Iris
Colleen (Sun, 25 Nov 2012 10:22:28 PST)

Hi Silent Seed,

I am not on the coast. We are on the east side of the Sierras and at 4,100'
elevation. While we are not desert, we do have a dry climate.

A few years ago I decided to do the "right" thing and separate the historic
iris on this property and remove the wild rye grass that suffocates
everything. I researched the directions for planting iris, planted
accordingly and lost nearly all of them! I was just sick. Then I found
that a few plants had overwintered just fine while buried under heaps of sod
and soil. This made me think that iris need to be planted more deeply in
this climate. Then I met two women who plant their iris 6-8 inches deep!
Another woman, who lives out in the Nevada desert, plants her's about 4
inches deep. All of this made me think that maybe a pile of leaves might be
a welcome addition.

Also, this year I raised some dahlias and planted them out. Supposedly I am
to dig and store them. This is not going to happen for many reasons so I
figured I have nothing to lose from trying a thick cover of leaves.

Directions for lily bulbs in this climate say to mulch. So they received
plenty of leaves.

I just went out and flipped up the iris leaves through the tree leaves
wondering if sun on the leaves, but mulch on the ground would be a good
combination. Maybe there will be some more comments in which case I can go
back out and recover the iris. :)

Colleen

-----Original Message-----
From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]
On Behalf Of The Silent Seed
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2012 9:12 AM
To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [pbs] Iris

Here in the Northeast, yes. But I don't know about the West Coast, since I
imagine they are still growing ?

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-----Original Message-----
From: Colleen <silkie@frontiernet.net>
To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sun, Nov 25, 2012 11:16 am
Subject: [pbs] Iris

Hi All!

I have an unexpected large amount of leaves this fall, mostly large elm
leaves, so I have been piling them on my flower beds as a mulch. Most of my
Iris still have green leaves. Is it OK to bury them under leaves?

Thanks,

Colleen

High desert, NE California, zone 5-6