Siberian Iris: the secrets of successful cultivation

Siberian irises (lat. Iris sibirica) are the most enduring and practical of all representatives of this genus of plants. Siberian irises have been widely used in garden landscaping.

This flower is very unpretentious to the conditions of growth and is able to survive normally without care from the gardener.

This article is devoted to the features of planting and reproduction of plants, care for them.

a brief description of

The network has a lot of information about Siberian iris, many different photos of this plant and different descriptions, but often these articles contain information about bearded and Siberian irises because of their extreme similarity. We will try to decide for ourselves what this flower represents.

Siberian Iris - perennial herb type plant, the height of the stem of which reaches 70-110 cm.The leaves, as a rule, are significantly shorter than the stem: their length is up to 50-80 cm, and the width is up to 4 cm. In their structure they are linear, elongated upwards, rather soft to the touch, of a green shade.

There are varieties of plants with flowers of different color - purple, blue, violet, yellow, red-violet, sometimes you can also see orange and brown shades. Each individual flower reaches 4-7 cm in diameter, its outer lobes have a very specific elongated shape, and there is no pronounced transition of the nail into the plate.

How to choose a quality planting material with the purchase

When making a purchase, you must carefully examine them for satisfaction. the following criteria:

1. The root system must be strong in appearance and have no damage.
2. Quality iris seedlings should have young and well-developed buds on the sides.
3. Pay attention to the color of the leaves: it is recommended to buy delenki, the leaves of which have a rich dark green shade.

Yellowish leaves on the seedlings indicate that the roots of the plant have been dried for at least several days. Such specimens are suitable for planting, but they rather poorly tolerate transportation in cellophane bags, where they often begin to rot.

Choosing a landing site

This flower belongs to the light-loving plants, so it is recommended to choose open areas with a lot of sunlight for planting, but it should be taken into account that if it is planted in southern latitudes, excessively intense solar radiation can damage a young plant. Therefore, in the south it is worth planting this flower in a shaded area in which the plant will be lit only in the mornings or evenings.

Siberian irises can normally exist even in conditions of dense shade, but the flowering process in such conditions is unlikely to start. The lower the light level, the later and less rapidly this plant will bloom.

You can, without fear of planting them in well-blown areas, as they are not afraid of drafts and squally wind. The stems of this flower never wilder, the leaves always steadily bristle towards the heavens, and the flowers do not break off.

Site preparation

For planting this flower will fit almost any soil. Due to the rather unpretentious nature of the iris, however, it is still worth avoiding too poor, too acidic or too alkaline soils.

The most comfortable for the iris will be a well-retaining water, dense, pre-treated soil with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction, for example, loam with a high concentration of humus.

Landing should be preceded by the land digging and adjustment of its characteristics in case of such need, for example, 200 g of wood ash should be added to 1 square meter of soil to restore the natural soil pH.In the process of digging should be very carefully choose all the roots of weeds.

Stepwise landing process

It is necessary to maintain a distance of no less than 60 cm between flowerbeds with irises. These flowers are growing more and more lush flowerbeds around each year, and a decade later their area can exceed 2 square meters. Planting is recommended to be carried out in the period from the second half of August and up to the middle of September or in the beginning of May.

The planting process in general terms is as follows:

1. A hole is dug, which is individual for each plant: the depth is formed on the basis of the calculation - the length of the root system of seedlings + 3-5 cm; width and length - 0.4-0.5 m.
2. In the planting pit, the seedlings are buried, carefully observing that the rhizomes do not bend.
3. Then the plant is covered with fertile soil, compacted around young flowers and watered.
4. Cover the ground around the perimeter of the stem with mowed grass, peat or compost (layer thickness 3-5 cm).

Use in landscape design

Siberian Iris has found wide application in landscape design. Below are ideas for using it in decorating your site:

1. On the back of the mixborder or in the central part of the island flower beds. Especially good in these plantings are combining varieties of Siberians with flowers of white or blue shades against the background of orange color kupavok.
2. In the complex of complex flower beds you can plant this flower to a level that is below the planting level of most plants in a flower bed. From such a move, the flower garden will add significantly to the aesthetic effect.
3. If you plan to make a group planting, which will consist only of irises, you need to choose varieties so that they are in harmony by color and bloom approximately in the same period. Good visual effect is given by flowers of various shades of one color scale. In this case, the plants with the lightest flowers should rise above the rest.
4. A lone bush iris will look good on the background of a lawn or wall.
5. Be sure to try to apply this plant to decorate the pond.The leaves of the xiphoid shape, resembling reeds, look very naturally against the background of water.

Care tips for lush flowering

As mentioned earlier, Siberian iris is a very unpretentious plant, but to get the best results in its cultivation, you should still carry out minimal flower care activities, followed by the best reward for a gardener when the Siberian iris blooms.

Watering

Irrigation spend not regularly and as the need arises, to maintain the overall moisture of the soil and during particularly dry summer periods. Siberians are not afraid of drought, however, they will react extremely positively to additional moisture during the growing season.

It will help to achieve the best level of soil moisture and eliminate the need to make everyday irrigation a layer of mulch with a thickness of 3-5 centimeters, preferably from mowed grass or fallen pine needles.

The best time to perform the irrigation of this plant is considered to be early morning (no later than noon) or evening, after 17:00. Wateringit is advisable not to get moisture on flower petals, as this may contribute to the loss of their aesthetic qualities.

Feedings

Total for the year held three dressing this flower. The first - in early spring, with the help of complete mineral fertilizer, which is scattered around the bush. You can use, for example, "Kemira-universal" in a dose of 60-80 g per flower. Granules should be carefully put up with the help of a chopper into the soil so that they do not fall on the young shoots and do not harm their development.

The second feeding is done during the period of bud formation, it is designed to prolong and improve the quality of flowering and help the plant to form the largest flowers possible. Both mineral and organic (manure, compost, herbal extracts) substances are suitable for this feeding.

The third time irises fertilize after a period of flowering - this is dictated by the need to restore the forces expended on the formation of flowers. Potash-phosphorous nutrients with the lowest nitrogen content in them (ideally, completely without it) should be used in this feed, for example, bone meal or superphosphate.

Pruning

All pruning is to remove flower stalks. after the flowering period and preparing for wintering by cutting the foliage. The latter should be started only after the arrival of significant frosts, when the process of formation of flower buds stops, and the first frost begins to form on the leaves.

The leaves are cut at a height of 10-15 cm, but you should not do this too soon, because too early pruning can lead to a weakening of flowering next year. If you are not sure about the time of pruning - leave this case until early spring, pruning can be done a couple of days before the first feeding.

Preparing for the winter

The name speaks for itself - Siberian, which means it is quite adapted to our winters. In addition to the trimming described above, when preparing for the wintering and covering up the rhizome, if it has come to the surface, with the help of mulch or a fertile layer of earth, no further measures are needed.

Transplanting and division of rhizomes

Siberian iris breeds only with vegetative techniquesAs a rule, young plants are planted after the separation of the rhizomes.The optimal period for the procedure is the so-called rest period, which comes a month after the flowering period.

Separation of the maternal bush and transplantation can be carried out in the period from mid-August until the beginning of autumn, and under particularly favorable conditions, right up to the last days of October.

The procedure for separating the mother plant is as follows: with a curtain, the leaves are cut to a third of the height and the bush is removed from the ground, trying to keep a lump of earth on the roots. Next, the rhizome with a shovel or knife is quickly divided into delenki, each of which must contain at least 3-8 fans.

For irises, drying of the roots is allowed, but in case it was carried out, it is necessary to do soaking until the tissues are completely renewed immediately before planting. Such a soaking of the roots should take from several hours to several days - depending on the amount of damage and the degree of drying of the root. Siberian iris is a wonderful flower, perfectly suitable for use in decorating land. Unpretentiousness to environmental conditions and ease of care make it an excellent candidate for landing in almost any area.Therefore, if you plan to do landscape design - feel free to order yourself the seedlings of this flower.