Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen from VanveenBulbs.com,
and in this segment, we're going to learn
all about how to plant Irises. And there's
a few rules you should follow, but most importantly,
you've got to figure out what kind of Irises
do you really have. So there's lots of different
kinds of Irises. There's Dutch Blue Iris,
which these are actually a small baby bulb
that came off of it, it's more like a tulip
or daffodil bulb And then you have, like the
tall bearded Irises, that have dark blue frilly
flowers, and they are more considered a rhizome,
so they're more of a root. So, both of them
are really easy to grow, and they'll grow
almost anywhere, that you have at least a
half day of sun. They'll do full sun or a
half a day, but they don't want deep shade,
they don't seem to do very well, they won't
bloom very well in deep shade. So the smaller
bulbs are easier to grow, I like to do at
least three in a triangle, about six inches
apart or so, and about three inches deep.
That way they look good the first year and
they have room to multiply. So if you have
kind of a bulb type of Iris, they come in
yellows and whites, and then there's Iris
Reticulatas, that are really short, there's
all kinds of bulb Irises. But the trick is,
about three inches deep and three in a triangle,
and clumps all over, in sun or part shade.
And then you have the rhizome type Irises,
those are like the bearded Irised, they have
the big frilly flowers. And those are easy
to grow as well. So I usually cut the greens
down, if I'm moving them and dividing them
just to not take so much space. And, actually
plant them sideways, so as long as they're
about three inches deep as well, I would have,
I would plant it about that deep. So the dirt
is totally covering the whole bulb, because
you want that bulb covered, so that it has
room for the roots to grow, and grow and grow,
and grow and grow. Because they will multiply
very quickly. So just make sure, sun or part
shade and plant them about three inches deep.
And they'll do really well. Water them in
the heat of the summer. But generally they
bloom in April, May, into June. A lot of times,
it's still raining that time of year, so in
the summer, they pretty much just die back
if you don't water them, or they'll stay lush
and green if you do water them. But either
way, they're a plant that you would never
lose, whether you water them or not. Easy,
easy plant; the Iris make great cut flowers,
and there's a thousand different varieties
of Iris alone. But pretty much, all of them,
can handle three inches deep, sun or part
shade, compost or potting soil, and besides
that, let them grow, and they will.