Nana
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dividing bulbs

I am having to dig up and redo some old landscaping. I dug lots of daylilys , daffodills, and bearded iris. Should I replant them now after dividing or let them dry and replant in fall?

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nes
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I don't want to steal thread, but I'm having a weed issue in a bed with tons of iris I'm trying really hard not to kill.

Do you pull up your irises at this point in the summer?
(mine have foliage until frost)

I'm also really interested in the answer you get!! :)

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rainbowgardener
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I'd plant the bulbs back right away. Just because they are dormant (and probably your daylilies and iris aren't even dormant yet) doesn't mean they don't still need some watering. This isn't the ideal time to be dividing and moving your bulbs, but they are mostly pretty tough and should survive it.
Cut the foliage (if any, daffodil foliage is probably gone already) back to just a few inches. Dig the hole where they are going to first, so you can pop them right into it and water well. Keep them watered (but not WET) until they revive from transplant shock.

Nes I didn't understand your comment about pulling up iris. It looks like you are in zone 5 and iris are generally hardy down to zone 3. Why pull them up at all? In the fall cut off any dead foliage and trim the rest down to a few inches and leave them in the ground.

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hendi_alex
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Daffodils can dry, day lilies and iris need to be put back into soil. If your bed is ready, go ahead and put them back in, but give them plenty of water for the rest of the summer. If the bed is not ready, put them in old nursery pots or similar containers, and replant in the fall or spring when the bed is ready.

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nes
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I want to take mine out so I can do something about the weeds in the bed with out damaging my irises, like nana was doing. If they'll survive in a pot for a week or two I might try that :? Is this a good time of year? Or would it be better to do it in the fall?

I also didn't realize bearded Iris needed full-sun (I didn't plant mine), mine are in full-shade, I think I have some re-organizing to do :shock:.
Last edited by nes on Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

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hendi_alex
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It is always better in the fall, but if the plants are put in pots in a morning sun or filtered light area and given plenty of water, they should do fine. I just dug a large clump of iris a couple of days ago. When digging them, I cut the fans back to about five or six inches so as to not put too much stress on the roots and bulbs. I'm going to lift some day lilies in the next day or two. Their soil is so dry, they will likely perk up when I move them to their temporary nursery pot containers of rich, moist soil. Also am going to lift and pot quite a few hostas which are not doing well in our dry soil that is totally criss crossed with oak roots.



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