when is the best time to split Iris innominata?

[daveyp1970]

The reason i ask this is because i promised a forum member a piece (David Shaw)and i'd like to know if i could do it now,i have tried to split it and replant it in a different spot in my garden and lost the division,tried to divide wrong time of year i think.

[jomowi]

This species suffers when divided, Keep it under a protective cover until it has r-eestablished, i.e.ike a cutting.  I do mine after flowering but for no particular reason.

[daveyp1970]

Thank you for that Brian,my form is yellow is yours a different colour do you fancy a swap if i can master splitting it,i'm after different colour forms.

[Diane Whitehead]

Pacific Coast iris, like innominata, put out new roots and leaves
in the winter. They are native to an area which has no rain from
May to about October, so they are essentially dormant during
that period, though they do keep their leaves.

I start dividing them in October and November, depending upon
when our rains start.

They can be divided at other times, like in spring, but usually with
a high death rate.

A straightforward transplant, just digging up the whole clump
with a generous ball of soil, is not so detrimental.  Here, we would
need to water it regularly during the summer, but I think you
get summer rain in the U.K.

[daveyp1970]

Cheers Diane you are a star,thats exactly what i was after.I have tried splitting in the summer and lost them,i might try a couple now and put them in the coldframe,it's a lovely iris and one i'd like to pass around my friends.

[David Nicholson]

Can I "highjack" Dave's thread and ask please when is it best to split Iris lazica. Mine performs like a star but is beginning to take over my front border.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Can I "highjack" Dave's thread and ask please when is it best to split Iris lazica. Mine performs like a star but is beginning to take over my front border.

Unlike Iris innominata, which hails from a summer-dry climate, Iris lazica comes from an area with more-or-less year 'round moisture, the southeast corner of the Black Sea:



I've divided I. lazica more than once and it seems close to indestructible, so do it now if that's convenient.

[David Nicholson]

Rodger, thanks for that.

[PeterT]

and for the record ..unguicularis is more fussy, best done in october, or large divisions in april.