I live in N IL and am new to gardening and just planted a few iris' 2 falls ago and a few last fall. I found out I have iris borers in most of the plants. I removed the leaves and killed the borers which are small right now and none made it to the rhizomes. Is that enough? These are pictures of Breakers (blue) which took 2 years to bloom and Berry Fulfilling (kind of burgundy) which bloomed the first spring. Breakers is affected, Berry is not (it is in a different location). I just took these pictures. Dear Jean from 2 years ago is most affected and did not bloom this year, but she did last year. Do I need to do anything more aggressive?

Breakers


Berry Fulfilling

Well, that depends on how "green" you are ! The old "hunt & squish" method works....if you catch them early, and get them all. next up, would be nematodes...you put them in the soil, and the little guys eat the borers. What I use is a chemical......Bayer Long Season Grub Control.....it contains a systemic poison ( the plant actually takes up the chemical, through the roots, and, in effect, becomes "poison" itself), which can be found as either a Liquid concentrate, or a granular. (I think the granular may have some fertilizer added, as well )
But a sharp eye for "borer sign" on the leaves, and a good "squish" is hard to beat !

Thanks! I will get that and use it. I don't want to start over.

Welcome Lynnette!

Hi Lynette! Welcome to ATP and to our Iris forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you have borers. I had them too when we lived in Elmhurst, and my cousin has them almost every year in Arlington Hts. I think that part of the country is very susceptible to them. Your best defense is to keep a sharp eye out for them and catch them early, regardless of which method or product you use. Good luck with that.

So -- where in northern Illinois are you?

Hmmmm ! Just noticed that "Northwestern Illinois " tag.......We might be neighbors !!

I'm in McHenry County

I live about 30 minutes from Arlington Heights. I had no idea. We must have that moth. I read that cutting off all the leaves in the fall eliminates them because the moth lays the eggs in the fall. Will the leaves all grow back in time and bloom by June if I do that?

I always remove the leaves in the fall....both as a 'sanitation" measure, and to prevent them from "catching" every tree leaf that blows through the yard ! If you remove them (I cut them back to about 4"-6") you're betting rid of some insect eggs, and diseases, and every little bit helps! They will have plenty of time to grow "from *nothing* to normal height by bloom time ......the iris leaves of most cultivars, while they may still look a little green....aren't really "evergreen" in our climate. The problem with the borers is the rascals can fly in from the neighbors house, or a bush in your yard, or any one of a hundred places near your beds....they lay their eggs on many things...not just iris. So , cutting back the fans *helps*, but it's not a 100% cure all !

Gosh, I didn't know that iris got borers. Does anyone have a picture of one so that I know what they look like??

Hemlady said:Gosh, I didn't know that iris got borers. Does anyone have a picture of one so that I know what they look like??

Cindy, here is my 2 cents worth from last year. There are pictures near the bottom of the page.
http://garden.org/ideas/view/T...

Good article Leon!

I have a few of them this year. I have had little time to spend in the garden due to a foolish "home improvement" venture I jumped into.

I have had to toss about 10 rhizomes so far.

crowrita1 said: Well, that depends on how "green" you are ! The old "hunt & squish" method works....if you catch them early, and get them all. next up, would be nematodes...you put them in the soil, and the little guys eat the borers. What I use is a chemical......Bayer Long Season Grub Control.....it contains a systemic poison ( the plant actually takes up the chemical, through the roots, and, in effect, becomes "poison" itself), which can be found as either a Liquid concentrate, or a granular. (I think the granular may have some fertilizer added, as well )
But a sharp eye for "borer sign" on the leaves, and a good "squish" is hard to beat !

I also like this idea, and tried the Bayer systemic granular product beginning last year with success. I think @KentPfeiffer uses a spring burn/clean up which seems like a good sanitation program. I did some limited experimenting with burning this spring with what seems to be another good idea. So far I'm running ahead of the borers this year. I must say garden clean-up is critical along with the other methods.

Ah -- well, hello neighbor!! We've spent hours and hours and hours in McHenry County. We have horses. Our trainer was in McHenry, our brood-mare was boarded in McHenry, and our foals were boarded there too. Husband's son lives in Woodstock, and step-son lives in Huntley. We probably spent as much time in McHenry County as we did in the county we lived in!! We did move to Kentucky in 1985 -- so don't spend much time in McHenry County these days!!

Oh boy Greg -- sorry to hear that. It's hard to "toss" ten rhizomes. All because of a damn bug.

Thing is, Cindy -- you'll likely never see the borer -- you'll see the damage done first. So pay attention to that foliage. If it's behaving in ways that it shouldn't, borers are one of the possibilities. Investigate. Even if you have them, if you catch them early -- not much damage done. And keep a clean garden -- all of the above recommendations are good ones. The only thing I would mention is that anything *systemic* can pass to the bees -- which are fighting an enormous battle. So anything that can be handled in a non-chemical way is a good thing. And we're here if you need help, or a pat on the back!!

Thanks Leon and Mary Ann. I certainly will keep an eye out for anything unusual looking.

So Greg -- what "foolish home improvement" are you involved in?

he was doing a bathroom makeover?? if I remember right?? I think he was going to do it on a weekend when his wife or family was out of town. Maybe that was someone else. I think my rememberer has gone passed the stage of forgetting things and has started making things up.

Bonnie is correct. The valve that controls the shower/tub is leaking. I have fixed one leak and am going after the other. I am having to maneuver in some very tight spaces.