I asked the daughter about it being so late in the year;
"Can rhizomes be stored indoors over the winter? We are in zone 5A and I fear it would be too late to plant outdoors. What do you think"
Here's the response;
"Many of the people who are buying irises do live in CA, TX and FLA. They get to take advantage of clearance sales with little or no risk. We have heard it done both ways. (We did live in Nebraska) If you plant outside at this point, you would want to mulch pretty heavily until the daffodils start to grow, then the plants could be uncovered. The reason is that the freeze thaw cycles can cause heaving of the rhizome because it will have very little roots. I have heard of people placing a brick on top of the rhizome to keep it in place that first winter. It acts as a heat sink and holds the plant in place as well.
They could be potted and stored in a place that is protected – a garage or basement. They can also be stored in a paper bag in a place that stays cool. You would not want to store them at indoor room temperature unless they were potted and watered a bit here and there. One of our customers told us they kept the rhizomes in sawdust over winter. We certainly do understand if it is too much risk or work to try and over winter them there. We certainly would want you to get to see bloom from them!"
Very gracious people!!
