Pseudocoras needs deadheading only, or cutting to ground?

paulpuk2000

Ive deadheaded the pseudocoras (yellow flag iris), in the hope they'll flower again, but am I right in thinking they are going to seed?

They're lovely flowers, but I don't want them to spread, so should I be cutting below the bulbous growth (what I think are seed pods), or even down to ground?

I have been told that they should flower again, but I don't see any sign of that.

Buttercupdays

They don't flower again and you can safely remove the entire seed bearing stem. They are very tough plants and they spread by their rhizomes as well as by seed. You will see new, little shoots popping up somewhere in the vicinity of the parent plant and you can cut through the rhizomes with a sharp spade. They are lovely plants but grow wild here and I am always having to restrain their enthusiasm in the garden!

bcpathome

They only flower once .Cut them back 

paulpuk2000

Thanks you very much.  I had heard that they can flower twice, with a lower bloom (height wise) than the first ?  And on checking google, one said, cut it down after flowering, & the other said let it stay (after flowering) until the autumn, so rather confusing.  These are corms.

I had also heard that they are invasive, despite their beauty, so I will cut the seed pod.  

In previous years, we had just one flower (two, in a high yield year), but this year, after having had a bad accident, that has taken basically, 3 years to recover from, I managed to weed around it, and get the sun to the corms, so we had 27 blooms (9 plants X 3) this year.  Amazing the difference it makes.

Buttercupdays

They aren't that fussed about sun, they couldn't grow here most years if they were!

It's plenty of moisture and nutrient rich soil they really like. The wild ones here seed themselves into a boggy area that is covered in a tangle of wild vegetation. They will grow happily in a pond edge or a ditch with the rhizome covered in mud. They grow into  large clumps and look impressive when they flower. Ours have had relatively few flowers this year because of the weather; a hot dry spring followed by a very dry June was not to their taste.

paulpuk2000

Yes, I'm aware that they like water, to a degree.  I was referring to the sun because apparently, the corms like to be 'baked', and it has definitely worked, this year.  Although, if they like to be baked, how would they fare at a pond's edge?  Perhaps the water warms a little?

We're lucky here, in that, though we've had enough wind for 3 years (never known it so consistently windy, ever) it is fairly sheltered, at the side. back & even the top. through a holly tree.  Maybe that bit of extra protection has made all the difference?

Mrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants

Ours thrived in the pond but only once a year. I always cut the pod and stem. One year I tried them in a small, dry raised bed and they grew quite well.

Wild_Violet

I made a “wild” area around a small pond and the flag irises took over after a couple of years. They seem happy in sun baked soil and also in the wet.  In fact some of mine spread into the pond. 

It took about a week to dig them  all out at the end of last summer although a few popped up again this year. 

I don’t remember them repeat flowering but I wasn’t really paying too much attention to them until they had profusely multiplied. I’d only use them in a large area TBO but they have their beauty. 

Liriodendron

It's the bearded irises which need sun on their rhizomes - Iris pseudacorus is an extremely tough native plant which prefers wet soil, and doesn't require summer baking.  One of its common names is Water Flag.  You can see huge stands of it in bogs in Scotland, though as Mrs B3 says, it will also grow in drier conditions.  I've never noticed it flowering more than once so I'd cut that seedhead down now, I think.  

Fairygirl

The Iris you're describing is technically a pond plant @paulpuk2000 , unlike the bearded Iris, so as @Liriodendron says - I think you're confusing the two, very different, types. It's possible that yours is doing better this year simply because it's more mature   

They'll also grow readily in any moist areas - grassy or otherwise. We have them everywhere round here - along the ditches and edges of fields etc, where the ground doesn't dry out. They'll grow in shade as well as sun. 
They can be invasive though, in the right situation - ie ponds or permanently damp areas. 

paulpuk2000

I'm a little confused now.  First of all, I thought corms were something different to rhizomes, as one lays on top of the soil, and the other grows below the surface?  

The one we have is definitely a corm, and we've had it for, at least, 7/8 years, so it should be mature, but we've only ever had one bloom, and 2 blooms in another year, some 3/4 years back, for some reason.  The rest of the leaves didn't produce anything.  As I said, this year, I've had time to weed the area, and clear away grass from the corms, and suddenly, we've had 27 blooms, I'd thought because the corms were free to be 'baked'?  

So is it possible for rhizomes to be baked too then?  I always though they were below surface?  Is it that they are only just below surface, so can feel heat enough, to be 'baked'?  Rather confused.