What is the best time of year to transplant and divide iris plants?
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Janet Huls
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In the fall , just before the first frost .
Fall is the best time- good luck!
Billie G. Lexington, D.C.
In the fall. Cut the greenery back to where the V is on the greenery and break off any part of the old/dead rhizome. I don't plant mine deep. I place them on the top of the soil and use enough soil to cover the roots that come off of the rhizome and pat the soil. I have also taken a twig off of a bush or tree and made an upside down U and pushed it into the soil over the rhizome to hold it in place while it's getting established.
The best time is the end of July to mid-September. Cut the leaves to about 4 inches. Discard any of the old dead rhizome. I dig a hole large enough to fit the rhizome and its roots, put a small hill of dirt in the middle of the hole so the rhizome sits on top and the roots are on the sides of the hill. Cover the roots with soil and leave the top of the rhizome uncovered so the sun can hit it. You can mulch these new plants when frost arrives, but uncover in early Spring.
leave it alone. I had a iris bed that got a rot in the rhizomes and some of them looked so bad that I threw them in the woods behind our house, the next year I saw something blooming and behold they were some of the irises that I'd thrown in the woods. Irises don't like to be too deep in the soil. I dug up some old time day lilies and set them with the clump of dirt on the ground in another location and they r growing like crazy. This was done in the fall. Day lilies can b grown in a bog, dry soil, or just about anywhere. They do need at least 6 hrs sun. HAPPY GARDENING! 👩🌾
I have pulled, divided iris plants anytime after blooming. You can almost just throw them on the ground around in the woods and they take root, survive and flower with just a kick of ground dirt over them.
Yes, it is. The top of the rhizome needs some sun to produce bigger flowers and grow stronger. I put the dirt around the sides of the rhizome too. It helps to hold it in place until the roots take hold again.