My irises are listed on a spreadsheet in alphabetical order. I list the hybridizer, date of introduction, registered height, bloom time, parentage and last award received. Then I list date acquired, where purchased, and where I planted it. After I plant it, I note down the date it first 'gave me the finger'. Then each year, I enter the date it first bloomed, the date of its last bloom, and number of fans and bud stalks. If I move an iris, I enter the number of rhizomes I moved and where I moved them to. The nice thing about the spreadsheet is that I can enter more rows when I need them. It is nice to have a history of each iris and how it fares in my garden. I was going to measure stalks and count buds, but that didn't happen.
I don't put pictures in the spreadsheet, but keep an annual album on my computer of each iris that bloomed that year .
I also keep a general iris garden journal, which includes the dates when I fertilized and climate events like unseasonal weather or unusual rainfall.
