Irises are a beautiful flower that can bring life to any garden. They thrive best in well-prepared soil, with the soil dug deeply and a fertilizer such as 4-10-12 applied to the bed. It is important to avoid fertilizers with a high nitrogen content, as this will cause lush growth and make the plant highly susceptible to bacterial soft rot. If you have a large enough garden, it is recommended to create flower beds exclusively for lilies so that they receive optimal growing conditions.
Irises are generally identified by a structure of three vertical “standards”, three lower segments called “fallen”.We recently planted irises in our garden and didn't do anything to amend the soil. We simply dug a trench with the garden tractor, put the iris in the trench and kicked and pushed the soil over the iris. The other categories of bearded lilies arouse great interest, since they bloom the month before those with tall beards, which extends the iris season to two months and provides a variety of heights and shapes for your garden. To ensure optimal growth, iris clusters should be dug up, divided and replanted every 3-4 years.Gardeners can avoid many problems by providing good drainage to prevent the iris from getting wet with their feet.
To ensure your irises are getting all the nutrients they need, you can take the necessary steps to feed them. If you're preparing a large area for planting lilies, add ½ pound of a low-nitrogen fertilizer, such as 6-10-10 per 50 ft2 (or 1 ½ ounce by 10 feet) to your garden bed. Schreiner's Gardens offers a food for irises specially formulated to help you provide balanced nutrition in the flower garden.If you're planting new lilies in summer or dividing older clumps in summer, it's also a good time to add some low-nitrogen fertilizer to the newly planted iris. This will help ensure your potted irises are getting all the nutrients they need to thrive in Minnesota.