I will look those up right now. I have to say the amount if info is daunting. I actually just finished telling my DH about the plan....because he has to work the tiller.

Question, I am in the woods...and I have mole, vole, and all sorts of critter issues. Since I will not be disrupting anything in this new area (s) should I put gravel in the base of the hole...then dirt.. I think I can lay it about 9 inches down OR wire?? Any iris prohibitive materials? Fingers crossed...maybe poisonous and not eaten??

@Missingrosie - Yay on giving them another go! I think you'll be happy!

I can personally attest to the fact that rabbits will chow down on the rhizomes .

For your color scheme, I would suggest you look at "cluster" shots (photos that show groups of iris) to see what strikes your fancy. I've found some on the grower's websites (there's a ton of growers), and then here on ATP in the public garden forum as well as the iris forum. When members post photos of their gardens you really get a sense of how the iris will look, and often there's other plants in the photo too - which is a bonus...you can get some good ideas of what to plant with them. Or you can just google it (of course!).

Another thing is the scent...I have limited space so I am trying to narrow down my selections by requiring that they either smell good or rebloom, sort of a double duty kind of thing.

Last but not least, you can always remove something you've planted but decided doesn't quite fit your style and either put it in a pot or on your neighbor's doorstep!
Happy shopping!

Just saw you question about critters...I have raised beds and I've had raspberries in one for the last 3 years and lavender and roses in another for 7...just this year the little rock squirrels (look like chipmonks?) have started to dig in them. I wish I had known about the little buggers and had done some preventative planning like putting wire down when I first make the beds. Just FWIW.

We are going to re-do the entire planting area, and this time I will have wire down and deer fencing up. Too frustrating to lose so many plants.

!! I'm late to the party, and it looks like the others have given you lots of good info, and ideas.....but, I will add this.....start slow, don't try for a huge bed of a hundred different cultivars. Decide on 15-20 that you like the color / form of, and plant those (there are very detailed 'planting instructions" found on various vendor's web pages, and at the AIS site, as well. Find out what works for you, in your soil, which class you like (size), and, how much time it will take you to care for them. Then, in two years, you will have first hand knowledge, to go with the "tips & tricks" you pick up here, and will be a confirmed "iris junkie", just like us

http://irises.org/About_Irises...
http://irises.org/About_Irises...

I am surprised at tales of rabbits eating the rhizomes.... we have rabbits here, too, but they seem to prefer to go after other things (grass, newly planted loropetalums and carpet roses , certain annuals). And although we have suffered through the drought, I am guessing there must have still been enough tasty tidbits in the neighborhood, as the deer and rabbits left the irises unscathed.

I forgot to mention, though.... gophers.... Gophers WILL eat your rhizomes. And if you have raccoons, while they won't eat your rhizomes, they WILL dig them up and scatter them, in pursuit of grubs and worms.

Rosie, thanks for the mention of that Euphorbia... I'll have to check into it. It looks like something good for the Moon Garden.

You are welcome

Good to be on the giving side instead of the receiving.

I bet Diamond Dust will be perennial for you!
Is their an emoticon for JEALOUS?

I found it in private nursery and at big box - "proven winners"

Rabbits never touch loropetalums..here in my neck of the woods
Tastes are very regional...
I was told deer will not touch rudbeckia.... To the ground here!
Someone said the deer won't touch roses! I can't imagine that not happening.

Wire will help with digging up...I was more concerned with eating the bulbs....from under the soil approach...moles...voles...

Of course I will need to look up rhizomes!! Maybe that is a bulb?? 😊

Yes, I will start slow and see how I do. Sometimes my garden is like a black money hole. This time --since now retired...I will take it slower.
Thanks all!

Yeah, when we first moved here we were told that rabbits won't eat Barberry so we planted them along our walkway (next to the grass). 3 weeks later my hubby caught a rabbit munching away, and the next night there were 2. Apparently word spreads fast in the rabbit community! By the end of summer, we had no Barberry left.

Now here....NOTHING touches barberry.....ouch!

Or cotoneaster...which, while doesn't look like barberry...seems to be able to function similarly...if the creeping ends kept trimmed

I used to grow Euphorbia marginata from seed.. It was tall and airy and looked great with just about everything. I've been getting rid of most of the Euphorbias I've got now.. I got some sap in my eye a few years ago, and the pain level was right up there with a bad root canal and childbirth.

I did not know about the sap.. I grow some that look like succulents.. I imagine those are juicy..

I am going to look those up for my iris areas..sounds like it may be a good companion. Checking the deer preference. ..

All Euphorbias have a milky sap.. and that includes Poinsettias.. Never rub your eyes when working around them.

Other good perennial companions for me are:
Nepeta fassenii and mussonii
Achillea 'Moonshine'
Achillea kelleri

because the foliage and flowers on TB's are both large, I like smaller textures with them.. finely textured grasses, succulents like Echeveria, annuals like violas. Calendulas, California poppies, delphiniums, roses, clematis are also blooming along with the Iris here.. Of course, what works in your climate, may be different than mine. I was disappointed to find that the Lupines that look so glorious at Schreiners bloom a month after the Iris here.

Welcome Rosie. Looks like you have lots of advice on your plate now.
An alternative would be to start a post asking who has spare rhizomes for postage/trade. Can get a quick start that way also, but all will arrive in late summer. Sometimes those planted very early in spring, like now, will bloom the first year, but most won't.
Enjoy the hobby and the colors you will see.

We will be laying flagstone/ hardscape.....the paths are identified and the plastic order is down. Then I will add soil and compost to each side and bone meal and till. So I have time. The other bed with the soil in and tilled already will come after that. So I think I do have time to decide which iris I want to start with -- and I hope not sacrifice - to the critters. I hope to someday be able to trade and participate with younin the sharing of unusual treasures!

I was going to start with the already prepped bed ( different side of the house ) but I think the narrow path in this area will provide direction and a chance to find companion plants without overwhelming my brain..Design is not my forte! Editing is not my forte. Easier to plant the narrower space/ border first. The experiment!!

Here are photos I just took,...perhaps not easily deciphered .. the black border that outlines the central path in the center of the second photo..( I have included the entrance off the gravel drive to give visual bearings - first photo) will be the new flagstone path and to the right and left of it..the iris border plantings ..each planting area widens..and there is that big central place that is wide open. That Is the one I am afraid of!

I also have seen iris that don't grow one by one...single fan and stalk ....but have a bushier appearance...and are not as multi layered and ruffily.. I think those are more my style.

Entrance



Thru it..the back side of the border necessary because it is the border for a mulched area with huge forest trees..not cultivated



The first big open area ..that skinny staked tree is an elm..beautiful ruffled speckled leaves..won't be big...if it makes it.

O.K.,
One last thing that I wish I'd done...
I'd suggest you keep good notes on your plants. It's kind of a pain to set up at first, but I have a map of the beds, the names of the plants, when I planted them, when the problems showed up (and if there was an obvious reason (late frost, mormon cricket swarm, rabbits)), and what bloomed well. The one thing I didn't realized was that the iris from different hybridizers perform differently (are zone tempermental?) in different areas of the country. For example, a Blythe iris may do well in Ca., but not so much for me, or vice-versa. When the next storm hits this weekend I'm going to go back through and note each hybridizer with each iris.

Ok. I did that other house but not for those reasons..just so would not forget what was where..shrubs mostly. New owners appreciated it.

Oh, my, yes, Rosie. A new owner would value a plant guide to the new property greatly. I also, map and have spreadsheets on the computer but it is for my own fun. I like to know all about a plant and how it performs in my garden as well as when and where I got it.

Ok..



Without saying internet googled images not reliable I know..
But for this purpose...not wanting to know name...just whether or not you think these are arising from multiple bulbs or is this one plant ..because this is what I am leaning towards and May need to plant several bulbs together.

Also...are these two photoshopped do you think?





Last..are these iris?

Wow, Rosie, the green in that first one looks other-wordly!

A lot can be done to alter photos. One member of my iris club is absolutely certain
that some hybridizers, "stretch" their iris photos - to make the blossom look wider and more
substanitial.

MISSINGROSIE said:Ok..



...just whether or not you think these are arising from multiple bulbs or is this one plant ..because this is what I am leaning towards and May need to plant several bulbs together.

..... photoshopped do you think?

The first two photos are from multiple rhizomes. A rhizome is not actually a bulb but an underground stem that acts as food storage just as bulbs do.

The photo in question is definitely not real. I do not think a vendor created it. I think it was someones idea of what a lovely iris would look like and has been making the rounds ever since. It fools everyone at first.

The 1st pic is a "clump" of Tall bearded iris ....probably what you would expect to see after 3 years, or so.
2nd is a clump of Siberian iris....again, about what I'd expect to see in 2-3 years
3rd IS photo shopped ! this pic has been floating around the 'net for years !
4th is NOT photo shopped I can't remember the exact type of iris this is, but some one will be able to tell you (some one either younger, or with a better memory ) The pick is taken "straight down", so it shows the style arms of the bloom.
5th IS an iris........a species that grows from a bulb, instead of a rhizome......I. reticulate (there should be an "a" at the end, instead of an "e" but the computer refuses to co operate ! for years I thought I was saying "important stuff", because my computer underlined it in red.......then I found out that I just couldn't spell )