TODAY IN THE GARDEN

Somehow iris season (the bearded iris season, that is) has snuck up on me. Apparently yesterday saw First Flower Open (FFO) on the early blooming Tall Bearded (TB) iris 'Busy Being Blue'. Of course I had to capture the bloom, but it is not at its best. Maybe tomorrow, a new bloom will open.

This iris has always been the first of my irises to bloom. It is out in the Back 40 in the Redbud Bed, and it can't be seen short of climbing the steps up to the lawn, which is how the FFO got away from me.

When I first planted this iris out (well over a decade ago), the Redbuds were small, and there was a lot of light in that bed. Over the years, the Redbuds have grown, and with it the shade has grown, too. In recent years I have had almost no bloom, partly from the shade, and partly from slacking off on the fertilizer.

Last winter I threw a lot of fertilizer out there, hoping for a good show. I didn't get one. (I may have had all of two or three stalks in weak, sickly bloom.)

Last spring, I had the arborist do some pruning on the Redbuds (whose branches were drooping way down). While the trees needed the pruning, I also hoped that the reduction in shade would help the irises.

Last summer, I pulled out quite a few rhizomes and donated them to our iris club's rhizome sale. I hoped that the thinning would also help with bloom this year. (I also threw out more fertilizer this recently ended winter.)

Alas, while it looks like I will have a few stalks in bloom, a bit more than last year, not all of the rhizomes are going to bloom. I think it is clear that most of those "in the back" will not bloom. I can dig and replant them, but with last year's iris buying frenzy, I need room for other irises. I will probably dig-and-donate those back-of-the-drift (it's too big to be called a clump) rhizomes, and some more that I may thin out in front, too (unless anyone reading this wants some).

And come next winter, fertilize and fertilize again.

 

The drift of TB 'Busy Being Blue', with the lone bloom, is almost lost under the blooming Redbuds

 

So much for "Being Busy".... at least with respect to producing blooms.

 

 

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