Planting iris in your own garden is worth it just for the unique flowers. What you should pay attention to planting and care, you can read in this article.
Irises enrich every garden with their impressive flowers. They belong to the iris family and are also known as irises. Despite their abundance of flowers, irises are not a flower. The family includes over 200 species, which differ in shape and color.
The name iris comes from the Greek goddess of the rainbow. The graceful perennial blooms in a variety of colors, but blue and purple varieties are the most common.
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Planting irises: The right conditions
If you want to plant irises, you should first consider the following points to ensure that they thrive:
Location:
Irises prefer a sunny location.
You can also plant smaller varieties in a pot.
Soil:
The soil should be nutrient-rich and well-drained. Most irises are very sensitive to waterlogging.
In addition, the soil should not be too acidic.
Variety:
The optimal conditions to plant irises also depend on the exact variety. While the tumbleweed iris copes well with dryness, the marsh iris needs a moist soil.
You can get more information about suitable varieties for your garden at a well-stocked garden supply store.
Planting irises: this is how it works
The best time to plant iris is between July and October. When choosing a variety, you should not only consider the site conditions, but also make sure that it is not a hybrid variety. These do not produce seeds and therefore cannot serve as a food source for bees and other insects.
Here’s how to proceed if you want to plant irises:
- Loosen the soil well and free it from roots and stones. Then enrich the soil with mature compost. If the soil is very loamy, you can also add sand.
- Now dig a hole and place the rhizome of the plant in it so that the upper third protrudes from the soil.
- You will need five to seven larger irises per square meter. For smaller varieties, you can plant about twelve per square meter.
- The impressive perennial looks particularly good next to night violets, sage, catnip, cranesbill, lavender or poppies.
Iris care: Here’s what you should pay attention to
In themselves, irises are very easy to care for. However, the following care tips should be followed to ensure that the plant thrives:
- Cut back wilted flowers right at the leaf base. This way, the plant is more likely to form new flower spikes instead of putting its energy into seed formation.
- Fertilize the plant in spring before bud break. It is best to use potassium fertilizer. Mature compost also provides the iris with the right nutrients.
- After a few years the flowering will decrease. Then you can rejuvenate the iris. To do this, dig up the rhizomes and divide them along the visible line. Each piece should have both roots and leaves. You should do this every three to four years. The best time to do this is in late summer.
- This method is also the best way to propagate the iris. It can also be propagated by seed, but this is much more complicated.
- Irises are hardy and do not require additional protection during the cold season.
