I think it might be a good idea to share some of the dumb things we did as we became iris gardeners. Both to give us a good laugh, and to help others learn from our mistakes.
I don't have time to list all of mine, as it would take all day, and no one would want to read all of them But here's some to start us off:
I mulched my irises that I got the first year I started to buy some in quantity, and I put it on thick! I made sure I watered them every other day that first couple of summers. After all the wild irises that I remember as a kid grew in a bog, so I assumed that all irises needed lots of water. Then I couldn't understand why I had crown mold!

I fertilized with a high nitrogen fertilizer, and wondered why I had such beautiful leaves, but no blooms!

I let Hubby pick the site for the garden when we first moved to this farm. Now I need one longer leg to garden on the hill. At least when I fall over I roll toward the house!

Since Mama never watered her irises I thought they did not need water. Even though her garden was on land with many springs and mine on hardpan. Most lived but mostly as rhizomes.... I kept thinking 'what is wrong with these stupid irises!!!'

Pam, do you have trouble with erosion? At least if you stand down hill from where you're weeding, you don't have as far to stoop!
Bonnie, opposite of my problem!

Well, I'm STILL learning to grow irises! Every new season brings new problems, and new information, and tips,(thanks to the forums, and magazine articles)on dealing with them. Being a very lazy sort of fellow, I always try anything that looks "easier" than the way I presently use.......sometimes that's a good thing, and, sometimes it isn't !!
This year, the big problem has been rot....I think it's "crown rot".....and last year it was leaf spot, and next year.... ...Who knows ! But, every year, and every iris ,is an ongoing series of trials, errors, and lessons, and hopefully, successes ! .................Arlyn

Too compacted soil
Too little water
Too close together

I think I grew some 20+ years ago, too deep!

And...... years ago buying rhizomes from a big box store and expecting them to be what they were supposed to be. Planting them by color and size and getting surprises on every one!!!

I really ignored mine and they did well. Let's see what happens now that I am trying.

Boy, you guys are too good, not many blunders. It's 29 degrees here this morning, so there's some ice crystals on the grass. It may get colder before the sun rises.

My biggest problem is planting them too close together. I sell siberians, and they were growing into each other, with the tag overtaken, so I had to wait until they bloomed to sell them. Now I plant them 3 foot apart.

Well, Tom, until this year I have only tried to grow a handful and those more as incidentals. Have much more room for error these days.

I planted some early ones too deep. The fans would come up, but only one or two bloom stalks every year. I dug them up for a new garden, planted them correctly and now they grow like weeds.

I was really good with my first "planted correctly" bearded iris and planted them 2 feet apart. I guess I made a garden of slow growers because they were still 2 feet apart. The sudden increase in my iris population (ehem buys and trades) means tht all my iris are a bit closer together.

I am still in the learning curve for my Japanese and Species X so I am sure there will be a mistake there somewhere! Also still not sure where and how to plant my iris tectorum.

I'm realizing that I planted my iris a little too close together too. And I think some of them would have liked more water. Other than that...I've had the benefit of people like the rest of you to steer me straight and avoid the worst of the possible pitfalls.

While I wasn't new to growing bearded Irises when this happened, about 8 years ago, it was my first experience with leaf spot. Somehow, until then, I'd never seen it on any of my Irises. At that time, I was living in a narrow valley with a creek running through it, and surrounded by woods, so it was a prime area for fungal diseases. I thought all my Irises were goners, so while I brought all my other plants with me when I moved here, I left all the Irises. Been kicking myself for that ever since! LOL

We will all help you get new ones here, Neal. My problem is losing some Siberian tags & unable to get them straightened out.

Neal, have you been able to replace them? I made markers with a sharpie, and thought that would be good enough, and didn't make a map of one bed. I still have a few that haven't bloomed so I can id them. Little did I know that a sharpie would fade over winter.

"Stupid things I did while learning to grow irises"

Join this forum...

Lucy, if you have a list of the sibs, I might be able to help you match them. Or, you probably got them from Jan and Marty, who could help identify them.

A lot of them sure do look similar, though, don't they?

Rob --