Oh boy -- that's heartbreaking Leslie. All Iris losses are, of course, but five days? The seller should replace it for you............

It was a bonus from Blue J. Felt bad asking them to replace one I got for free. I will try Grace Upon Grace again next year.
John - I got Kid's Clothes from a fellow ATPer. I love Burseen iris, so it got included in a postage box. In this case I truely believe the rot happened because of the excessive rain we had. All the other iris I have gotten from this individual have been top notch growers.

John, you could try Nola's next Spring
http://www.walking-p-bar.com/s...

Thanks guys. I ordered from BlueJ for the first time this past season. They are generous with the bonus intros. Decent size rhizomes. Also ordered from C & T.

Has anyone ordered from Hummingbird Gardens Iris Nursery? They have a few iris I would like to get next season.

Right after I lost so many newly planted iris, I went online to see what I could find. Here is a link to a very old thesis published back in the 60s' someone did on iris rot. I thought they did a great job explaining the causes.

http://ir.library.oregonstate....

I also found this old post. I might give this a shot next year, hang them up side down.

https://www.hort.net/lists/iri...

Okay, I like the guy in the second link--he is stronger than the rest of us.

"By letting the irises dry out, we have less chance of getting rot. Even
better, if one has the time, planting the irises in pots with a very light
compost type soil for a couple of months and watering heavy works even
better. Then the iris are planted in the garden...I am already an indentured
servant of irises and refuse to become a slave...so I don't do this, even
though I know my losses will be reduced. I just let them dry out spread out
on newspapers in my Florida room. I have some losses, but far fewer than if
I did not dry them out." Clarence Mahan in VA

We have often done the newspaper spread exercise with the large rhizomes. Watch to see that they are not too dry, but for wetter eastern soil it is a good thing to try.

One of our Utah Iris Society members moved to the midwest, Nebraska? or Oklahoma? and on a return visit told us she let her rhizomes sit until September before planting because of the heat and the big fat rhizomes not acclimating in the ground with the heat.