Hey Emma, I've always had luck with iris. Planted them in several locations from dry soil to moist, and sunny to shade and have always had blooms...except for this year. It rained so much and lack of sunshine not even one plant bloomed. So don't feel you failed maybe conditions weren't right. I also have a friend who almost had iris planted in his entire tree shade backyard and had tons of blooms, but I didn't know if he got blooms this year. Some times they have to take a year or two to get accustomed to the difference in climate. Stay with it...they'll eventually bloom.