Garden Design Ideas for Irises

After my irises bloomed I realized that they needed to be thinned out and since the weather was cool I thought I would start this garden project rather than in July when the weather is extremely hot. Normally I transplant into a garden bed; along the southern side of the house, I will also add irises by the driveway and many are planted on the southern slope.   I decided to create an eye-appealing iris flower garden in my backyard.

Here is a photo of one of my gardens  

Sun is a factor when growing irises and the only area that appealed to these flowers' needs was in the middle of my yard.  So I decided to design a garden that was an eye-appealing feature for my backyard.

The area for the flower garden was 9 x 10 and I  needed to transplant 46 irises into the new garden.  I decided to turn this area into a garden for the birds and the butterflies.

I would need the following; a bird bath, stepping stones, and 4 bags of potting soil.  I shopped the sales at the garden center at Walmart.com I bought Miracle-Gro 4 cubic feet of potting soil and landscapers fabric. and stepping stones. Then I shopped for a bird bath. I liked the solar fountain because they offer water circulation which will provide fresher water for the birds to drink.

 

This easy eye-appealing iris garden would appeal to the senses.  Here is my garden design idea for my divided and transplanted irises.  

Damaged Irises Have NEW Growth: Flower Photographs

Today when I went to look at the irises that were damaged by the lawn mower I was happy to see that some have signs of new growth. 

These backyard irises were damaged when the husband cut his corner too close and ran them over with the lawn mower. Know that many of the rhizomes were damaged and did die, however, some were not as badly damaged and did respond to the immediate care that I gave them.

When the mowing occurred I went to irises aide by applying one inch of compost to the flower bed. Then set up a soaking hose to water them with a slow drip in the morning. The damage to the irises occurred during the hot summer when there were drought conditions.

 I also treated the garden bed with neem oil extract for spider mites. I used a concentrated formula that you mix with water and spayed the soil at dusk because it is not good to use neem oil in direct light.

A month after the occurrence I noticed that the irises garden is pest fee and suspect it is due to the neem oil insecticide. I also noticed that the irises have signs of improvement. The leaves that looked sickly are now showing signs of new growth, leaf bud on one of the rhizomes. 

 Granted a few flowers are still struggling to survive and 10 have turned brown and died due to the shock of the lawn mower.  I have not given up. 

 Know that my neighbor has tossed his irises that have had borers into the woods, thinking that they were hopeless and they have survived. We now have wild irises blooming in the woods in the spring, so anything is possible.

Here are some photographs of my irises, all photographs were taken of my personal residence flower gardens.