Bearded Irises

justflowers

I am planning to create a small bed of bearded irises.  I have tried planting them in a mixed border before and, although they put on leaves they have never flowered - this is after 3 years.  I have been told that they prefer to be in a bed without other species - is this true? There is a very tempting offer at Thompson and Morgan at the moment, but I'm unsure whether buying rhizomes - albeit very cheaply - in December is a good idea.  Would they store well over Winter and when should I plant them?  Sorry for all the questions , but I am a newbie to growing bearded irises but I really love them and want to have them in my garden.

owd potter

Hiya,
mine do well enough in a mixed bed together with other very demanding plants.
They need to be planted with the rhizome exposed to sun, lots of sun, in in order to flower well. 
I'm no expert so may be wrong here, but time to divide and replant them is after flowering in May/June, so I doubt that now is a good time to plant them

amancalledgeorge

If you want to make a good start much better to look into sourcing them from a better provider. Those cheap offers end up costing you more in the long run, as the quality is extremely variable. One such place is: http://irisofsissinghurst.com/shop/ they grow good plants and know their irises. Look up particular favourite varieties on the RHS's plant finder and find other specialist growers https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-form and take it from there.  

Pete.8

I have several patches of tall bearded iris.
As OP mentions above the rhizome needs to be on the soil surface and be able to baked in the sun to flower the following year.
Approx every 3 years the clump will need to be divided or they will be too congested to flower even if the rhizome is in the sun.
They're quite happy amongst other plants, so long as the rhizome gets plenty of sun on it and is not shaded by other plants.

I definitely wouldn't plant them now though - wait until spring and all being well they'll flower the following year.

As an example, I bought 3 White City about 10 years ago. I've now got several groups of them and have given away loads of rhizomes too.

justflowers

Great advice - thanks to all.  I will definitely give the offer a miss, wait until Spring and look at specialists - I have looked at the Iris of Sissinghurst website, thanks @amancalledgeorge, and don't think I need to look much further, although we do have a local supplier, Claire Austin, who I will also look at.  From what you have said, the ones I have have been shaded by other plants and I may also have planted them too deep, so I will move them next Spring.  Those White City are absolutely gorgeous, @Pete.8 , I just hope I am as successful!

Dovefromabove

Claire Austin is Highly Recommended 👍 😊 

bertrand-mabel

Kelways in Somerset is also a great place for irises

justflowers

Thanks both. @bertrand-mabel , I will definitely take a look at Kelways. @Dovefromabove , I have visited Claire Austin's garden a couple of times in the past and have bought plants - though not irises - that have always done well, so I think she is well worth a look at too - sadly, I don't think she opens her garden to the public anymore but there is still mail order.

SueAtoo

Many of my bearded irises seem to grow at an angle. Is there any reason for this / how can I get them to grow more upright?

Dovefromabove

SueAtoo said:

Many of my bearded irises seem to grow at an angle. Is there any reason for this / how can I get them to grow more upright?

🤔 can you explain more?

bertrand-mabel

Our irises love to move out of the flower bed and onto the slabs. Here they have the heat that they love. Keeping on the top is waht they do best but the flowers though still stay upright.