So I fell for the eye candy in the display and (against my better judgement?) bought some iris' in bags...in a very sad dried up state.... I tried to chose the ones (of the few left) that had a good sized rhizome and at least a faint hint of green...well the most green out of the batch anyway..which was still a prity sad yellow that may have been a green colour in a past life... I planted them tonight and we are expecting rain the next few days so maybe that will revive them...?

I've never tried to purchase iris this way due to my skepticism that they would survive. Anyone else have experience?

PS: in case you are wondering they were "Speeding Again" (couldn't resist...got two speeding tickets over the holidays...) and Tour de France, both re-blooming which is the only reason I was willing to take a chance on them. And I was sure to ask at the checkout that they were covered by their growing guarantee!

As long as the rhizomes are firm and not soft, nor shriveled up, they should be fine. I would give the dry rhizomes a soak in a clean bucket of water before I plant them. However, you're expecting rain (I'm jealous) so you can skip the soaking and plant them.

I would give them a soak anyway to give them a head start...but then again my soil is sandy and doesn't hold water....so if you have clay that would be a different situation. It may take them a while to revive, and they may not be the varieties the bags said they were...but they should perk up and grow!

I agree, tha soaking them for a day would help speed up the growth process. I don't think Tour de France is a rebloomer. I've had it for a while, and it's never tried to rebloom. Of course maybe it does in a warmer zone.

I would highly recommend NOT buying iris using this method. The survival rate is roughly 50% and the correct cultivar is roughly 20%. I did a survey about 5 years ago with iris bought at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, and Kmart (I think there was another location, but it escapes me). My daughter worked for one of the locations and I had a disagreement with her general manager. He was trying to make a case for this being viable and correct as to cultivar. I showed he was in error. He said later that he was unaware of that situation, but that his management makes the decisions across the board for his company. The word back was that the item WAS an iris.

The manager though was not happy with my results, so he asked me to do it again. He gave me nine more to do and he took the same nine cultivars. I supplied the pots and medium, and he grew his nine and me mine. Last year (their first year) the did not bloom for me. I am now down to three left (two of which should bloom this year). He did get one to bloom last year (it was wrong) and has three others left. The attrition rate was worse than the first time. He has said that it would not matter what the outcome would be as it will not change this way of doing business as most of the general public don't care about names, just if it is pretty. Which says, if you DO care about names, you would buy from a viable vendor who would replace a lost of wrong cultivar.

Now I will step off of the soap box.

I bought a bagged Iris from Lowes and it was suprisingly right!
However do not buy daylilies bagged.

Against my better judgement, I bought one last fall as it was labeled to be one that I had lost . It was in rather pathetic shape - but the best of the batch on the shelf. I planted it and it is doing well. We will see if it blooms and if it blooms true to its name.

Always a gamble!

I bought a very healthy one that was suppose to be Grateful Red on a whim to see if it really was GR (the picture was of Red Hawk - not GR by the way). Well Grateful Red has purple based foliage and the bagged iris, does not. It is growing very well though. I wonder if it will even be Red Hawk, but time and bloom will tell!

The "bagged' iris are a crap shoot.....and the odds aren't in your favor, either for survival, or correctness of ID . That being said, it IS hard to pass up a bargain....and seeing one for $1.99 makes you pause, but......considering just the survival rate, and not correctness of ID.....that $1.99 REALLY translates to $3.98.....and there are several vendors out there who still sell $4 rhizomes. Granted, you have shipping charges to deal with.....and some cultivars are going to be $5, $6, or maybe $8, instead of $4.......but that's where the "correctness " of ID, and "customer service" come in, those things, often, can be worth more than $.

Arlyn!!

I'm going to echo what everyone else has said. I have purchased a few iris, daylilies etc that way. Out of the 6 that I have, one was correct. An iris, Full Tide. 2 daylilies have yet to bloom but they were this years purchased.

We have bought loose irises at the local garden center. Same kind of crap shoot especially bought in the fall for this area. I suggested since they are a center that they at least sell them potted. Answer: that is the way they come here. yuck!

Oh dear. It's like...don't bother us, we're busy. Shesh!

irisarian said:We have bought loose irises at the local garden center. Same kind of crap shoot especially bought in the fall for this area. I suggested since they are a center that they at least sell them potted. Answer: that is the way they come here. yuck!

Pshh!!! That would be my LAST visit to that place!!

And I agree the bags is a terrible way to buy iris'. Did I say it was against my better judgement? I really was a spur of the moment thing caught up in the fancy pictures and the word "reblooming". Sometimes I just get in these moods that I buy thing I normally would not even consider....then buyers regret sets in.... Normally would only buy them potted. And the rest of my collection has been bought in pots at $4 each

All make very good points and I think the one about 50/50 survival equaling twice the price is what will make me pause next time. Indeed not worth it then.

I do it because I can't say no. Lol

Hehe...indeed : "Oh shiny! Something I DON'T have yet!"

Exactly!

I did just that last year. I bought 'Dangerous Mood'. It was purely an impulse buy. It survived and is growing, but won't bloom this year. I have to wait another year to find out what I really got!

Heh! I do like that name!
It is a "dangerous mood" your in when one makes these purchases...

That is the one I got to turn out right!
Dangerous Mood