Hello everyone! Do you have some bearded iris that aren't vigorous in blooms, but they have a decent amount of foliage??? A lot of the newer bearded iris cultivars are like this. Some years they don't bloom every year either.

I'm doing an experiment to see whether or not, these new iris will make more blooms in their huge clumps. I have a few newer cultivars that have been in the ground for 5 years. I divided them, and ended up with between 15 to 20 decent large rhizomes out of each clump. I then planted the rhizomes in rings of 3. One small ring in the center followed by two larger outer rings. Each iris and ring are spaced about 14 inches apart and are all facing the same direction. The clumps will be quite large, they are between 4-6 feet in diameter. Hopefully they'll be vigorous in blooms that way.

Here's an example (picture) I made to get a better idea.

Very Interesting! I will be watching next year to see how the Iris circles go and grow. It might be a good pattern for planting seeds and would certainly be entrancing to the eye when it all blooms.
Not certain about weeding, getting into that center. What do you think?

Interesting experiment Ian. You might get more blooms simply because you dug up the rhizomes and divided them. I think you need to create some smaller clumps from the same batch of rhizomes for comparison.

I'd be very curious to see this in bloom. That is quite large of a size and should make an impression. I wonder what kind of setting this clump is in?

ratchet said:Very Interesting! I will be watching next year to see how the Iris circles go and grow. It might be a good pattern for planting seeds and would certainly be entrancing to the eye when it all blooms.
Not certain about weeding, getting into that center. What do you think?

Honestly, go for it!

I have a couple historic TBs that grow quick and are vigorous in foliage and blooms. I may also try this experiment with them.

I do love TBs that have big clumps. So I may have the world's biggest iris clumps thanks to this experiment.

SonoveShakespeare said:I then planted the rhizomes in rings of 3. One small ring in the center followed by two larger outer rings. Each iris and ring are spaced about 14 inches apart and are all facing the same direction.

Just to add, the rings are invisible. The rings in the diagram shows how the iris are planted and to know how far apart the plants are spaced.

So if any of you were confused, I apologize.

SonoveShakespeare said:

Just to add, the rings are invisible. The rings in the diagram shows how the iris are planted and to know how far apart the plants are spaced.

So if any of you were confused, I apologize.

Now I am confused. Do you mean that I don't get to mark out circles with day glo orange chalk, plant mushrooms and place candles to mark out the circles. An interspersed star may be a further fashion statement.
Gee Whiz, hardly any fun at all (just kidding, the circles are merely guidelines, not actual physical lines)
It should be a good show even without the chalk.

I am going to try rings. It is a bit more work, figuring circles and divisions of circles but the intrigue of the design is a change from rows and triangles.

ratchet said:I am going to try rings. It is a bit more work, figuring circles and divisions of circles but the intrigue of the design is a change from rows and triangles.

Start by planting 3 or 4 rhizomes in the center and work your way out. (Going from 3-4 rhizomes to 7-8 rhizomes, and then 7-8 to 14-16)

You may need plenty of space if you want to make multiple of these circular clumps.

The rings in total (3) will make ONE clump between 4-6 feet in diameter.

Or you might want to try ovals for an oval clump that is easier to weed!

You're actually contradicting yourself. You want to test if they bloom better if the clumps are bigger, yet you've divided a 5 year old plant into smaller ones to test this. If it didn't bloom better after 5 years of undivided growth, how do you expect this experiment to have any effect? Unless you mean that the RATIO of blooms to foliage per surface area will increase...?

Lee, over- crowded rhizomes tend to stop blooming. I have noticed bursts of blooming after dividing and spreading out the rhizomes.

I currently have an over-crowded clump that had almost no bloom this year, where it bloomed well in years past. I'll be dividing it tomorrow.

On the other hand, Ian's cultivar may simply be a reluctant bloomer. But he'll find out if that is the case.

DaisyDo said:Lee, over- crowded rhizomes tend to stop blooming. I have noticed bursts of blooming after dividing and spreading out the rhizomes.

I currently have an over-crowded clump that had almost no bloom this year, where it bloomed well in years past. I'll be dividing it tomorrow.

On the other hand, Ian's cultivar may simply be a reluctant bloomer. But he'll find out if that is the case.

I know bearded iris (perennials in general) flower less profusely as the years pass and they grow; I've divided many of them myself to rectify this

I just don't understand the point of this experiment. Bearded iris should be divided every two to three years to keep them flowering well, this is well known amongst gardeners. Where does the 'experimentation' come in and what does it contribute then?
He said 'huge clumps', but what does he mean by that? HUGE clumps as in 'a large undivided bearded iris' does NOT flower well. And dividing them and replanting them close together doesn't really count now does it since they're now young individuals, but just from an original parent plant. After two years you're left with the same problem.

Yes, they need dividing every three years or so, regardless. I assume he's aiming for a large en masse effect, which can be quite stunning. Like the masses shown in this article https://theamericanirissociety...

or this, https://cubits.org/irisforum/p... .