Wow.

I've been finding lots of raised soil areas which I presumed were from moles (I smash them down), but I had also been finding (on the house side of the creek) piles of dirt mounded here and there, which I thought were from gophers. (We definitely do have gophers on the other side of the creek. )

However, I was a bit confused in that no plants had gone missing (that could not easily be attributed to the rabbits). Nothing sucked down. Zero, zip, nada.

I have to wonder now if those particular dirt mounds were from moles - I never knew that they could/would do that before.

Editing to add.... with Warp here, we can't use any kind of mechanical trap, and no poisons that he could get at. I guess I get to expect lots more mole mounds!

Moles make dirt mounds too. A gopher's mound will be sort of "C" shades with a plugged hole. A mole's mound will be shaped more like a volcano.

One safe way to get moles to leave is to buy a bunch of Juicy Fruit gum and drop it down the mole holes. It plugs them up so they usually up and leave. I get moles but soon after I get snakes. While I am not found of copperheads, I am really fond of their ability to rid the yard of any moles that haven't been juicy fruited.

I would say that it doesn't "Double Their Fun" wouldn't you??

UndertheSun said:Moles make dirt mounds too. A gopher's mound will be sort of "C" shades with a plugged hole. A mole's mound will be shaped more like a volcano.

Thanks for that explanation, Rob!

I use a product called Talprid for moles. It's a poison gummy worm that you put into the tunnel. I've never had any luck trapping them. I get it online..

Sherry -- does it work?

In checking the iris gardens this morning, I have found 2 more Rhizomes without fans, these are newly planted rhizomes, and now they have no leaves at all. I have never experienced this before.
What would cause the fans (ok, the 2 leaves each rhizome had) to just die and drop over ?

...hopefully not rot?

Did you check if the rhizomes are firm and don't have goo where the fans used to be attached?

IMHO, leaves on "newly planted" rhizomes don't mean too much ! As was stated, if the rhizome is firm...all is well ! When a plant is dug, and dried for shipment.....sometimes it's only a matter of days until it's back in the ground, and it's those that maintain their green leaves, and "turgid" roots, so they can start new growth quite early. But, if it's a matter of WEEKS before the rhizomes get into the ground, regardless of their state of growth, at the time of digging, ....they go into "dormant mode", leaves and roots have dried to the point of "falling off", and new growth can be slow to start. Again, IMHO, and from what I've seen in my beds, when these kind of plants DO start new growth, it's "all roots" for quite a while, and it's often weeks (sometimes 6-8) before you "see green". Again, if the rhizome is firm....don't worry ! Although, precautions should be taken with these "late planted" ones to prevent heaving during the winter .

The rhizomes are rock hard and solid. They are not soft or mushy, so I doubt rot is the problem here.
I was just very surprised that a rhizome just planted in August would lose its leaves at this early stage.

put a rock (or brick) on top of the rhizome to prevent heaving.

Ok, Thank You, Lucy !

I once received an entire order of totally naked Iris rhizomes -- no leaves, no roots. I ordered them off Ebay -- and as it happens, from a scammer and they ended up being ditch Iris instead of the registered Irises I ordered. BUT -- the important thing here is that I planted them -- and they settled in well, developed roots and leaves -- and ultimately bloomed (which is how I found out they were NOT what they were supposed to be). It did take two years for the blooms to show.

Well, I too have purchased many Iris rhizomes off of Ebay .... There was only one time that a rhizome ended up not being what it was supposed to be (Wabash). I was very disappointed in that. So this year I made darn sure I purchased enough 'Wabash' from a reputable vendor to insure that next Spring I would be delighted. But I also
received rhizomes that were such total trash that I had to contact the vendor and demand my money back.
So, now I don't use Ebay anylonger for buying iris rhizomes.

There are so many good irises offered by growers.

I was really glad to see the No Roots posts because I looked for this info last year. A vendor sent me a rhizome with no roots. I wasn't sure whether to plant it, and I am happy to say I did and not only did it grow but it bloomed the next Spring. Now the bad news: I have not seen it for several months (went underground). This happens here in our desert heat and they usually come back but I am extra concerned about this one because of it's rough start. It is Consipracy and the bloom was absolutely gorgeous so I am hoping and praying I see it again. But I may find out yet that there are delayed issues with No Root Rhizomes.

Also, another "The Amazing Iris" story. I had a rhizome that I had separated to give to friends but had one more than I needed of one type. I left the Rhizome on a chair arm outside, fully meaning to re-plant it when I had time. It managed early on to drop from the chair to the patio cement. One month went by and then two months and there it stayed. Then we had frosts and I finally felt bad enough I put it back in soil and the next Spring it grew just great, as if it had never left the ground. I was impressed to say the least that even laying outside in a freeze did not kill it. But I should add, the variety this happened with is pretty hardy.

I think that is one of the issues. Some older varieties are so hardy you literally cannot kill them. Those are the kind that can suffer all sorts of abuse and still live on and thrive. Others, not so much.

Jane: Yes, I totally agree. For awhile I thought I would not be able to grow SDB's cause the 1st one I had took 4 years to bloom but I was brave and tried a few more and they did better. So I agree that the variety can have more to do with a successful final outcome than anything else.