Debra, I am in zone 7a (actually middle of state so really still 7). Most Iris growers here will not grow the MDB's and are quick to tell people who ask that MDB's do not do well here. I have one little guy called 'Trimmed Velvet' that not only increases well, but bloomed and re-bloomed last year. It is the only little MDB that is a re-bloomer that I know of. He grows in full sun and just seems to like being left alone. A year ago, in the dead of winter, a friend gave me tiny survivors of her attempt to grow MDB's. She lost their names and they were growing in shallow soil in the bottom of black plastic pots stacked haphazardly by her garden shed. Unlike most iris, MDB's do not like being uprooted and will take their time to settle in and begin blooming again so I brought them home and repotted them in larger pots and put them all together in an old wheelbarrow with mulch around the pots. I pushed the wheelbarrow around the yard during the summer according to shady conditions and high temperatures. A young man who has recently just become interested in growing iris came to my garden to take photos and called this 'iris in their mobile home'. They did well and I am hoping for some bloom this spring. They will get permanent homes in the ground this summer without disturbing their roots.
