Hi, - I want to know if bearded iris grow in zones 4 and 5 in Canada and are hardy in the winter?

Where can I get bearded iris in Canada? Many sites say they do not ship until fall, but I have read that one can plant irises in early spring too.

Marion

They are hardy where I am, further east of you in eastern Ontario and USDA Zone 4a. However, I gave up growing the few that I had because of the iris borer.

Some of mine came from other gardens, some in pots from a local nursery. You could try asking the Ontario Iris Society if you want specific cultivars from a specialty grower, otherwise try garden centres locally or maybe someone else on ATP in Canada can help you out.

Ontario Iris Society:
https://sites.google.com/site/...

Forgot to say welcome to ATP!

Welcome Marion!

Chuck Chapman is a well known hybridizer who lives in Ontario, Canada.

Here's his website: http://www.chapmaniris.com/

!

Welcome Marion! Glad you found us!!

Here is another seller that appears to be about an hour south or south-east of you. Their website has a lot of helpful information. I have never ordered from them due to the customs issues...but you might want to check them out. They appear to be reputable.

http://www.trailsendiris.com/i...

Hi Marion! Welcome to our forum --

I hope you can find a source for Irises in your area!!

Sue (sooby) -- I didn't know that Iris Borers were that far north? I'm so sorry. They're very discouraging -- but there are ways to eliminate them so that you can enjoy your Irises. Folks on this forum can help you!!

I was going to mention Chuck Chapman. He sells irises from his website--he no longer uses a paper catalog.

Bearded Irises are hardy here in zone 3.
The garden centers here bring them in late August.
You might try Vesey Seeds or Lindberg Seeds.
Botanus probably has them too.

Thank you to all who replied to my iris question. Great to have so much feedback. I will look into the suggestions. I have a few iris here and so far have never seen iris borer. I wonder if "Muddymitts" could let me know some preventative measures?

Marion!

There was a thread called Iris Borer that was started about 7 months ago. If you scroll down the iris forum list you will find it. They are horrid little things. In about a month from now, the best thing you could do as a preventative measure is to spray your iris gardens with grub control, such as Bayer Grub Control. It is used for lawns, but works well for borer control too. The sprayed area is covered for up to 6 months. There are other measures too, but I think you will find them on the thread.

The Royal Botanical Gardens holds an annual plant sale , as well. I'm not sure if you have to be a 'member', or not, as I get mine from an "intermediary"...but the web address is www.rbg.ca last years prices were $4 per rhizome

Muddymitts said:

Sue (sooby) -- I didn't know that Iris Borers were that far north? I'm so sorry. They're very discouraging -- but there are ways to eliminate them so that you can enjoy your Irises. Folks on this forum can help you!!

Yes, unfortunately, they do occur here. There's a map, not necessarily complete, showing the range of iris borer reports to Bugguide:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

Something to bear in mind with suggestions for control information, Marion and I are both in Ontario where most "chemical" pesticides are banned for homeowner use by the provincial government. I believe the Bayer Grub Control that Leslie mentioned contains the same neonicotinoid insecticide as Merit (imidacloprid)? We can't get/use that here, or any other systemic insecticide. Squishing is legal though

Good fall clean-up, and disposal of "waste" goes a LONG way to keeping borers....and disease !) in check ! And there are 'beneficial" nematodes that can be released in the bed areas, to prey upon the borers. Also, encouraging birds to visit your garden is a "win-win" deal.....you get to watch the birds, AND they eat lots of insects, and weed seeds.

Thanks for the suggestions. According to the Canadian Iris Society the best nematode for this is Steinernema carpocapsae - article address: http://www.cdn-iris.ca/borer.h...

Too late for me since I no longer have any bearded iris, but hopefully this will help Marion if she encounters them at some point.

Nematoads are preferable to the sprays which kill off bees. I almost lost a BB seedling to borers last year. We squish very well as a rule.

Good Article Sue.

Excellent article, nice synopsis of the latest study. Thanks

marioncastleton said:Thank you to all who replied to my iris question. Great to have so much feedback. I will look into the suggestions. I have a few iris here and so far have never seen iris borer. I wonder if "Muddymitts" could let me know some preventative measures?

For some reason, I missed this thread yesterday -- so sorry for no reply..............

Marion, you've already received good responses on this issue. The best preventative is to keep your Iris beds clean -- removing dead leaves, etc. It's my understanding that it's pretty easy to see the borer inside the leaf (as it chews its way down to the rhizome) -- and equally easy to just squish it with your fingers. Might be quite a job if you have nearly 400 varieties, as I do................. But if your government prevents the use of systemics, then you'll have to be vigilant in your manual approach.

Sue -- thanks for posting that link to the borer map. I was astounded to see that (supposedly) Kentucky is not a state that suffers them. It's very hard for me to believe that -- Kentucky is home to every bug/pest known to live and breed in this country, and has a few not found anywhere else!!!! I can't believe that we missed one!!!

Mary Ann, I think that map just shows sightings that have been reported on BugGuide, which is more of an insect identification guide than a plant pest one. On the Butterflies and Moths of North America site it gives the range as: " Nova Scotia to South Carolina, west to Minnesota, Missouri, and Mississippi." (Learn something every day - gladiolus sometimes a host).
http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

A caterpillar book I have gives the range as "Minnesota to Nova Scotia to South Carolina and Kansas." So I looked on Google and there are a few references to it in Kentucky.

I was able to grow bearded irises here for several years before it found them.