Saving Iris Reticulata

Lizzie27

My irises have now finished flowering and are mostly in very small terracotta pots in a grit/compost mix. . I never know whether it is best to plant them out in the garden now, keep them in their pots and dry them off or remove from the pots when leaves are dead, dry the bulbs and store them until autumn. I've already fed them with a soluble fertiliser.  Any ideas please? 

Fire

I'd be slightly worrried about them rotting in sodden winter soil, if you plant them out. i have lost a lot that way.

K67

Just watched last week's gardeners world and Monty had some. I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention to it but he did dead head. I am sure someone will advise or BBC iPlayer 

Dovefromabove

I deadhead, feed and then move the pots to a quiet sheltered corner for the summer ... I don’t dry them off ... just leave them to the summer weather ... they’re in a free-draining compost with a fair bit of grit, so they don’t get boggy ... but reticulata don’t really last for more than two or three years ... they dwindle away to nothing. It’s a shame they don’t naturalise ... they’d look so pretty 😢 

Lizzie27

Thanks folks, I might try leaving some in their pots and plant out the rest and then see how they all do next year.