A few days ago, I dug and divided 12 varieties of bearded irises, giving me about 120 fans planted in two 4'x8' raised beds. Today, I mulched the beds with chopped leaves to mitigate the intensity of the Colorado sun (we are at about 5000 ft.) . . . and it is usually quite arid (humidity is 18% today).
After irrigating the soil, I spread leaf mulch over both beds, scraping the leaves away from the partially exposed rhizomes. This should hold them for the winter.
Those are daikon radishes in the lower right-hand corner, and calendula in the lower left.
