I read about something I think was called blooming out - where an iris essentially blooms itself to death . I've never heard of this until this year and I just wanted to check and see if you think my iris is ok? I bought this (Day On The Bay) last fall as a single rhizome, but I will say some of the rhizomes I received had lots of side shoots already started - this might be one of them. So this is the increase and it has 4 or 5 bloom stalks on it. Should I cut any off or do you think there is enough growth so it doesn't exhaust itself? It's the only one I have that's sent up more than on stalk so far. Thanks!

Cindy ~ I would wait until after it blooms to do any dividing.

evelyninthegarden said:Cindy ~ I would wait until after it blooms to do any dividing.

I'm sorry - I need more coffee! lol I didn't mean dividing it, I was wondering if I should cut any of the bloom stalks off. I didn't know if the young plant was established enough to support all of them without becoming exhausted and possibly dying off.

Cindy ~ Sorry, I do not know the answer. Maybe some other member may have some advice regarding this query.

From what I can see in your picture, there seems to be fans with no bloom stalks, which means the iris is unlikely to bloom out. Just give it a little extra water (if needed) and some fertilizer once it is done blooming. It should be OK.

Bloomout occurs when every fan in a clump produces a bloom stalk. Once a fan has produced a bloom stalk, it's done, So, if every fan produces a bloom stalk, the clump dies. This year's non-blooming fans carry on the clump and, if they grow well enough to reach maturity, produce next year's bloom stalks.

It looks like you have plenty of non-blooming fans in that clump. Nothing to worry about.

Lilli and Kent ~

Thank you! I've learned something new which is always a great thing

Last year I had one clump ('Whisper Her Name') produce bloom stalks on every fan. Thankfully it produced increases afterwards and whilst I doubt it'll flower again this spring, it has survived. So even if every fan does flower, don't give up on it immediately.

I might add that even if all the rhizomes produce a stalk......don't be in a hurry to discard the plant, as the rhizome may still produce an increase ! I never "trash" a "bloom out", until the plant is "dead".

Where there's life there's hope! ...and not just with irises!

IrisLilli said: Where there's life there's hope! ...and not just with irises!

Lilli ~

I had a couple I thought were dead, only to find a small green leaf emerging.