Expert: C.L. Fornari - 9/8/2002

Question
Hello,
I live in SE lower Michigan (Adrian) and I have questions about irisis.  Last spring I bought a house that at one time had a wonderful gardener.  I am only a novice.  I have noticed that there are a few irisis scattered here and there around the yard, mostly at the base of oak trees.  I want to put them around one specific oak tree.  The tree gets sun from about noon on.
Is this a good plan?  Can you tell me where I can go on the internet to learn more about the plants and flowers that I can't identify?

One last thing, my soil is sandy and the property borders a wooded lot.  I have been fighting probably a losing battle with moles.  Will they bother the iris bulbs?

Thank you in advance for any information  that will aid me.  

Answer
Deb,
I do not know of any one site to identify iris, but if you type in the name of some common iris on Google, the search engine, you should find pictures of these and see if they match your plants.  I would look at Iris cristata (short foliage, spreading, iris for shade) and Iris siberica first, or perhaps German or Bearded Iris.  How they will do under the tree depends on soil and root competition.  It sounds like the amount of sun is right for any iris variety, although the iris cristata may get a bit too much sun in that spot.

If your soil is sandy you should mix a good amount of organic matter (compost, cow manure etc) in the area before you plant, and put a light top-dressing around (but not over the corms if they are bearded or German Iris) the plants annually.  Siberian iris need dividing every three or four years, and German iris every five or six.

Moles are repeled by Caster Oil, so if you mix some in a bucket of water and drench the areas you are growing in, it will help keep them away.

all the best,
C.L. Fornari