Multiplying Irises

I know they look really ratty right now, but I am amazed at how quickly the bearded irises are multiplying! Here they are in September when I first cut them back and divided them. All these plants came from 5 original bulbs that were planted last Spring.



And here they are now. Yes, they look awful, but if you enlarge the photo, you will see that each bulb has turned into at least 2 new bulbs. Isn't that just amazing?



I read that bearded irises can be divided any time after blooming up until August, so I guess I can't divide them in the Spring before they bloom again. I also read that they only need to be divided every three years, but I can't imagine letting these things go for that long. I will probably keep dividing them annually until I get bored of it - LOL!

Some of the new ones are supposed to be rebloomers, so we'll see how well they perform. I'm excited to see their beautiful purple, yellow and white blooms this Spring! Hurry up Winter! I'm tired of you!