FEBRUARY and March are excellent months to divide bearded irises.
Irises flower during October and early November and after their flowers have died down, usually by mid-November, I often divide a few clumps so as to get ahead.
This practice works well with my older clumps, since after throwing out the recently flowered rhizomes, there are plenty of side shoots left to detach and replant.
But if you have a single - maybe new and costly - rhizome of an iris you're anxious to propagate, you need to wait over summer for it to produce offsets.
Related reading:
Also, waiting until February means fewer worries about getting newly planted rhizomes through a hot, potentially dry summer.
This year I got lucky, we had plenty of rain during November and December and my newly-divided irises have done well, but this hasn't always been the case - I lost several old favourites during the horror summer of 2019/20.
One special beauty did survive, a rich blue seedling of unknown origin that I love because its beard is also blue.
One of my pet dislikes is an iris of good shape and colour that has an orange beard.
I spent years looking for a pink iris with a pink beard (I eventually ran 'Let's Elope' to earth at Ferndale Iris and Daylily nursery, www.ferndaleirisnursery.com) so I didn't want to lose my glorious blue beard, but I had to wait until now for it to produce offsets.
Irises are blissfully easy to propagate.
Dig up a plant that flowered last spring and you will find a central rhizome with its flowering stalk still attached, and several smaller rhizomes growing out of it, each with its own clump of fan-shaped leaves.
Detach the offspring rhizomes and throw out the parent, as it won't flower again.
Trim the foliage of the young rhizomes so as to lessen stress while they establish new roots.
When replanting, push the rhizome well down into the ground while leaving the upper part exposed.
Irises need full sun and good drainage.
I grow most of mine among shrubs and I'm continually forced to move them as the shrubs grow and cast more shade.
Normally my irises are pretty well disease free but this summer I have been much troubled by fungal leaf spot, a dismal little spot that starts life pale yellow and turns brown as it grows.
If left untreated it causes the leaf to die back from the tip.
The quickest treatment is to grab and burn diseased leaves the minute the first spots appear.
The fungus lives in the soil so you may want to spray it with a fungicide.
A thick mulch of lucerne helps to keep the ground clean and prevent further attack.
Home grown plants and seeds will be on sale at Rockley Plant and Seed Sale, Calais Villa, 9 Phantom Street, Rockley, on Sunday, February 14 from 10am to 4pm.
Contact Kerry Mahony 0434 179 401 or email: mahonykerry4@gmail.com/
Rockley Pub will be open for lunch or BYO picnic in the park beside Peppers Creek.
Love agricultural news? Sign up for The Land's free daily newsletter.
