Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

Digger... · May 22, 2025

jeffashman said:
a sunflower from the feeder…

Who's getting the spoils off of this grow?

jeffashman said:
note the yardstick

How many centimetres in a yard?

Digger... · May 22, 2025

Some of the Camellia flowers in bloom here,

SquarePeg · May 23, 2025

@snowbear this popped up in my feed today. Thought it might be helpful.

IRIS 101
Many people know how to prune roses, or cut back their black eyed Susan's, dead head petunias, but I'm amazed at the missing knowledge for iris care, so I thought Id share this information hoping that it will help someone have amazing blooms year after year!

IRIS 101. Once a rhizome blooms it will never bloom again, it will then create daughters, they will bloom next year if growth conditions are good, they will then become mothers and so on. This is why is very important to dig and prune out iris every 3-4 yrs. Also why iris will appear to stop growing and become thin with less blooms, they're over crowded. Sometimes you'll notice iris will often create a circle with an empty area, this is the mothers offspring.

Dig up your clumps of iris, starting about 6" away from the plant if possible, trim back the foilage to 6-8" in an upside down V shape to prevent breakage, and put it on a concrete area if available. Take the garden hose and go to town! You will not hurt them, get them nice and clean so you can see what is what.

I prefer to use bypass prunes, but you can use strong scissors or a sharp knife. You want to trim off your daughters, ideally leaving about 3" of rhizome. You can toss the mothers or "old toes" or replant them, they will usually grow more daughters but at a slower pace as they get older. Meaning each mother will take at least 2-3 years to see a bloom. If the daughters are small, you can leave them on a young mother to help them grow bigger.

When you replant use the long roots as an anchor, I work up the dirt, and put the root (not rhizome) about 3" deep, and the rhizome ( the ugly toe part) at the surface barely covered by dirt, when the dirt settles and you water, the rhizome will show, that's ok.

It's best to divide in the fall after the rhizomes have had all summer to grow, if you need to divide sooner, it may slow your next bloom but won't hurt the plant over all.
If you bury too deep they will suffocate and take years to bloom. Do not mulch, they will suffocate and get fungus from the held in moisture.
If you're worried about fungus or parasites from cutting your iris, you can dip them in neem oil before replanting.

Photo courtesy of Daves Garden

snowbear · May 23, 2025

Digger... said:
How many centimetres in a yard?

A yard is 36 inches, so 91.44cm or 914.4mm

snowbear · May 23, 2025

SquarePeg said:
@snowbear this popped up in my feed today. Thought it might be helpful.

IRIS 101
Many people know how to prune roses, or cut back their black eyed Susan's, dead head petunias, but I'm amazed at the missing knowledge for iris care, so I thought Id share this information hoping that it will help someone have amazing blooms year after year!

IRIS 101. Once a rhizome blooms it will never bloom again, it will then create daughters, they will bloom next year if growth conditions are good, they will then become mothers and so on. This is why is very important to dig and prune out iris every 3-4 yrs. Also why iris will appear to stop growing and become thin with less blooms, they're over crowded. Sometimes you'll notice iris will often create a circle with an empty area, this is the mothers offspring.

Dig up your clumps of iris, starting about 6" away from the plant if possible, trim back the foilage to 6-8" in an upside down V shape to prevent breakage, and put it on a concrete area if available. Take the garden hose and go to town! You will not hurt them, get them nice and clean so you can see what is what.

I prefer to use bypass prunes, but you can use strong scissors or a sharp knife. You want to trim off your daughters, ideally leaving about 3" of rhizome. You can toss the mothers or "old toes" or replant them, they will usually grow more daughters but at a slower pace as they get older. Meaning each mother will take at least 2-3 years to see a bloom. If the daughters are small, you can leave them on a young mother to help them grow bigger.

When you replant use the long roots as an anchor, I work up the dirt, and put the root (not rhizome) about 3" deep, and the rhizome ( the ugly toe part) at the surface barely covered by dirt, when the dirt settles and you water, the rhizome will show, that's ok.

It's best to divide in the fall after the rhizomes have had all summer to grow, if you need to divide sooner, it may slow your next bloom but won't hurt the plant over all.
If you bury too deep they will suffocate and take years to bloom. Do not mulch, they will suffocate and get fungus from the held in moisture.
If you're worried about fungus or parasites from cutting your iris, you can dip them in neem oil before replanting.

Photo courtesy of Daves Garden

Thanks, this will be helpful.

Rickbb · May 23, 2025

Digger... said:
Who's getting the spoils off of this grow?

How many centimetres in a yard?

Roughly 1 yard = 1 meter, close enough anyway.

jeffashman · May 23, 2025

Digger... said:
Who's getting the spoils off of this grow?

How many centimetres in a yard?

Da boids is getting' da spoils natch... A yard is approximately one meter, just a hair short. Lurch is about two meters tall and growing... now that I think of it, I hope it isn't related to Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors)... if one of the dogs goes missing, I'll know why...

jeffashman · May 23, 2025

SquarePeg said:
@snowbear this popped up in my feed today. Thought it might be helpful.

IRIS 101
Many people know how to prune roses, or cut back their black eyed Susan's, dead head petunias, but I'm amazed at the missing knowledge for iris care, so I thought Id share this information hoping that it will help someone have amazing blooms year after year!

IRIS 101. Once a rhizome blooms it will never bloom again, it will then create daughters, they will bloom next year if growth conditions are good, they will then become mothers and so on. This is why is very important to dig and prune out iris every 3-4 yrs. Also why iris will appear to stop growing and become thin with less blooms, they're over crowded. Sometimes you'll notice iris will often create a circle with an empty area, this is the mothers offspring.

Dig up your clumps of iris, starting about 6" away from the plant if possible, trim back the foilage to 6-8" in an upside down V shape to prevent breakage, and put it on a concrete area if available. Take the garden hose and go to town! You will not hurt them, get them nice and clean so you can see what is what.

I prefer to use bypass prunes, but you can use strong scissors or a sharp knife. You want to trim off your daughters, ideally leaving about 3" of rhizome. You can toss the mothers or "old toes" or replant them, they will usually grow more daughters but at a slower pace as they get older. Meaning each mother will take at least 2-3 years to see a bloom. If the daughters are small, you can leave them on a young mother to help them grow bigger.

When you replant use the long roots as an anchor, I work up the dirt, and put the root (not rhizome) about 3" deep, and the rhizome ( the ugly toe part) at the surface barely covered by dirt, when the dirt settles and you water, the rhizome will show, that's ok.

It's best to divide in the fall after the rhizomes have had all summer to grow, if you need to divide sooner, it may slow your next bloom but won't hurt the plant over all.
If you bury too deep they will suffocate and take years to bloom. Do not mulch, they will suffocate and get fungus from the held in moisture.
If you're worried about fungus or parasites from cutting your iris, you can dip them in neem oil before replanting.

Photo courtesy of Daves Garden

When I lived in San Angelo, TX, the house we rented had bearded irises that had been planted in the 1960's. They just grew, no pruning, my lack of attention at the time, etc. Some grew in the sun and some grew in the shade of a tree line, but they all grew. Amazingly hardy plant.

SquarePeg · May 23, 2025

Everything seems to have weathered the storm unscathed. Some current pics. Stormy skies still but the sun is trying to break through.

My perennial garden. From right to left - Major Wheeler in full bloom, first clematis of the season (variety unknown as it must have been mislabeled), echinacea in front, bee balm against the fence with some garden phlox coming along in the middle and a shorter pink bee balm in front of that, Scentsation honeysuckle on the right side of the trellis, more bee balm behind that and echinacea in front. The pots have dahlias and glads.

The other side of that garden - 2 clematis on the left side of the trellis, my baptisia that I grew from seed finally flowering after 3 years, the ivory silk lilac tree I planted last year and more echinacea. The pots have dill, parsley, basil and some calla lilies. More dahlias in the back with the tomato cages.

Clematis sunset in the pot on the left and my Meyer lemon tree on the right. Good crop this year, at least 15 lemons. Only got two last year!

Sweet peas. Started late but hoping they’ll bloom before it gets too hot. Next year will winter sow them.

Rickbb · May 24, 2025

It was a berry good day.

terri · Sunday at 9:15 AM

snowbear said:
The hill is going to kill me, though.

Nah - keep yas young and strong like bull!

terri · Sunday at 8:10 PM

Here are some shots of what's coming up in my garden. We've had a prolonged chilly spring with decent rainfall, so everything looks green and lush, but slow to bloom.

A new planting - @SquarePeg have you heard of this? It's a Black Truffle Cardinal flower - supposedly the blooms will be as red as regular Cardinal flowers but the foliage stays dark like this.