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propagating perennials: Siberian iris
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Siberian iris

Siberian iris grow by rhizomes and are the easiest of perennials to propagate by division because they grow in clumps and the best time to propagate is in the fall but generally they can be propagated anytime the plant is not flowering. As the enclosed photo to the right shows it does well in very moist areas. I was dividing my plants last year and threw a single stem that I felt was not large enough to propagate over the bank, it was not planted, and look how it took hold and the growth in had in one year in dappled sun. If you have a wet area in your yard this is one plant that will thrive. I will provide an update when I transplant this clump so you can see how the roots exploded. It prefers a slightly acidic soil and most varieties will grow upwards of 3 feet, and the leaves are narrower then bearded iris, and the colors vary from white./yellow to blues and purples and bloom late spring to early summer. I was able to purchase additional rhizomes from the markdown bin at Costco so I am not certain what kind of luck I will have in growing those 12 plants because the roots looked pretty sickly when I opened the bags but I wanted the additional colors. Update-I dug up the plant that I threw down the hill last year because it was too small to attempt to transplant and look at the root system.

2 comments:

Barbee' said...

I enjoyed your post. I planted several Siberians last autumn and can hardly wait for them to start blooming. Doubt if it will be this year.

bullthistle said...

I was shocked when it started to grow on its own after discarding it for being too small. I plan on dividing it and will display the root system when I do. I just hope my bargins from Costco do as well but they still look dead. It may be late but you still might get blooms this year.

 
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