I have a few irises and they bloomed in the spring. They were all donated plants and I planted them in the fall, 2014. My plants have very lush growth the last few weeks. We have had unusually mild temperatures. Do irises bloom again in the fall? Is this a good time to fertilize them? They were last fertilized in February/March.

Irises do most of their growing in the spring and the fall. They don't truly go dormant in the summer, but they do enter into sort of a quiet phase after spring bloom that lasts until the weather starts cooling off.

Some irises rebloom in the fall, but it's typically a trait that has to be specifically bred for.

Other people will give you completely different answers, but I never fertilize my irises. Don't see any advantage to it really. If you do fertilize, be careful with the nitrogen. Too much nitrogen results lots of leaves and few flowers.

Thanks for the information, Kent. I only have a handful of irises. Some are in a corner of my raised garden and some are still in 2 gal. pots. I use Osmacote in my raised garden in late winter/early spring, so as to have slow-release fertilizer down when I do my spring, vegetable planting. My irises bloomed profusely in the spring, so perhaps slow-release did not do them any harm. I plant lots of heirloom, gourmet garlic in late October/early November, and use the Osmacote again in early October. I don't have to use it where the irises are, since I do no garlic planting in that corner.

Generally not a good idea to fertilize irises in the fall as it promotes lots of green leaves instead of blossoms. If done at all do it in the spring with the slow release you are using. Rebloomers could use a second shot later in the season but not close to frost/rest time.

Kent has pretty well given you the answers I would have, but I would add that , for your iris, like your other plants, ...if they are growing well, and bloom nicely ....they are probably pretty happy with what you have been doing, as to fertilization, and culture. Before you add any kind of amendments ........you should have a REASON to do it ! ... poor color, low bloom count, or obvious signs of stress. If you don't already have one, a soil test kit is pretty cheap, and will show what,....if anything....your soil might be lacking.

Thanks, Arlyn. My raised garden is very fertile. I grow great vegetables there, year after year. The garlic is my "cash" crop and I sell all that I grow. I like my iris flowers but these plants are not what I grow much off. I am in the tropical plant business and have over 1000 tropical plants, mostly orchids. If the irises had not been gifted to me last year, I would have none of them. I will take all your advice, and just leave them be.

Just wanted to say that I have enjoyed your articles here on ATP about growing garlic!

Why, thank you, Leslie.

I second Leslie, Ken. I only grow ornamental alliums but really enjoy reading about your garlic crop.

Bonnie. Where in Arkansas is Harris Brake Lake?

I bought some of that nice garlic from Ken this spring, and I've been really enjoying it all summer. I'm planning on planting some of it this fall.

I did not mean for the iris forum to get sidetracked with "garlic" comments. I am glad you enjoyed the garlic and I hope your cloves grow into nice, big bulbs come spring, Tom.

Oh Ken, we get side-tracked all the time! That's the fun of it!

Didn't want people mad at me.

That would be hard to do on this forum!! Especially when you started the thread!!

Garlic have bloom times too after all!

Ken, Iris Forum threads are often all over the place and are much more forgiving of sideways treks. Iris folk--myself definitely included--tend to have accelerated ADD, I think. Periodically, someone will comment on the original thread topic and it will get back on track for awhile...until someone meanders off the trail and it's over the river and through the woods, again. Jump in anytime.

Cross posted, Leslie.

Yes, we did Debra!

Back to my irises. So lush growth is the norm for irises this time of year, right?