Those of you who've been following my posts know I had a terrible borer infestation last year, but this iris that rotted was not involved. It was newly planted in the garden last year, so it had no borer damage from last year's mess.
It was in a sunny, well drained location. It has not flooded. The season has not been particularly wet. It had increased, but slowly - one of the ones that weren't going to bloom this year. I had no reason to think anything was amiss with it until today I saw a fan lying on the ground.
When I grabbed it, it came right off - complete mush where the fan emerged from the rhizome. Then I felt the rhizome, and it too was soft. Everything looked normal from the outside. I would not have noticed anything if the fan hadn't fallen over - leaves green, rhizome normal color.
I pulled the whole thing out of the ground and tore it into pieces searching for a borer - nothing I could see.
Has anyone had this happen in their garden? This by the way, is why I never buy current year intros. It is bad enough to lose the iris like that, but it would be even worse if the flower cost near my weekly expenditure at the grocery store.
