Looking after irises

[fatsatsuma]

I've inherited some lovely irises having moved house. They are just finishing flowering. Do I deadhead them and if so how much of the stem should I remove? Should I remove individual flowers or the whole flowering head once all the flowers are over?
Any other iris tips? Thanks!

[dataandspot]

I can't help but I would love to know why mine are so pale!

[Ferguson]

Irises need quite special care, so this may help:

www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/partner-gardens/articles/doddington-hall-s-top-iris-tips

[dataandspot]

Ferguson that guide makes Irises seem like too much work for me!

[Onthedowns]

I have inherited two beautiful irises I have left them and they have come back this year beautifully

[fatsatsuma]

Thanks for the replies.
I had seen that Doddington Hall article, and I agree with dataandspot that it made it sound quite technical
Can I just deadhead them?

[Liara]

I have zillions of irises in my garden. OK, I am in the med region so probably have a bit of an unfair advantage, but they really are dead easy.

I snap off the flowers when they start looking ugly and cut off any unsightly stems down to where it isn't too visible when they are done flowering. If I want some more, I dig up a clump in july and cut it into pieces which I distribute where I want more. If not I just leave them to it.

I started out with a couple of clumps of irises, I now have about 100m of driveway lined with irises to a depth of 3 metres!

[TheNoodlesIncident]

Claire Austin's site has some tips for looking after irises.

Just snap off the spent flowers from the stems. They like good drainage and for the rhizomes to appear above soil, so they get baked by the sun. No sun = no flowers usually. They come from the Mediterranean region so love a sunny spot. Make sure that surrounding plants don't shade the rhizomes - mine will have to be moved because the other plants in the border have just got too fluffy...

[Kr1stina]

Unless they are Iris sibirica which like rich damp soil . They still need dead headed though

[Ferguson]

Sorry if I have put people off with the Doddington Hall example: that is obviously a professional garden, which does things in what it considers the best way. You don't HAVE to go to those lengths in a domestic garden!

The most important thing is to keep the rhizomes ABOVE soil level, so they get as much sun as possible - unlike bulbs, which of course are buried UNDER the soil. And, yes just dead head them (which applies to most plants, unless you are saving seed to re-sow.)

[fatsatsuma]

Thanks Ferguson that's really helpful.