Washing Bearded Iris

A Wheelbarrow Full of Bearded Iris

A few of the team visited the Oxford Botanic Garden yesterday afternoon and returned with a wheelbarrow full of bearded iris that had been dug up from one of the family beds during a recent reorganisation.

A Trug Full Of Bearded Iris

As the bed, from which the iris had been removed, may have contained an invasive weed all the iris needed to be washed to remove any soil deposits attached to the rhizome and roots. 

Clean Iris

Working through one bag at a time the rhizomes were put through an initial wash, a large trug of clean water, then washed again in another trug of clean water. Once all the bag's contents had been washed they were planted in to 1 and 2 litre pots of compost, 120 pots in total of 15 cultivars. They will remain in the pots until a decision has been made as to where they will be planted out in the college gardens. Amongst the 15 cultivars are 'Black Swan' deep purple almost black in colour, 'Zantha' deep yellow in colour and 'Gudrun' yellow and white in colour.
Thank you to the team at Oxford Botanic Garden for your generosity.

Bearded Iris 'Black Swan'