Extension Educationin Travis County

What to do with all those Iris?

Dormant iris rhizome – like those received when mail ordering

It’s bounty time when you divide your iris clumps, but how do you store iris rhizomes and keep them healthy if you can’t relocate them immediately? After dividing my irises, I called on friends and family to donate for their beds, but my garage was still full of rhizomes. I have a few friends who want starters for future planting, so I have put them to rest until they could be relocated. If stored properly, the rhizomes will last a year.

Making a Storage Box

Stored iris rhizomes need air circulation

To get started, grab a shallow cardboard box, scissors, a drill or screwdriver, and your gloves. If you don’t have a shallow box (like those you get when buying a case of drinks), cut one out of any box you may have. Next, poke or drill holes into all four sides to allow for air circulation. Bulbs need to remain dry or they will rot. If desired, place a little peat moss on the bottom of the box for extra dry protection. Now you’re ready for the bulbs.

Choose Candidates for Storage

Rhizomes ready for storage and future gifts!

Looking at each rhizome, make sure no dirt remains on the bulb or roots and that the rhizome is firm. Toss any rhizomes that are mushy or dried out. Trim the roots and cut back the foliage to about two inches. The foliage and roots will dry out, but it’s good to have an indicator of the rhizome top and bottom, and for future handling. Place each rhizome inside the box being careful not to create more than two or three layers, to allow for optimum air circulation.

Find a Cool and Dry Place to Store Iris Rhizomes or Bulbs

Store the box in a cool dry place such as a garage. I prefer a box to store iris rhizomes due to the foliage and varying sizes of the bulbs – and for easy transport. This method will work for all types of bulbs and rhizomes. Although, a true bulb, such as a tulip or onion, will also store in a hung nylon stocking. Whichever method you prefer, the key is to allow for air circulation and keep the rhizome or bulb in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to plant it again.

Additional Resources

Bulbs for Central Texas

November Gardening Checklist

Yvonne was a 35+year veteran in the computer and information technology industry when she retired and moved from Houston to the Austin area. In 2018, Yvonne certified as a Travis County Texas Master Gardener to follow her passion for gardening and volunteering within the community. She has spent 20+ years enjoying gardening and working with bulbs and perennials. She now tackles the challenges presented by the Austin area wildlife, drought, and limestone soil.

‘Elegance Salmon’ Ranunculus

Fall is the Time to Plant Ranunculus

Plant ranunculus tuberous roots now and you won’t have to wait to find plants in late spring. The other advantage of buying tuberous roots from a nursery or online seller is that you can locate the color you want. Even better, ranunculus roots are about 1/5 the price of a full plant. The bloom options are wide and varied, so the biggest problem you’ll have is deciding on just a few! I saw a pink/salmon variety called ‘Elegance Salmon’ which touts disease resistance, longer stems, and bigger blooms. This one had me at the picture. I ordered a package of 5 bulbs which cost around $10 with the early order discount.

Where to Plant Ranunculus

If I don’t write down where I’m going to plant things at the time I order them, I forget where I planned to place them. When these beauties arrived, it took longer to select the right spot than to plant them! I was lucky to have received six bulbs in the package instead of the five I ordered.  That allowed me to put five in a prepared bed around my patio that receives 6+ hours of sun, and one in a container so I could locate wherever I needed color in the spring.

To plant these, you’ll need your gloves, a hand trowel and a watering can to get these planted.

Ranunculus have  tuberous roots

Locate a spot with at least 4 hours of sun and well-draining soil. Planting ranunculus is easy because you only need a planting depth of two inches. Lay out the bulbs keeping them 4-6 inches apart and then place the bulb in the hole with the spiky roots downward. Cover with soil and water in well.

Care and Maintenance

After planting, be sure to mulch around the area to keep the bulbs moist and protect from the winter chill. Once you’ve watered the bulbs in, leave them alone as the roots don’t like being disturbed. There is no need to water again until you see the foliage begin to sprout in the spring, and then keep the plants evenly moist. In most cases, our spring showers are sufficient to ensure blooms, but you may have to augment if our spring is particularly dry.

Ranunculus Make Great Cut Flowers

Ranunculus appear in April-May and are such pretty flowers you may want some to remain in the garden, while also enjoying a few in the house. The good news is the more you cut the blooms, the more blooms the plant will produce – so cut away! In fact, this is a plant you want to deadhead, or cut off spent blooms to encourage new blooms.

Ranunculus stems will last up to 10 days in a vase. The trick is to cut the flower stem when you see the bud just begin to open or show color. Remove any leaves that would be below the water line to avoid bacterial growth that can shorten the lifespan of a stem. Once in the house, trim the stem again and put immediately into the vase. Ranunculus stems can reach one to two feet tall, so you have plenty of length to work with. It’s best to change the water in the vase every two to three days to keep the water fresh.

Naturalizing Ranunculus

So many varieties, so little planting space.

Best suited for zones 8-10, Austin is a great location to naturalize Ranunculus bulbs. As with all bulbs, allow the foliage to yellow and die back before cutting, as this allows the foliage to feed the bulb for next year’s blooms. Since the foliage goes fully dormant during the summer, no additional watering is necessary and if located in an area with excessive water, the bulb can rot. If in a container, refrain from watering after the bulb has gone dormant and put it away until next spring. Whether you decide to keep your Ranunculus in a container or in the ground, I suspect you will become hooked and want to try more varieties and colors year after year.

Additional Resources

Bulbs for Central Texas

October Gardening Checklist

Yvonne was a 35+year veteran in the computer and information technology industry when she retired and moved from Houston to the Austin area. In 2018, Yvonne certified as a Travis County Texas Master Gardener to follow her passion for gardening and volunteering within the community. She has spent 20+ years enjoying gardening and working with bulbs and perennials. She now tackles the challenges presented by the Austin area wildlife, drought, and limestone soil.

Divide Agapanthus Now

It can take four years or more for Agapanthus bulbs (Agapanthus africanus), to multiply or naturalize.

Agapanthus are best divided and transplanted in the fall for spring blooms.

Eventually you’ll want to tackle large bunches and divide Agapanthus to ensure your lilies continue to produce those lovely blue or white bloom clusters. In the Austin area, these lilies bloom in mid-to-late spring, typically around Mother’s Day. As these are also great container bulbs, you can pot extras to gift to family and friends, or to enjoy on your patio.

Easy Dividing Technique

Grab your gloves, a spade, a hand spade or knife, and a watering can or hose for this activity. The easiest way to divide Agapanthus is to lift the entire bunch with a spade, digging in a circle around the bunch approximately 8-12 inches beyond the foliage.

The lilies develop a large mass of white fleshy roots which often travel as much as 16 inches beyond the foliage tips, but it’s okay to cut the roots for easier lift and transplant. The root system is typically no more than a foot deep, which is also why the roots develop a tangled web extending out from the foliage.

Once you have the bunch extracted, shake off the soil to expose the roots. If not too tight, use your hands to gently divide the bulbs into single shoots by pulling apart. If tight, use a hand-spade or knife to separate the bulbs, while paying attention to maintain several roots per bulb. Don’t worry if you accidently sever some roots, a single root on a bulb will maintain the bulb’s life.

Extracted Agapanthus bunch.

Separated Agapanthus bulb shoots.

Thinning Works Too

If you prefer to thin the plants rather than removing the entire bunch, look for a single or group of bulbs around the exterior and using a spade, make a slice in between the main grouping and that you’d like to remove. Remove as many bulbs or grouping of bulbs you’d like and then detangle into individual bulb shoots with your hands or by cutting with a spade or knife.

Bulbs Need Soil and Some Shade

Agapanthus grow in USDA zones 8-10 and require full sun to part shade while preferring well-prepared or composted soil. These bulbs can withstand a lot of water, but also do well with minimum incremental water during our times of drought. Agapanthus do best in our area with a little shade from the hot afternoon sun, such as the understory of a tree. For best blooming, ensure the bulb receives at least four hours of sunlight a day.

Once you’ve selected your spot, dig a hole twice as wide as the root system and only as deep as is necessary to sit the bulb so that the neck is slightly above the soil line. Build a small mound of soil underneath each bulb and spread the roots out in a circular fashion. After placing all the bulbs, fill in the soil and gently pat in place.

Spread roots in a circular fashion.

Keep bulb neck slightly above the soil line.

Water the entire area to give the roots sufficient moisture to recover from the shock of the transplant. Cut off damaged foliage so all the plants’ energy will focus on root development and sustaining the healthy foliage. With the cooler nights coming, add a layer of 1-2 inches of mulch around the bulbs to help protect the roots and to assist with moisture retention. Continue to water daily to every other day for the first week if no rain. After the first week, water every 3rd day for another week or two and then allow mother nature to take over.

Maintaining Agapanthus

In early spring, your bulbs will enjoy a little compost to help their continued development. Once the blooms have turned brown and the birds have enjoyed the seeds, cut the flower stalk off at the base. If desired, you can add a little bone meal or 5-10-5 fertilizer to help with the development of next year’s blooms. The strappy foliage is evergreen, so you will have the entire year to enjoy the mounds of greenery. New hybrids are being developed, producing bulbs with deeper purple blooms as well as new dwarf varieties reaching only 18 inches tall – so just another reason to enjoy an Agapanthus in a container or in-ground.

Additional Resources

Bulbs for Central Texas

October Gardening Checklist

Yvonne was a 35+year veteran in the computer and information technology industry when she retired and moved from Houston to the Austin area. In 2018, Yvonne certified as a Travis County Texas Master Gardener to follow her passion for gardening and volunteering within the community. She has spent 20+ years enjoying gardening and working with bulbs and perennials. She now tackles the challenges presented by the Austin area wildlife, drought, and limestone soil.

Oxblood Lilies: Plant and Forget

I admit it, I am not patient. I couldn’t wait for the temperatures to dip so I could begin the fall gardening rituals. And then I saw a White (Fragrant) Mistflower just delivered to a local nursery and had to have it. I had the perfect spot – where I had planted three pink Oxblood lily (Rhodophiala bifida) bulbs in the spring, and nothing was materializing.

Pink Oxblood lily, Rhodophiala bifida.

As lilies go, Oxblood bulbs are the ‘plant it and forget it’ type. And I truly had until I saw the foliage popping out for the red Oxblood lilies in my perennial flower bed. And then I remembered that when I planted the pink Oxbloods, a night prowler had dug them up and I had to replant a couple of times. When the red variety began showing signs of life, and nothing for the pinks, I decided that was a failed experiment. I happily began digging up the area to plant the mistflower, when to my surprise I dug up 3 sprouting bulbs – the pink Oxbloods! In fact, now there were 5 (2 offsets/babies) and I just disturbed their peace.

Manage the Light Requirements

What I didn’t take into account was this area only receives morning sun, whereas the area with the red Oxblood lilies receive all day sun, slightly shaded by the understory of a Red Oak. If I had waited a couple more weeks, the pink Oxblood bulbs would be sprouting their foliage. At this point, I had done the damage, so decided to quickly replant all 5 bulbs in another bed that receives slightly more sun, as Oxblood lilies prefer sun or part sun.

Planting Tips

Oxblood lilies, Rhodophiala bifida, are fall bloomers.

To plant, you need is a pair of gloves, spade, and a watering can. Oxblood lilies are planted with their top slightly exposed above the ground. Most bulbs sold are 5-7 cm (2-4 inches) in diameter. Set the bulbs in the pattern desired (it’s aesthetically pleasing to plant a grouping in odd numbers).

As with all bulbs, you can add a little bone meal or 5-10-5 fertilizer to the hole, but if you do, be sure to cover with soil prior to placing the bulb. Then replace the existing soil around the bulb, water well, and mulch around the area. If you’d like, add a stake or other indicator to remind you where the bulbs have been planted. Their necks should be slightly exposed, but if you have other plants also growing, a stake is a helpful reminder. Then let mother nature do her thing to supply required water. The Oxbloods will reward you year after year with exquisite beauty just as the summer is winding down.

Hoping for Forgiveness

Only time will tell if those pink Oxbloods will reward me for finding them a new home. Patience, I keep telling myself.

Additional Resources

October Gardening Checklist

Bulbs for Central Texas

Yvonne was a 35+year veteran in the computer and information technology industry when she retired and moved from Houston to the Austin area. In 2018, Yvonne certified as a Travis County Texas Master Gardener to follow her passion for gardening and volunteering within the community. She has spent 20+ years enjoying gardening and working with bulbs and perennials. She now tackles the challenges presented by the Austin area wildlife, drought, and limestone soil.