Are my irises toast?

[GardenGeisha]

I was uncovering plants in the garden and accidentally stepped on some irises that have spread. I seem to have smashed off the centers of them, where the stalk goes up, I believe. It looks like I got the top puffy parts that might be potential blossoms? Do you think they are done for this year? They wee about 3-4" tall, and I just didn't see them. I must have stepped dead center on one corm, because I smashed off all of them, 3 or 4 sets of shoots.

There's no chance it's early enough in the season that they could go on to bloom, is it? I am so mad. Go through a long, hard winter and finally get close to iris blooms and then destroy them by not realizing they had spread.

I am in Salt Lake City, Zone 6ish.

I was looking for my Rose of Sharon starts when I stepped on the irises. And the ROS starts all seem to have disappeared. They were little twig like things when I planted them in the fall, and I see only one remaining out of over a dozen.

 

[Carol Dee]

Iris are pretty hardy you might get bloom yet this spring. If not, next year for sure.

 

[GardenGeisha]

Well, I figure the end of the stalk is the bud tip, and since I broke that off, I doubt there is any hope for this year. Does anyone have info on the growth cycle of the iris?

 

[GardenGeisha]

I called my local Iris Society Prez. She wasn't home and her hubby said he doesn't know much about irises. But I told him what had happened. He said he wouldn't be surprised if the iris were to "start over" and go ahead to bloom, that they are pretty tough. Has anyone ever heard of such a phenomenon? Would be great if it were true? But I'm not holding my breath...

 

[lesa]

Don't worry, you can't kill iris! They will be just fine. Extremely hardy. Chances are your ROS will pop up, as well. They take awhile to get going in the spring. Don't give up hope!

 

[GardenGeisha]

I know I didn't kill the irises. It's just this year's blooms I'm worried about. Waiting for blooms another whole year seems like forever.

My Rose of Sharons from 2 years ago never did pop up. They did the same thing as this year's planting. Disappeared without a trace after the winter. I had thought the chickens got them, but the chickens weren't out this year. They were securely in a run. However, these larger Roses of Sharon Nyboy sent me have potential for making it, I think. Their stems are too big to snap and uproot easily.

Two years ago the chickens trampled a different bed of my irises, similar to what I did today, and about the same time of year. Those irises never did bloom that year. So I doubt these will, either. It will take a miracle.

 

[GardenGeisha]

Bad news, from a garden expert:

I am sorry to hear of your Iris mishap. I am assuming you are talking about bearded Iris?? If so and you indeed broke off the flower stem (it is round and in the middle of the rhizome at one end) then I am afraid there will be no flower for that particular rhizome this year. If you only broke off the leaves then they should come back. The rhizome will only produce one flower stalk (stem). I hope there are other rhizomes that will produce flowers for you. The mother rhizome will produce off-sets that should bloom for you next year or the year after. So sorry.

 

[897tgigvib]

Geisha, can you maybe obtain some new Iris, maybe of a spectacular color, to turn this year's loss into a new opportunity?

 

[GardenGeisha]

I may not even be here next year. Everything is uncertain and up in the air, as to the future. I am on a very tight budget and can't afford to buy any more plants. and there would be no space for more irises, anyway. And I don't have the energy to dig that hard soil to plant them in and/or divide them. But it was a nice idea. None of us knows how many more springs we will see. Oh, well. I guess I'm just accident-prone. At least I did it, so I don't have to blame the cats or chickens-- only myself, this time. :>)

 

[Mickey328]

Usually it's the leaves that come first...the round stalks that have the flower buds come along later, so if it's just the leaves you snapped, they could well come back and you'll still have flowers.