Henny Penny Farmette

Nothing beats the joy of an early morning walk in a garden and seeing iris plants in full bloom. These beauties are easy to grow, vigorous reproducers, and deer resistant.

Iris need six to eight hours of sun each day. If you live in a hot climate, your iris will need some shade protection. They perform best in well-drained soil.

The best time of the year to plant iris seems to be late summer or early fall when the temperature does not fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

The rhizomes of iris tend to spread, so you’ll want to divide the clumps every three to four years. The best time to divide them is about six weeks after flowering.

To divide, dig up the clump, pull the rhizomes (roots) from the sides of the mother plant and then plant the new rhizomes, burying them so that the roots are pointing down and the top foliage (even if you have cut it back to a few inches) is exposed. Cover with soil, tamp down, and water well.

Space the iris rhizomes at least one to two feet apart. Planting too close together reduces the number of blooms. There are many varieties of iris to choose for your garden; two of the most common types are Bearded iris and Siberian iris. Plant some of these beauties and experience the joy of seeing them bloom in your garden.

If you enjoy reading about gardening and country living topics, check out my series of cozy mysteries based on my life on the “real” Henny Penny Farmette. The novels are chocked full of tips on gardening, keeping chickens and bees, and growing heirloom vegetables and fruits.

My novels and self-help, spirituality, and wellness books are offered online and everywhere books are sold. Check out my author’s page on Amazon and also on Simon and Schuster.com.–Meera Lester

Irises and roses make a lovely spring bouquet

When we first moved to the Bay Area from Miami, the heirs to the property behind ours gave us some bearded irises that had been planted in the 1950s by their parents. I recall the beauty of irises on  my grandmother’s farm in Missouri. She called them flags.

For a lovely raised flower bed, plant other bloomers like cosmos, geraniums, pansies, nasturtiums, and marigolds with iris cultivars

Mostly colored in deep purples and blues, white, and pinkish-beige, the bearded irises have added an aesthetic appeal to our farmette that was mostly just a big field with a tiny house in the middle. We’ve planted them in the ground, along fences, and in raised boxes.

Easy to grow and maintain, the irises have become one of our favorite flowers. We’ve kept them going in our garden and they’ve rewarded us with many new rhizomes.

As we’ve continued to restore the farmette, we’ve built many four by six feet boxes for raised beds. The materials cost roughly $125 per box. We like them because we can easily control the soil (building it up with compost, manure, and other amendments), drainage, tilling, and weeds. Recently we decided to make irises the mainstay of a raised bed border.

We’ve interplanted citrus and bearded irises in this raised bed spanning the length of the front fence

Over the weekend, we built a long raised bed that extends the entire length of the fencing on the southwestern side of our property. In it,  we planted lots of citrus trees, climbing roses, and irises. If you are thinking of doing something comparable, have fun choosing from among the hundreds of cultivars of bearded and Siberian irises.

Irises make a showy statement alone or among other plants

Plant them about three inches deep and a few inches apart in well drained, fertile soil. Irises need shade from the hottest sun and enjoy a deep drink of water, especially during blooming. I enjoy the ease of growing them in raised beds and love, love, love the magnificent color atop tall stalks when they bloom.

Such a large clump of bearded iris must be divided

Dividing the rhizomes of bearded iris plants is an easy and necessary process as the plant ages. The division process is best done during late summer or early fall, but we are doing this job now on our farmette.

The rhizome is a thick tuberous type of structure that sends up stems and leaves and also produces roots. Many gardeners divide their iris clumps every three to four years. Our beds of iris have become overcrowded with many new baby plants. It’s time to divide.

Good top soil with low-nitrogen fertilizer ensures the iris get off to a good start

Before we move our iris from the side garden to planter boxes made of pressure-treated redwood, we prepare the soil in those boxes. We amend it with low-nitrogen fertilizer and compost.

These iris are planted too close–they will be replanted to  16 inches apart for air to circulate and for growing room

We cut back the foliage and pull off any of the sword-shaped leaves that have dried. Then we gently pull apart the new growth from the old clump. Pruning and cutting back the leaves helps ensure that pests do not overwinter.

These purple iris bloom in our garden in spring, making a lovely arrangement with roses

The rhizome produces more rhizomes over time. Eventually the original rhizome will wither and die. Regularly dividing the clumps ensures new baby plants and blooms for years to come.