Or mixed or both? I have mine mixed with other perennials and Ima thinkin' that's not an option for me. I have the sun on their backs, adequate but not too much water, and here's the kicker. I fertilize too much. I'm not aiming for the iris themselves but I know they are getting too much fert. HUGE fans. No blooms.
I'm not looking to make iris only beds, I've done that with daylilies and now I'm undoing it. I'd love to hear how y'all manage your mixed beds.

Wish I could help, but my beds are mostly all iris. You are spot on about the fertilizer though when you say huge fans and no blooms. Maybe you could make clumps of the iris in your gardens, with the other plants around them. That way you could separate the area a bit, and avoid it when fertilizing the other plants.

Irises have their own beds. it is easier to work with them & hybridize that way. We have some other plants in shadier spots as the peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' from my childhood home has its own place in front of the house.

We have only a few in "mixed beds"......as was stated, the "needs" are very different, and when you try to accommodate one, the other seems to suffer. I would say, if you do "mixed beds" and include iris in the "mix", you would want to allow them enough space so, when watering, or fertilizing, you can "miss" them.

I plant rebloomers in mixed beds. They like more water and nutrients than non re bloomers.

If you are getting a lot of foliage and no bloom, I'd say you are using a fertilizer that has too much nitrogen. That would not be good for any flowering plants. I have several mixed beds, and they get one shot of a 10-10-10 fertilizer in the spring, and that's it. I think when you give them too much later in the year it stimulates too much late growth that is not hardened off enough to withstand the winters here. IMHO I don't find it difficult at all to water everything but the irises. Of course you have to do it by hand though.

I have both. I have iris only beds and some that have all kinds of perennials mixed in. I also put daylilies and rose bushes in between the beds of irises and some have flowering bushes in between. Susanne Spicker has the most lovely blogspot on companion plants that will blow your mind. Gorgeous pictures with great color if you need ideas.

So those of you with iris only beds, after the bloom and rebloom, foliage, foliage, foliage from then on. Like my daylilies.
I am tempted to have a small bed though because I really do want to see these beauties bloom. I will leave the iris that have bloomed in their present locations. Lots of good information here, y'all rock!

Well I have mostly daylilies because I hybridize them. I am only starting to add iris as I downsize on my daylilies I will be adding some iris to the beds. My plant bed in front of my house has 3 clumps of daylilies in the back row and I am adding Iris to the front of the bed since the Iris bloom earlier than the daylilies.

I plant daylilies with my irises too in a noid bed. I get a lot of bloom from both. It is hard to keep weeded however as it can get thick with growth. I have a lot of scapes forming. smiles