Help!! My new gardener cut back my bearded iris leaves to 1-2" above the rhizome, Nov. 1. I'm in Zone 7 (Northern California; we have snow & freezes every winter). Are these going to come back next spring----and more importantly--will they bloom??
Name: Paul Utah (Zone 5b) Grandchildren are my greatest joy.
They should be alright. I wait for a hard freeze to cut them back. Makes spring clean-up much easier. If the plants were growing well they should bloom next spring. Welcome to our iris group.
As Paul said -- your Irises should be fine. Some of mine are doing this naturally (losing the big leaves) as winter approaches. As long as the rhizome is healthy, you should be in good shape.
Thoughts become things -- choose the good ones. (www.tut.com)
Most definitely tell them not to cut so short next time. 4" to 6" as Arlyn said is ideal. At one inch, they may have cut into the tiny increases starting which would be bad. Those little guys need all the help they can get.
