Subject says it all. I've got some, they grow well, flower and then capsize because they are top heavy. Can I correct this?
Tall bearded Iris are bad about falling over. I keep a supply of bamboo sticks and some short green zip-ties on hand to help them stay up.
I have the same problem. I have a little length of wire edging that's about 18 inches tall that I put in front close to the stems and let them lean up against. Some of them, I just let fall over if they're not in the way of the lawn mower -- the blooms start turning upwards and I don't know, I just like the natural look in some areas.
Well, you could plant them pretty close together and then surround them with a green wire fence or stakes with green plastic netting attached. They would partly support each other, and the fencing would do the rest. My neighbor does this with dalhias, and it seems to work well.
Right now they are spaced out. I need to add more if I want to thicken the plot. Wonder if I can still plant here in northern Illinois? Whats the best tool for planting the bulbs? Associated question for the iris and other various flowers/shrubs in my courtyard area - Whats the best general fertilizer to add in the fall?
Just remember with Iris, the rhizomes do not like to be deep AT ALL, unlike bulbs. You really barely cover them. They can be split pretty easily too. I'm not sure where you are in Illinois but thinking back to when I lived in Chicagoland, you are probably cutting it close unless you get out there real quick to plant... I do remember wearing gloves and dressed heavily planting bulbs one year and they were beautiful. I say -- go for it.
OK daisybeans I'll give it a try. Any thoughts on "Associated question for the iris and other various flowers/shrubs in my courtyard area - Whats the best general fertilizer to add in the fall? "?
I like to use bonemeal for rhizomes and bulbs. Just make sure you don't have dogs in the yard (bonemeal+dog=dug up bulbs)! As to the best tool, a good sturdy hand trowel is fine for iris. Here in Texas we plant iris with the very top of the rhizome showing, and when I lived in upstate NY, we planted them about 2" deep.There are bulb planters which look like a heavy tin can with the top and bottom removed and a handle on the top which are touted for bulbs, but they only work if you don't have any gravel and do have very light soil. It's hard to beat a good trowel!
