Yeah, as Tom said, "it depends"! I get my bed ready as far in advance as I can, so it can be "settled", and most of the fresh sprouted weeds can be dealt with before the iris come. I also usually print out my "data sheets" for each iris( either the HIPS page from the photo section, or from the AIS wiki), and get my "ground tags" engraved and wired to the nails I use as stakes. Then I check all the data sheets , for height, and look at the pictures to check for "color effect". I plant mostly by height, tallest at the back of the bed, getting shorter as they move to the front, and try (usually) not to plant two of similar color next to each other. With that all done, I just wait for the box to come, and then panic!
....Arlyn
