Dominant Iris

[Ginger]

Once upon a time I had both yellow and purple iris planted by my fence, but last year the purple got fewer and this year I only have the yellow Is one color more dominate than the other? I know nothing about Iris, these were given to me by a friend and so I have no idea what kind they are, neither did she They look like the typical Iris you see everywhere.

G

[Chris_W]

Hi Ginger,

I've seen this before in my old, old gardens before. One time I dug up a bunch for a friend who wanted the old time lavender tall bearded iris and when the rhizomes flowered the next year there were two different colors. So yes, I think one color tends to overwhelm the other. If you dig and divide and move things around you might resurrect the other one from some rhizomes that are growing there but failing to flower.

[Garden_of_Mu]

When left in neglect irises will often overrun each other and the more vigorous can suppress or even extinguish a weaker variety. Like wise overcrowded clumps won't so bloom well. As Chris mentioned, separate and replant a wide variety from across the bed into fresh, well amended beds and see if more colors don't reappear.

[Gardentoad]

My husband bought the house his grandmother lived in. After we married, I decided to put a garden in the area between the ally and the garage. It was all weeds that he just mowed down. I found one mass of iris roots about a foot in diameter. They were tightly interlocked, no flowers and very few leaves. After I dug out the weeds I seperated the iris roots and replanted them along the garage behind some annuals. Each piece of root grew and tripled in size during the growing season. The following spring those iris bloomed beautifully. My husband said his grandmother had them all along the garage just like that for as long as he could remember. She stopped being able to take care of that area a few years before she died. He thought the iris just died out.

[Ginger]

OK, I will try that. These have only been planted for 3 years, and DH has mowed them down a few times ( He does not like Iris ) so I will do some exploring and move them around and see what happens next year. Thank everyone!

Ginger