#iris #irisblooms #gardenanswer
Today we will be taking a step by step look at 7 reasons why your Iris is not blooming. Then we will look a the solutions to remedy these problems. From lack of enough sunlight to overcrowding we will look at them all. Don’t despair, we can fix it.
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Thank you Maybe you planted your iris flowers a few years ago or possibly last autumn in the hopes that you would have some nice beautiful fluffy flowers to beautify your Spring Garden like I have here but instead you are seeing lots and lots of leaves and no blooms and this can be very
Disheartening especially if you are a new gardener so not to worry in today’s video I’m gonna go over seven reasons why your iris is not blooming and we’ll take a look at some solutions to help you over time to get this result this is your first time here my name is
Marlene and I just want to say welcome welcome to each and everyone welcome to Marlene’s how to’s my home and garden Channel so typically as gardeners whenever we’re not getting blooms we want to put food on our plants and we have different types here sometimes bone meal may be
Used as well but this is usually not a remedy for iris flowers unless the soil is really really bad in your area take a look here this is actually the storage Roots these are called rhizomes that are on the iris flowers and that’s what they use to store their food and
Just to give you a comparison here these are some ginger roots these are also rhizomes here as well they grow in a similar way and as you can see they are quite thick there’s a lot of food storage taking place in there so they typically have
More than enough food than they need you know it helps to feed the plant you know when it’s dormant it’s building up that comes down from the leaves and you can see this one this Ginger wheat is actually springing up right here so you know more than enough going on there for
These types of plants so let’s look at the reasons why so reason number one is not enough sunlight and that’s because this plant it typically needs six or more hours of direct sunlight they really need that so if your plant is in a shaded area
Then you’ll have to get more light on it or you may have to move them and we’ll take a look at that further in the video the second reason would be that the plant is not to mature enough so if you just planted them say last Autumn then
The following spring they’re not fully established yet like some I have here that grow bring over to the side just a few of them there so they’re still pretty young but over time you know they fix themselves I was able to get Bloom similar to these ones right here so it’s
Just a matter of giving them time if you are just planting them for the first time for three would be overcrowding if you look you’ll see that the rhizomes in the ground that they’re almost overlapping in some cases they’re so close together they’re competing for food they’re competing for water and
They’re just all bunched in and that’s not good for them at all so typically when you have too much of that going on you kind of have to go in and take some out like I’m doing right here so I’m using my travel right here and I’ll link
It below so if you wanted one like these from Amazon you can always get one it’s pretty sturdy and pretty you know pretty good for this type of job that we have going here and you’re just going and you slowly ease them out gently because they’re you
Know they’re pretty brittle so they can pop and if you’re gonna plant it you don’t want it to be broken because it may get you know disease or rot or whatever so you can see that we have the main rhizome there and we have some smaller roots coming off
And you know this is what you want to do take this off and you’ll use it somewhere else now once you’ve taken one off you just go in and take out a few more of them until everything looks light and reasonable if you don’t have you know
Other areas around your garden to place them like flower beds you can always put them in a large container just make sure that it’s a reasonably good size because you know they do spread over time and you don’t want them to get crowded too quickly in your container
Neighbor or a friend like I did I gave some to my friend can and she showed me the very next spring that she had a nice little Bloom on this one over here and we were so very excited to see this as you can see you know it’s coming up but
It did so so well so I was so happy for her and you know it’s really good to share your plants with others if you have a lot you know just bring them some you know happiness and coloration to their Garden the next thing is that and that’s number
Four that maybe you’re planting them too deep initially and I will link a video at the end that’s going to show you you know like how to plant them when to plant them the proper depth and so on so that we can get the best out of your
Iris plant because they are just such wonderful flowers I absolutely love them they’re very large and they’re very beautiful they multiply and they just come back year after year so I really love them the next thing is that possibly and this is number five that you’re putting too
Much mulch on them I’m just showing you some cypress mulch right here you can have pine bark molds different types of mulch but if there’s too much on them then what happens is when it goes on on them it gets root rot and that affects
The plant so over here I just wanted to show you that we you know for these beautiful ones right here that we actually use some River Rocks see how lovely they look they’re just thriving so well right there Little River Pebbles sometimes what is referred to as and it’s just basically
One layer that’s going on there and not only does it cover the function of making your Landscaping look really nice but it also is beautiful it just has that organic look and it works so well for them so we were quite happy with that choice so of course you know you
Have different types that you can use some people don’t Munch them at all but I think it’s good to have a little something on them you know and see how nice these stones are so they’re gonna maybe you can use um you know like tumbled glass or something like that
Whatever you prefer but just something that gives them just a little bit of protection but not too too deep because we don’t want to have root rot and all the other problems that go with that and so just to say that you know this is
A home and garden Channel I do a lot of gardening videos and I would absolutely love for you to hit the Subscribe button and tap the notification Bell twice so that way you never miss an upload you can always see what I’m up to and get more information so now we’re moving on
To the next possibility and this is that you’re actually having pests on your Iris plant so right you can see that these rules are damaged they have some Leaf borer pests going through that go down to the roots and actually affect them and unfortunately when they are like
That you just have to go in and take them out unfortunately you know we don’t want to lose our plan but in this case you really have to take them out because we don’t want it to spread it to other parts of the plant and you lose your
Entire you know all of your your flowers you really don’t want that so we just go in and ease them out as you can see I took my time doing it just to make sure it doesn’t impact anything else that might be close by and I’ll just take it out and this
You’ll want to make sure you’re putting it not in a compost tea but you want to put those in the trash so they just don’t get spread anywhere else and just to say that as a gardener it’s really good to go in and inspect your flowers you know go around and inspect
Your garden because you can have infestations coming in in such a short time whether it be from pests or diseases so it’s good to keep an eye on them like here for example you see that these are looking like weevils right here that’s coming out and this doesn’t
Really prevent prevent your plan from flooring but it can be like an annoyance you know so it’s good to just get rid of them so what I did was to go in and spray with some insecticidal soap on here to get them off and then you just leave it
On for 24 hours and you can go in and then just spray it off with a hose and these are some of the options that you have on here I’ll link some of them in the description box below as well you can get those on Amazon and most of them are pretty effective
Some people make their own insector saddle soap it just depends on what works best for you the next thing is trimming them back too soon because you know after your blooms have gone of course you’re gonna cut those out but it’s good to just take your blooms out and leave the leaves for
A while allow them to build up some energy in the leaves because those are going to get stored in the roots and I understand that yes you know your garden you want it to look really pretty and green all the time but this is a natural
Part of bulbs whether it be Iris you know with the rhizomes or tulips daffodils whatever they have to build up energy for the next season so what you can actually do is to get some other flowers you know that will come in after them so they’re
Not competing at the same time so when the iris goes then you can get like say these beautiful purple coneflowers right here echinacea as we call it and you can plant them right in front of it or to the side so that way it kind of offers
You know a nice option so while they’re changing the leaves on the irises changing these are beautifying the space for you over here is another option as well too these are annuals so the cone flowers are perennials but these are annual so they you know they’ll die out
After a year but they produce a lot of seeds and they’re really good pollinators so definitely a good choice as well too so now let’s go ahead and summarize and take a look at a bonus tip that I have for you as well so the first reason was
That you’re not getting enough sunlight so make sure that you are putting them in a spot if you’re planning them for the first time that you’re putting them in an area that gets a lot of sun if you need you can always clear out some of the trees or bushes that’s in
That area that’s maybe shadowing them over too much or you can move the plant like you saw me move some of the rhizomes and you can move those typically at the early spring or you can move them you know like um early fall either one is fine the next one is to
Make sure that it’s not um that a case where it’s just too young it hasn’t had enough time to develop yet in this case you just have to practice some patience like I did and it will reward you the following year so take heart you know
That option is there for you the next one is that it could be too crowded at the roots the rhizomes you want to ease some out if you’re seeing that crisscross pattern going on there and then the next one is that you don’t want to have them too deep so
You want to keep an eye on that and also the mulching make sure the mulching is not too much you know just lightly spread like I have these here so that way you know you’re not smothering out the roots you’re not going to get any root brats or anything like that
And then of course we want to make sure that we don’t have any pests on there or can any kind of diseases we want to treat those as needed and finally and you want to make sure that you’re not trimming them back too early because if you trim them back too early they
Don’t have enough time to build up enough now the bonus is that you want to make sure that you know we’re east west north and south is because for gardeners if you plant your flowers in a north-facing garden then typically you’re going to get less sunlight so remember that the sun rises
In the East and it sets in the west so that should give you an idea where North is so try to go for south west or east areas if you’re planting sun-loving flowers and that should help you out a lot in making that decision and I just wanted to take a moment to
Let you know that you know I do live videos most Saturdays they are freestyle we have lots of fun it’s very laid back and you can always go in and tap on my channel icon and hit the live Tab and you’ll see previous ones that I did or
You can even join me on some future ones you know so we can just shoot the breeze you know talk about topical things and just have some fun I do want to thank you so much for watching I wish you all the very best with your iris flowers I hope you have a
Wonderful spring leading into summer I do hope to see you in the next video take care
24 Comments
Thank you for sharing with us! I love watching gardening videos and seeing the different gardens around the world. A short story about sharing one's garden bounty.
I was a rural mail carrier for 30 years and one year a customer that I have known for twenty of those years, gave me several large clumps of irises. I had gone back at the end of the work day to pick them up and she even took the time to demonstrate how to divide them. She was a wonderful woman, with one of the most beautiful cottage gardens I have ever seen. She had some beautiful heirloom varieties of flowers I have never seen before except in books. She shared her knowledge and she became a surrogate mom to me, especially after my mother passed away. She taught me about collecting the seeds every fall and about keeping a ledger or journal of the garden. As she got older, I would go by whenever I could to help her (she had no children of her own), but she was still out in the garden up until the day she died. She passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 101.
I was stunned to be called to her lawyer's office soon after the funeral. She had left me part of her estate, the contents of her garden shed, and any plants I wanted from her garden. The
shed was meticulously kept and well organized with a potting table in front of a wall of windows at the front and a small desk at the back. She even kept a rocking chair with a floor lamp next to it in there. She taught me the importance of cleaning, sharpening, and oiling your garden tools each fall so they would not rust over winter. (They sure don't make tools like these anymore). Many of the gardening tools she used were her mother's and kept them looking new, so they will be left to my family when I pass.
I had just recently bought my first house and could not afford to buy the proper tools and plants to start my cottage garden. This was her gift to help me get started with my garden. The bulk of her estate went to the local garden club and the nature preserve she established when she was a younger woman. They will have enough money to keep them going for decades to come! Today, I have successfully established a cottage garden, and every year I watch those rare heirloom flowers bloom or the orange irises unfurl, I think of her. What a wonderful, generous woman and gardener she was.
My iris bloomed but turned white in stead of the lavender color. And my peonies turned yellow instead of pink. Is this a soil issue. If so what do I add and how much?
I'm so glad i watched tissue i just transplant an iris but definitely too deep and i may just have to get a new one as I did seed simular signs of pests. Question, If the rhizome has multiple heads or only has a small amount of pest damage can you cut to a health part of the rhizome and still use it?
Thanks for sharing ❤
Marlene, I also moved and have a lot of iris that are overgrown and solid shade. I am in NC. So I am learning about iris etc. thanks Mary
There're two primary reasons Iris do not bloom.
The corm should never be planted, rather laid into a shallow trench with the top of the corms exposed to the Sun,
and Iris do NOT like to be crowded and will not bloom if not divided every 2-3 years.
The mulch is not a good idea because Iris boars hide in the mulch, so I had to remove all the mulch from my irises
very good 💞😊👍👍👍👍👍😘
I enjoyed your video. In my small, very sunny front garden, I have the common blue irises plus large, tall two-colour irises that start blooming when the common ones are done. These large ones are white with dark purple edges. People come close up to take photos of them as they walk by my house. I've had both varieties in the same bed for about 10 years, where they got too overcrowded. I dug them all out and selected only the best and healthiest looking ones, with good roots, that had never bloomed and I divided them. I had so many, that I was able to share lots with 4 other people. I mixed some bone meal into the soil and re-planted them in the same bed, nicely spaced out. For the next two years, I did not have a single bloom, until this year. Even though I continued doing everything as before, it seems that they just needed their two years to recover. I kept checking with the other 4 people and their experience was exactly the same. We all have lots of beautiful blooms this year.
The house i bought came with some amazing irises. Ive been here for two years. I saw them bloom last year but very sparingly. So this spring i dug and divided them. I also composted alot of the rhyzome(sry, i had no takers so into the compost bin).
I seen those Iris blooms , I subscribed . Thanks
Thank you. I love my iris'and can't wait to plant them in more in the sun. Thank you for your help
awesome information. I love your clear and precise explanation on how to take care of the plant. New subscriber.
Shame,about the backcrond music,😡😡
I just was clearing out a section where most of my irises are located – (very recently new gardener – and I uncovered bunches of over crowded ryzones that I have now gently removed – is there anything I can put them in to revive them – our season for irises is almost over and I found this clump as I was removing dead leaves –
Not seeing the link to depth of planting….
Very helpful. Thank you ❤
Catnip is a great companion plant for iris. The areas i have them together, there are no pest problems.
How many bulbs should you plant together?
Beautiful video ❤
I used to grow tall bearded irises back when I lived in Pennsylvania. But now l been living in Florida for 10 years and during that whole time I haven't been able to get them to grow here. And I was wondering if you have any idea as to why that might be?
Thanks for this video. It’s very informative and I especially liked the end with the summary. ❤
Want to hear something funny? We have a new home on about 1.5 acres. The land was cleared before my home was built, and it was nothing but a field littered with garbage and such beforehand. Very unkempt. I have not planted a single thing besides a few trees but I noticed irises popping up under one tree, a sweet gum tree, in our yard! I couldn't believe it. Where did they come from?! No idea. But I am loving having them. I plan to add more iris bulbs in the spring. They have not bloomed as of yet. Just noticed them about two months ago here in North Central Texas, USA. They are short leaves still, about five or six inches, some a little taller, some a little shorter. We have very compacted clay here so I'm not sure how they grew without any amendment to the soil, nor without someone planting them. My guess is some squirrels or rabbits got into someone's iris bulbs and dropped them off here, maybe? That's my best guess but I'll never know for sure. Your irises are lovely! The purple is so stunning.
Beautiful plant