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iris unguicularis
This iris has had more flowers than ever before (so much for needing a good summer baking). When's a good time to give it a haircut and can I cut all the leaves off? It would be difficult to just cut the dead ones, time consuming and hard on the knees. I cut one back some years ago and it died but not convinced it was anything to do with the cutting.
In the sticks near Peterborough
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Autumn is the time to tidy dead leaves on an evergreen spring flowering Iris.
You can also give it a complete haircut in Autumn.
But bear in mind the leaves help support the flowers.
I rather like the look of beautiful flower amongst green and brown leaves.
I note that the 'pruning advice' on the RHS site recommends cutting back after flowering, but it's not clear whether this means down to the rhizome or not, and with your previous loss, I'd be very reluctant to try it.
I'll live with the scruffiness I think.
Thanks Ss and figrat. Think I'll just take the obviously dead ones off. Don't think I'd like to see it flowering naked. It's always had the brown leaves but they seem to be in the majority now.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I did just that yesterday - took off the scruffiest leaves that had no green on. i always think with this iris it needs the leaves to feed it because it can flower for ten out of the twelve months of the year. this clump in my garden hs been flowering since before Xmas and still has buds to open.