Iris Dutch bulbous: planting and care, features and reviews

The choice of plants for a flower bed has long ceased to be a problem - in shops, in nurseries and in the markets, a huge number of seeds, seedlings and bulbs are sold. The main thing - to decide on the composition of the flower bed and choose the necessary palette. Every florist is an artist. But only beauty is created not by broad brush strokes of oil paints, but by gentle flower buds.

A win-win option for decorating large and small flower beds can be Dutch irises. This bulbous plant with large beautiful flowers of unusual shape.

How does an iris bulb look like?

It is a long-term herbaceous plant with an elongated bulb on instead of rhizome. The bulb itself is a modified and shortened underground shoot resembling a kidney. With a vertical section from the tip to the bottom in the middle part of the bulb, one can find the embryo of a flower arrow. Around him, like wrappers, are the rudiments of leaves. They are entrusted with the function of accumulating nutrients.

Between the embryos of the leaves are axillary and central buds. The outer layer of the bulb is the covering scales. The diameter of the bulbs is not very large - it ranges from 2 to 3.5 cm.

Botanical description

More habitual for our gardeners are the rhizome species of irises. These are the flowers that in childhood we called the cockerels and tangents. However, bulbous irises are also not exotic. The most common of these is Irish Dutch. The scientific name of this flower is Xiphium. Despite the fact that Xifium is in the family of Iris and belongs to the genus Iris, it is recognized as a separate representative of the genus. Sometimes, by the way, this causes confusion in the special literature.

Iris Dutch bulbous, planting and care for which are described in this article, gives peduncles of different heights. A dwarfish species can give a flower spoon 30 cm high. Ordinary xyphium reaches a height of 80 cm.

The plant has narrowly ligated leaves, and the flower has a complex structure. In the bud there are 3 outer and 3 inner segments of the perianth. The inner lobes are vertical and have a narrow and broadly lanceolate shape. The outer lobes have a rounded shape and are directed towards the bottom.

Usually, on outer perianth segments there is a yellow or orange spot in the center. The bud of the Dutch iris has several variations of the color and width of the leaf. Moreover, it can be monophonic or bicolour.

The following color of the petals is possible:

• white;
• Yellow of different intensity;
• Different shades of blue and blue colors;
• Different shades of purple;
• lilac;
• Combined variants of all listed colors.

Where Dutch irises are used

Iris Dutch is often planted on private plots and garden beds. Landscape designers actively promote the view, using it in mixborders and alpine hills. Of the bright colors are bouquets that are appropriate to give to men, especially the bouquets of blue and purple. Low-grown bulbous irises can be grown as houseplants.

It is worth noting that the cut flower of the bulbous Dutch iris will stay in the bouquet much longer than the root varieties. It is especially good to use rainwater for a vase, because there is no chlorine in it.

How to choose the soil for planting

When an Irish dutch is described, planting is seen by many as a hard-to-find occupation. But it is not so. It is enough to have information about several nuances of this process.

One of them is the choice of soil for the plant. The main thing that you need to know is that irises do not tolerate excess moisture. They quickly die from rotting the bulb and rootlets. Before planting, it is important to take care of the drainage. However, it is not necessary to place it directly under the plants. Well-proven shallow trenches, filled with gravel or broken bricks, dug near the flower beds along its entire length.

For those who first gathered to plant Iris Dutch bulbs, planting and care begin with the choice of soil. Ideal soil for this plant is loose, with high air permeability, nutritious, neutral or slightly alkaline. In addition, it must be water-permeable.

Sand and peat mix the sod and leaf earth, if necessary adjust the acidity. Do not use fresh manure and excessive doses of chemical fertilizers. Ideal option - a well ripe compost or humus (on 1 m² of land compost bucket). After application, the dressing is thoroughly mixed with the soil. In the future irises are fed with wood ash.

How to plant bulbs

Do you want your Dutch bulb to blossom under your window? Planting of plants is carried out as follows:

1. Round peg (diameter about 5 cm) pierce the soil 15 cm deep. Between the pits, a distance of about 10 cm is maintained.
2. A small handful of large river sand is buried in the pit, into which the bulb is buried for 1-2 cm.
3. Above, the bulb is covered with the same sand.

After buying any bulbs should be treated with a solution of fungicide and slightly dried. Before planting, no later than 2 days, the flower bed or pot is poured with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and potassium humate.

Slightly bulbous bulbs, with sprouts and rootlets, are planted in a trench. Depth can be from 15 to 20 cm. This helps to accurately position the roots and not damage them. In this case, the sand is covered by about 2/3 of the height of the trench. On top of the irises are Dutch (bulbous species), neatly crimped with sand and covered with soil mixture. Then watering is performed. The soil can be mulched with sand, small pebbles, gravel.

Another convenient way to disembark

Dutch bulb irises can be planted in a special basket. This is a plastic container with a large number of holes and holes for accessing air and outflow of water. It is inexpensive, it can be found in flower shops or ordered on the World Wide Web.

The basket must be placed on the ground and circled with a shovel, removed from the contour of the turf and dig a hole about 15 cm deep, make necessary fertilizers, then put the basket on top and pour loose soil mixed with compost into it. Further in the basket is placed the necessary number of bulbs, which are topped with earth. At the end of flowering, the container is excavated, and all the bulbs are stored.

Flowering time

Flowering begins in late May. Depending on the variety, the difference in the time of the appearance of peduncles with buds is 2-3 weeks. If the street is damp and cool, then the flowers please up to three or four weeks. In dry, sunny weather, they fade faster.

If you pick the varieties of bulbous irises with different blooms, then the chic flowerbed will rejoice even longer. And after that there will be juicy and beautiful foliage, which can also serve as a decoration.

How to care for a blooming Dutch iris

During flowering, Iris is not very fond of Dutch. Water it only in a very dry summer. Usually xyfiyum suffices natural moisture and morning dew. If neighboring plants require watering, irises are simply covered with a film, so that water does not fall into the holes. Regular feeding of bulbous irises is not necessary. It is enough to feed wood ash or mineral mixture a week before flowering. Time is determined by the beginning of the formation of buds, they look like seals between the leaves of the plant.

What to do next

So, buds have faded, the leaves of xyphium have completely withered. What to do next? Does iris require Dutch care after flowering? After full drying of the leaves of the plant, the bulb should be excavated. What's nice, there, where the gardener planted one bulb, they will be a small nest. Each bulb on the next year can be planted separately, and you can leave their nest for 3-4 years. If the gardener has divided it, then next year will only bloom the largest bulbs, and the small thing will grow up several seasons, preparing for flowering.

The bulbs are dried and stored in a dry room until the beginning of Indian summer. Then they can be planted again on the flower beds, but if the climate in the region is cold, then for the winter landing should be harbored. Thus, it is possible to understand the color scale, the terms of flowering and the height of the peduncles, and the next year to form the ideal flower garden.

Diseases and pests

Irish Dutch damage leaf drillers. Damaged leaves are cut off in this case, and the plant is treated with insecticides. Be sure to dig the ground in autumn and remove last year's foliage and cropped stems and branches of other plants.

Of the diseases, the most dangerous for irises are various forms of spotting.

Comments of flower growers

There are a lot of Dutch irises. As the flower growers note, these plants have a very large flower. In the reviews most people praise the Dutch iris, as he is unpretentious in the care and has a pretty beautiful appearance. This plant is well established in a temperate climatic zone.

All the growers are unanimous in that Dutch irises (planting and care were described in this article) will be an ornament of any garden plot or flowerbed.