Transplanting Iris

I have two flower beds full of iris--no idea what colors/kinds because we bought our home after all the blooms had died this summer. I also have a couple empty (except weeds, they don't count) flower beds around my house. So, I figured I should spread the iris around, and since they multiply on their own this needs to be done every few years anyway.

So we got out the gardening tools and got to work. I started with clearing the weeds from an empty section of flower bed. Then I dug up and separated about a square foot of iris. That one square foot yielded about twenty iris bulbs. I was not expecting that many. I now realize that I have my work cut out for me with spreading out my iris, and I'm trying to think of other places I can put it. Also, should anyone in the area want iris of unknown color, let me know--I will happily share!

Throughout the process, Emmett was my "helper." (We tackled this while Charlie was at school.) He really liked the hand held rake and trowel. He didn't really do what I asked most of the time, but he didn't really get in the way either, so I'm considering this a success.

The one the he did do well was planting the bulbs. The holes were dug, and I told him to put the bulbs in with the roots down and cover them with dirt. It was fun seeing him focus on this new task and his excitement when it was done. (I gave up after the first twenty bulbs; it was getting hot, and I'm lazy.)

Assuming we didn't kill them all when we moved them, it will be fun anticipating their blooms in the spring.

I'm planning on starting a vegetable garden next year, and this was a good start for us in getting in the habit of gardening. We'll see how we keep it up.