Just was wondering if I should cut off spent blooms or not. Kim

I usually snap them off....it looks a little better, and ,if you don't ,they sometimes mess up the next bloom. That said, I usually fall WAY behind with dead heading

Thanks Arlyn!

Is there a trick to snapping them off? I've tried, but I don't seem to have the knack for it. I cut them off and leave a couple inches.. When that stub dries up, they do snap off ok..

Sherry, I think Arlyn is talking about deadheading the blooms and it sounds like you are talking about cutting off the stalks. Both are different issues...and I'd be interested to hear from others about when and how they do these chores. I know that deadheading and/or cutting the stalks conserves energy that the plant might use developing bee pods...and it definitely looks better with them removed. But I would like to know from those of you with more experience about what you think is the best way and best time to do this clean-up work.

When I dead head them, I am careful to use two hands, I have lost some buds, especially on the ones with double sockets.

Tom is right. If you are deadheading blooms be very careful just to remove the spent bloom. Otherwise you may be removing a developing bloom in the same socket. I like deadheading spent blooms because I do not like them distracting from the new blooms but like Arlyn I don't always keep up with this chore. It helps to keep clippers in your pocket when you go about the garden. That way you can make clean cuts and not break off the entire socket. As for the entire bloom stalk........ I think bloom stalks, when finished blooming, are very ugly in the iris garden. Once I can cut them off my garden looks like a happy place again.

I find that bending the spent blossom end away from the stalk works pretty well if I grab low enough to take off the "bee pod" next to the stalk. The spent bloom is often hard to get off without grabbing that stiffer area below it as it is often too soft.

As to removing the entire stalks after blossoming I try to not leave the rhizome with an open wound on top which can hold water and cause future rot. Often I just cut the stalk down to just below the leaves leaving it harder for water to cause problems to the rhizome.

I have gotten pretty good with snapping them off. This year, everything looks pretty good now. Last year, I just let everything go and had to play catch-up.

I snap them off. If there is another bloom in the socket I break off the spent bloom with my fingernail, then snap off the remaining lower part (the pod) after all the blooms in the socket are spent. At that point the pods snap off easily from the stalk. I take off the first faded bloom because they often get stuck on the second bud otherwise.

Dead heading prevents bee pods & when a stalk is finished bloom especially on the larger irises, I cut it so that water doesn't go down the stem & cause rot.

I'm pretty good at snapping of spent blooms (one-handed w/ few casualties).. Joe Ghio was taking about snapping off spent stalks at one of our recent meetings, and I was cutting a lot of stalks yesterday, so that's where my brain went. I'll have to ask him what his trick is.