Hi there: I have 2 questions about Irises. Photos 1 and 2 are mature irises in my backyard that I inherited. No idea what species or cultivar. They are tall, about 4' and flowers are small, about 3" across. My question is this: Is it important for the health of the irises to divide them or does it do them any harm to just leave them clumping as they wish, no matter how big the clump gets? Before going to Photo 3, notice in Photo 1 and 2 that the irises appear healthy with green unblemished foliage. Now here are some irises in another bed in my front yard. Several different cultivars are planted. I planted these 3 months ago. Several are blooming, but every single one has leaves that are yellow or brown tipped at the ends. Why is this and is there anything I can do about it? Are they doomed? In the same bed, all my other plants look healthy: Anemones Hemerocallis Blanketflower Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Siberian iris Bearded iris Poppy anemone Daylily Blanket flower (or similar) The Siberians may never need to be split but bearded irises go weak in the center and are therefore periodically lifted and divided, the old parts in the middle being discarded. During damp weather slugs will spoil this latter one unless site is too open and barren for them, or you keep the plants baited. The anemone looks like it needs to be fertilized.
I'm bumping this up, hoping someone can answer the question about the irises with yellow tipped leaves.....
They often do that here, sometimes it's fungal. The wild parental species come from desert areas where they may go dormant after flowering, like tulips etc. I only plant re-blooming cultivars of bearded irises, in addition to the better value of the twice-per-year flowering these tend to keep a better summer foliage appearance.
