Please help save my irises! (containers, winter?)

[gardenvarietyfarmer]

In the back yard we have some irises that have sort of been passed down through the family. They started out in my great grandmother's garden, and then my grandparents took some bulbs and planted them in their own garden and so on.

We're having some work done on the back of the house and I went out today to find them buried under some rubble! We have some more irises out in the front yard so it's not a huge deal if I lose these, but these are a pretty black color whereas the ones in the front yard are lighter purple.

But anyways, I'd like to save the irises if I can. I went out just now and excavated some the plants, dug up the bulbs, and put them into 5-gallon nursery pots. I left some in the ground because I don't really know what I'm doing, and I know irises are a hardy plant so they may just survive on their own (though I'm pretty sure the deck is going over where they are right now...).


Now I have my irises in pots but I'm not quite sure what to do with them for the winter. I don't know where I want to put them yet because there is a lot of construction left to go and I'm not sure what the yard will look like. Where should I store them? Do I need to water them over the winter if I keep them inside? Will spending the winter inside this year adversely affect the plants next winter?

Thanks!

[Kisal]

It's very difficult to say, not knowing where you're located. Do you have a garage? A basement?

The irises can survive the winter in the containers, even outdoors, but you may have to give them some special protection and care, depending on what your winter weather is like.

Can you share some more details, so we can give you better help?

[hendi_alex]

Cut the fans back to about six inches and place in light shade or morning sun only. Leave the plants in pots until spring if you wish but if you live in a very cold area, after the first killing frost, cover the pots with lots of mulch until mild weather. If you are in zone 8 or warmer, the plants will be fine in pots with no special protection.

I recently dug some of my iris plants, cut the fans back to six inches and placed them in one gallon nursery pots. The plants never even wilted in spite of 90 degree days. It is pretty hard to kill an iris.

[gardenvarietyfarmer]

Ah, of course you need to know where I live! This wouldn't be a problem if I lived in Florida

I'm in MA, right near Boston. We do usually get pretty cold winters.

I don't imagine mulching the top of the pots would help much - I was always under the impression that the real problem is freezing from the sides and bottom. When in the ground, the dirt can regulate temperature since the farther down you go, the less it is affected by the temp... But in a pot it can freeze all the way through.

I do have a garage I can put them in where it will get down to about freezing but not too much colder. However they won't get much sun in there. I have a porch which also gets down to around freezing that gets a bit more sun. I think this will probably be the best spot.

What about watering? Since they're inside they won't be getting any moisture from snowmelt, and dehydration is a bigger problem in containers since there is just less dirt for them to draw water from.

[Kisal]

My irises die down to the ground every year. And we barely see the sun around here from the beginning of October until the end of June, anyway.

You are right that mulch on the top of the soil in the container won't offer sufficient protection. If there's an out-of-the-way spot in your yard, where they won't be in danger from the construction, you can sink the pots in the ground and cover over them with a deep mulch. That would probably be the best course of action, IMO.

I tend to agree that, if you choose not to sink the pots in the ground, then the porch would probably be best.

I think I would keep the soil just barely moist throughout the winter. You don't want to let them get so dry the tubers become dessicated, but the plants won't be actively using water or losing any through their leaves during the winter, either, so they won't need much.

[rainbowgardener]

As Kisal said they need a little water while dormant to keep the rhizome from drying out but not much. They also don't need much sun. Once the leaves have turned brown and been cut back, they aren't photosynthesizing any more, so it doesn't matter if they get sun until spring.

And they are hard to kill. I had some one give me some iris, that I just dropped on the ground in a very shady, bad soil, dry spot, just until I figured out where I was going to put them. You may guess the end of the story is I forgot about them, but they just rooted themselves in and started growing. Given how amazing it was in that spot, I haven't had the heart to move them, although in such bad conditions they grow, but don't bloom.

[gardenvarietyfarmer]

Thanks so much for the help!