When is the best time of year to divide and transplant iris plants? I live in Minnesota.?
Question:
Answers:
After the blooms have all died down but before fall so the rhizomes have time to re-root before winter. July should be good, while the sun is hot.
My process ( I had a lot of iris): Dig up the rhizomes, clean off the dirt. I used a dremel tool with a cut-off disc on them to zip off the tops of the leaves. Leave about 8 inches or so in the middle of each fan, tapering down to about 4 inches on either side. Then separate the rhizomes so each fan has it's own rhizome. Use a sharp knife and cutting board. Breaking them apart leaves ragged edges that can cause problems.
Then I dip the whole thing in clorox water (1 cup clorox bleach to 1 gallon water) and put them out in the sun to dry. You can leave them in the sun for a couple days till they are all dry. This will prevent any infection in the newly cut surfaces.
Then plant them, not too deep since iris like the sun on their rhizomes. Water them but don't flood. There you go! All done.
Probably way more info than you wanted.
In the fall, so they can root/settle and come up the next summer.
They can be transplanted after they have flowered for the year and the greenage is turning a bit. They litterely have to be broke apart after you dig them up. They will be beautiful thinned out.
Mid-summer to Labor Day is a prime time to divide Iris, with early spring as an additional possibility for Siberian Iris. Please refer to the following Minnesota Extension Publication for further information:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributio...
Spring. We let them go all summer, let them come up stronger the next season, then separate and sell the ones that we don't want. The lillies especially, they're growing like weeds.
More Related Questions & Answers...