We have a lot of Iris’ around our place. This past fall we disturbed the majority of them in order to get some flowers to show. The majority of Iris’ we have are the perennial Bearded Iris (Iris Germanica). Iris are a rhizome, so cutting the roots is OK, and actually enchorage to a certain extent. The best time to divide them is in August or so around Northern California. Iris’ prefer a slightly acidic soil with a pH around 7. If you have heavy rainfall in your area, make sure your bed drains well, as Iris do prefer a more well draining soil. If you don’t have very good soil, get some good organic potting soil or amendment, double dig an area and lay the rhizome on top. They don’t need to be covered much, if at all. Actually, they won’t grow any flowers, only green leaves, if they are too deep in the ground.

In an old house we lived in a few years back, there were some old Iris’ that never bloomed while we were there, the year before we left I took a shovel and dug all around them, then gave them some BioSol. Bam! We had flowers in June. Below are a couple pictures from our Iris’ that are blooming now.

Tags: acidic, bearded, germanica, iris, well drained