I agree with Leslie. Many vendors and websites do state that Iris are "very easy to grow". Last year was my very first year in growing Iris. Not knowing anything, I began purchasing rhizomes
in March/April and planting them right away. Not know that this was not the right time of year
to plant bearded Iris. But despite that, I continued to buy and plant and buy and plant. I tore up
a section of lawn and created a second Iris garden. In total I bought over 60 Iris rhizomes of Historic Iris. With all of that, I was fortunate in that I only lost one rhizome to rot (Alcazar). All of
my other Iris are growing and thriving. I guess I'm really shocked that they have all done so well.
This will be the first year that I will see my Iris in bloom.

I would say that it is often hard to kill some of those historics as they have survived for so long. The newer ones, however, are not always as hardy as the oldies. Time will tell on them. It is crazy to figure out what goes on in the garden and why things happen. I am so afraid of borers that I probably overtreat my beds. This year I have probably put too much fertilizer. We shall see what happens. Fortunately we have not had as much rain as last year or the year before so rot has been kept at bay But it does break your heart when you lose one you love.

I also live on a hill so I almost never have standing water. I think that helps my irises a great deal. Slightly raised beds may be the solution for the standing water problem in other areas.

I have never had borers here in New Jersey - but I have had Crickets that chewed the heck out of a lot of my rhizomes. They were Huge Black Crickets that I had a heck of a time eradicating. There were no other rodents or critters around that would have done that to my rhizomes. I thought I was going to lose every rhizome. I had to resort to putting Cayenne Pepper on top of each rhizome to deter them from chewing on the rhizomes. It was a total Mess!

NJ is in the area the borers are in but their presence can be recognized. I have had a few, even into the rhizome, which I dug out, cleaned out, let skin over and replanted with success. As to planting irises in the mid-Atlantic, anytime between April and August seems to be okay. Better to plant them when obtained than to let them sit and dry out waiting for some "right time." In non-sandy soil with good drainage they do well in small hills to keep standing water off them, and with the rhizomes slightly raised.
This thread is on "goners" so that is the emphasis obviously. Most growers don't lose the entire bed or anything close to it.

Alan - I sprinkle Sevin Dust on my iris in late summer and fall - which is when I get the crickets making craters in my rhizomes. Has really kept them away.

@Alanj - are you sure they were crickets and not "Mormon Crickets" (which are actually a type of grasshopper)? If you want to see something gross, google them and look at youtube clips around Fernley, Reno, and Fallon. They come in hordes so big they cause traffic accidents!

Don't know, Darcy, I just know what I saw was a big black Cricket, I was able to spray it with bug killer until it died. From what I have read, Mormon Crickets do not inhabit this part of the country, and there do not appear to be any other species of cricket that is big and black. But I'm gonna take Leslie's advice and buy Sevin Dust cuz I know they will be back.

Only in the last couple of years have I seen rot occur in my beds, and only in varieties planted the previous year. What really sucks is the effected irises look great fall through winter, and usually even look to be off to a great start in spring, then out of the blue I see a fan laying over.

It is so sad to see those fallen fans....

I've got earwigs molesting my iris. If it's not one thing......

I've been installing plant labels in the beds, so I'm getting an "up close, and personal" look at the iris.......................LOTS more are going on the goners list

Sherry - get them too. How do you handle yours?

That's horrible news Arlyn.

Along with major leaf spot problems, I have earwig problems too. I place little plastic tubs of used cooking oil in the garden. I bury the tubs so the rim is near the same level of the soil. (The plastic tubs are from hummus and salsa containers) These oil traps will also catch some slugs and other creepy crawlers. I have wood chips everywhere, so I have earwigs everywhere.

We have very sharp drainage so few problems with rot. Grasshoppers are around as our borers. We do very little watering. Just seedlings when planted out. Siberian irises like water but don't do it with the bearded.

I spent the morning finishing up the label installation...........and digging anything I tought might be "salvageable .......not many fell into that category, I'm afraid ! I added a bunch to my 'initial" list, but, even though a lot of them are commercially available........I'm done hunting , for this year ! I've spent too much, now !

I think they are easy to grow. I think when you get into the hundreds or thousands of plants, the probability of something unfortunate is always there and more noticeable. That's just statistics and ratios I guess. If I lose just part of one though it's like loosing a friend.

It is risky when we amass an extensive collection of any one plant species- the risk of some pathogen being introduced and running amok is always there. Aside from aesthetic reasons, it is why I like to have other plants growing between iris varieties; not sure if it helps much, but I feel it makes it harder for a problem to hop from iris to iris.

When I was giving 'talks' on organic gardening I used to emphasize just that, Neal. Planting the same plants, even in different colors, such as azaleas, all in a row leaves them more vulnerable to being all wiped out, or at least damaged, before the gardener is often aware he has a problem. I have mixed beds and also all iris beds. I even put bell peppers and a tomato plant in my sunny mixed beds.