I have just happened upon your video. I love and have had patches of bearded irises for most of my gardening life. However, I didn’t really consider that the beds would need trimming, thinning and transplanting from time to time. And when I was finally made aware of the need to perform that kind of care I still didn’t exactly know what to do and how to do it to do. Thanks to you, I now have the information I need and will be busy this year and beyond putting to work what I have learned. Thanks for taking the time to make this great video.
It might be interesting to know that if you forget to plant your iris next spring they will probably be viable a year from now. Ask me how I know!
I've ones grow that I threw in the compost heap!
Wonderful demonstration, thank you.
Thanks for reminding me of the basics. I have not separated them in a few years.
I have never divided my Irises! I moved in to this house, my m-i-l., after she passed 12 yearsa ago. I never had iris before! Now I know what I must do this fall!
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much. I have many very crowded Iris that I love but are not blooming this year. I will watch it again and take notes:)
If you trim the leaves at an angle from the bottom to the center leave on each side, you have a nice fan shape on each plant. ❤
Most kindly explained thank you
I'm watching for our Australian native iris I have which needs dividing
I loved your video! Thank you
Thank you, I need to separate some iris that weirdly appeared in my garden, it is a huge clump now and gorgeous! I feel like I’m in Monet’s garden. I just found a lone Dutch iris blooming in another bed! I think my garden fairies have been at work. Unfortunately they also love field bindweed…
Fantastic video! Perfect information. Thank you for sharing.
WOW!!! Great presentation and information! If you haven't already, would you please consider offering your gardening knowledge in the form of a book?!?!
I've had bearded irises for about seven years, and they bloom every year. I'm not sure where you're getting the information about not blooming if you don't thin them, but maybe in another seven years I'll learn? I'm just now getting into gardening. The irises were there when I got there, but I didn't know what they were so I just left them alone. I will be propagating them with the help of your video. So, I thank you. Peace.
Very informative and helpful, thank you 😊
Video = very well done! Thanks!
a wonderful video, thank you!
Thank you!
Amazing thank you
Thanks. It was great to learn.
Really an excellent video. Explains and demonstrated so that it was easy to follow thank you.
My favorite flower. Good information!
Thankyou so much ..,.❤️
Great video thank you. I’ve moved twice with my irises so far and they’re still beautiful, but I know it’s time to divide them. Can you use straw instead of wood shavings to winterize your rhizomes?
Very helpful. Will these bloom in the spring?
Very likely. Plants are living things and sometimes go their own way, but mine have always flowered again after being dug up.
Thanks so much!
One important question: is it mandatory to soak the rhizomes to loosen up and clean old dirt? if so, how long do you soak them for? And, do you let them dry up before storing them in wood shavings? Or is a second purpose to keep moist in to soak them before storing them?
I am trying this for the first time but needed to do it now ( Mid August in zone 3 - late Summer) and mine have been in a pot, got overwatered ( because I watered them😩) and lost a few roots🙁 The soil was sooo clay based and many clumps stayed on and around the roots.
Now, after letting them dry in the sun and finally pulling them out of the pots; they are finally drying up but not sure if I want to soak them in water again… Are all the brown shriveled roots dead and shall I pull them all off and just leave the thick white roots on?
I really appreciate your help because I want to store them overwinter but found that you can store them also wrapped in paper bags and then inside a cardboard box. How cold should the garage be to store them there? mine is not-insulated.
Thank you again for all your help!☺️
How did your white top stay so clean? I would have had to change my shirt a few times.
I have grown irises for many years. It has gotten to the point that drastic measures are taken every few years. Nobody wants them and every time I divide so many get sent to yard waste.
I have tried to compost them myself, the foliage is okay but the rhizomes take far too long to break down. In fact I have had volunteer irises wherever I used the compost for awhile.
I will probably start thinning them out sooner rather than later just so I have time for other things.
I had no idea how awfully unmaintained by Iris beds were until watching this video. But now I have a lot of work to do. I think the best thing to do is carefully dig them all up, one bed at a time, remove the dirt but saving it, clean up and remove all unproductive "parts", fan the leaves, and plant them back but nowhere as thick. It is late May here in NW Georgia and I don't want to wait until September. What would you advise?
It sounds like you have a good plan. If they have already flowered, you can do it now. Me, I choose to do it when it's not hot! Iris are pretty darn hard. Also, if you're in doubt, just dig up half and leave the rest in place... either way you're going to improve the situation AND have more plants!
Thank you for a very useful video! Allow me a stupid hardeners question, could one just not replant the whole clump, without removing the old rhizomes?
??? What would be the point of digging them up then. Relocation? Wouldn’t be practical if you didn’t improve their potential and get the dead out of there.
The point of digging up is to get rid of dead matter and to spread out your rhizomes so you can have a larger planting bed, or share with friends. And the plants just do better with some space around them. In my experience, I get nicer blooms when my rhizomes aren't crowded.
I jave s friend that keeps giving me iris rinzones i just been throwing them away now ill plant them
I want to divide my huge clump of irises and store them individually over the winter. Come spring I want to plant them up into individual pots and give to friends. How would I store them over the winter
Put them in a box with a dry media separating them, like pine shaving/bedding (available at a feed store), keep them in the dark and keep them dry. Plant in spring!
Do lillies also need to be separated and planted the same way as bearded iris?
I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about lilys. Likely! Most bulbs benefit from dividing. Happy gardening!
Does it have to be in the fall??😊
You can always try other times... plants is plants and they often don't do what we expect! I think if yours have flowered, and the straps are starting to wilt, you can likely get away with dividing.
Does it matter what region you are in when storing your rhizomes outside?
Um, maybe? I don't live where it snows so my rhizomes over-winter in the ground. When I have dug-up rhizomes, I keep them inside a building so they stay dry and don't get exposed to light. I'd be reluctant to leave unplanted rhizomes out of doors.
@@PattySmith-op1tn WE are in upstate NY, zone 5 . my husband has been involved with Iris for years and we end up dividing @ every 3 years or so (the rhizomes will start to form a circle and we know it's time.) We have always re-planted after our divisions and they do just fine in the snow. I love the suggestion of using the shavings if one does want to over-winter in the basement or garage. This year we will be dividing a very large clump of Iris, that have evolved from a few Iris from my Mom's garden when I was a kid. (I'm 75) : ). I'll be sending the rhizomes to family and friends who knew and loved my mom. We have been sharing Iris for many years and I love getting photos from friends who show me how their offspring of our Iris, are doing in their new homes. The gifts that keep on giving!
I might have missed it, but did you mention what time of year the irises should be divided?
The best time to divide bearded iris is between July and August.
When is the best time to split the reflowering varieties, which will be in full flower in Sept/Oct?
As with any bulb, after it has flowered and the foliage begins to wilt (in my mild climate, the foliage never dies away completely).
Why are you storing the ones you dug up instead of replanting them, unless it’s too close to a deep freeze?
Because my summer "soil" is rock hard. I wait until we've had some rains to soften it up.
Also for zone 10 what month is best to divide?
In general, you want to dig and divide after the blooms have wilted and the foliage is starting to degrade.
very helpful! but one question, where did you store the bucket ? and what kind of shavings should i get?
Store the bucket in a cool, dark, dry place. Shavings can be purchased at a feed store or pet store.
@@ucmastergardenersofsanluis8276
Pine or cedar?
Does it matter?
14:14 thank you! This was a very informative video.
Great questions! Wish I could edit the video…. Store the bucket in a cool, dry, dark place. The shavings are wood, either from a feed store (large bag) or pet store (smaller bags) Hapoy gardening!
@@sherrieflynn252usually one would use pine. It’s very dry. I’m not familiar with cedar. Likely it would work. One could also use straw, but it’s harder to keep dry and fluffy/not packed down
How do you know exactly when they need division?
When you can see that there are multiple rhizome "babies" around a central older rhizome.
I have clumps of Irises that are only a few years old but the inside rhizomes are starting to rot. How long can a clump grow before they must be separated and replanted?
Thank you so much for your reply
@@DalhiaSun when you see that the rhizomes have formed a circle, it's time to dig and distribute! :)). for us it's about every 3 years or so. (zone 5) Hope this helps.
Thank you for your video. Can always learn something new. Can you tell me the name of your pitch fork?
I believe it is called a soil fork. I got it at the hardware store/nursery center (not a big box store).
The Rizones that are "dead" why do they have do many roots. The dead rizones roots look like the ones with fans.
Are they not the Mother and can rebloom but might take several years???
The Dead Mother's had lots of eye's on them to give you baby iris to start for some one or Other parts of the yard some place . There's is no Dead Mother's eye Iris baby's all over them old Mother Iris. Give them to someone else that will take the time to let the eyes on the Mother Iris to grow baby iris that will bloom in about two or three years my friends . I threw no iris parts away unless it's really truly dead and swivels up then it's really dead .
How much sun please
Full. I have some in partial sun, and though they look healthy, they're not flowering.
Say rhysome one more time 😂
Excellent video, thank you so much!