Pruning … So glad to be of help! Dietes will tolerate wind and frost (Pienaar 2004). Dietes iridioides flowers throughout the warmer month of the year. The flowers are similar to those of D. grandiflora, but smaller, and the leaves are wider, resembling those of bearded iris. Thank you..I’m new to this region and have an overgrown yard too play in. To prevent self-seeding in your own garden or your neighbors’ gardens, clip off the green seed capsules after bloom but leave the stems of the white variety on the plant as long as they continue bearing flowers for several years. We find the plant flowers most during the middle of summer and in autumn there is an abundance of seed pods ripe for harvesting. I'm hoping to find a spray that kills the bermuda, but not the dietes. The strong, grey-green leaves of the African Iris (Dietes iridioides) add a nice, thick grassy texture to many situations. Step 4 It is an easy, well-adapted plant for growing in Southern California. Do not remove flower stems as they continue to flower for several years. The flower spikes are topped with 3-inch white flowers marked with yellow and blue. Suggested uses. Cultivation. You will end up with a whole new planting that will resume flowering in spring and last many years before you once again need to dig up and divide the clumps. It … Within a short amount of time, the entire clump will renew itself and you will be pleased with the fresh, clean, bright green foliage that will result. The two species most often grown in our area are Dietes iridioides, which has six-petaled white flowers with yellow and purple accents, and Dietes bicolor, which has cream colored flowers with maroon accents. Pinch or clip spent blooms if they do not drop on their own. Under glass, grow in loam-based compost in full light & good ventilation. The name fortnight lily is based on the blooming cycle of the flowers, where new blooms come up approximately every two weeks. It is a rhizomatous evergreen perennials that generally resemble beardless iris and grows 2-4’ tall. Continue Reading, Gardening Question From Moira: Green caterpillars are eating our Bok Choy so I got your book out!!!! Question from Karen: I love the flowers of fortnight lily but after many years in the ground mine have grown large. You have such a succinct way of clearly explaining things. Edward F. Gilman 2. Pruning Instructions. Posted by OldGardener (So Cal - Zone 10b) on Jul 16, 2014 9:27 AM. Dietes: occurring in open grassland, dry bushland, moist forest margins, and mountain cliffs (Brickell 1996). I looked up about 20 sites before I found yours. Continue Reading, Gardening Question from Debbie: I have this pot outside in my garden in a location where it receives morning shade but direct sun most all afternoon. Cut off the good foliage along with the bad as close to ground level as you can manage. Introduction. Snip back any winter-damaged foliage in the early spring, before new growth emerges. It costs around $16 for a 200mm (8″) pot. Just grab a pruning shears and let’s go! A great choice for mass plantings and containers or near a pool or pond; can tolerate mild coastal conditions. Thank you. They can survive winter outdoors in areas south of Macon but in north Georgia the roots must be dug in October. These plants were formerly placed in the genus Moraea, but were reclassified because they are rhizomatous.Some references mention the species Dietes vegeta or D. vegeta variegata, springing from some confusion with Moraea vegata (which grows from a corm, not a rhizome).The name D. vegeta is commonly misapplied to both D. iridioides and D. grandiflora. Depending on the flowering habit, snip off faded blooms individually, or wait until the blooming period is over and remove entire flower stalk down to the base of the plant. Dietes vegeta 'Variegata', Dietes iridioides, Moraea iridioides Variegated Fortnight Lily, African Iris, Wild Iris An evergreen perennial that forms neat clumps of flat, sword-shaped leaves with creamy white variegation. Your site was the only one that provided good handling on controlling them. But even with the sharpest of hedge shears, this is a difficult job to do because the leaves and flower stems of these plants are notoriously tough and numerous. The local nursery worker did not know what BT is, so I… 1). Native to eastern and southern Africa, Dietes iridioides (Fortnight Lily) is a rhizomatous evergreen perennial with attractive flowers resembling small Japanese Irises. Clumps will live for many years and look best with regular irrigation, but can survive with little irrigation once established. Scientific: Dietes vegeta (formerly Moraea iridioides) Common: African day lily, fort night lily, African iris Family: Iridaceae Origin: South Africa Pronounciation: Di-ET-ees ve-GE-ta Hardiness zones Sunset 8-9, 12-24 USDA 8 with protection, 9-11. This seems to be a terrific addition for my raised beds. Blooms occur in waves at intervals of approximately two weeks, hence the name. Dietes vegeta (aka Dietes iridioides or Moraea iridioides) - Fortnight Lily or African IrisLovely Iris-like flowers rise above clumps of blade-shaped leaves on this evergreen perennial. As is true for their other parent, Dietes iridioides, these hybrids' flower stems last more than a year; for care see Dietes iridioides. Thanks for the original idea, though I’m not about to try it. How to Cut Back or Prune an African Iris. Another way to go, and in my opinion the best option, is to dig up and divide any clumps of dietes that have become overly large and unsightly. Although I'm impressed by the hardiness of dietes, the bermuda grass coming up through the middle of the tight dietes clumps has been nearly impossible to weed. Dietes iridioides: With a height of 50cm the wood iris makes an excellent ground cover in difficult parts of the garden – it spreads rapidly to cover the ground. Gardenality is a gardening-centric site made by gardeners for gardeners with tools that enhance any gardening for the expert to the weekend gardener. It occurs in clumps along the margins of perennial streams and in marshy areas, in full sun or light shade, and grows to a height of 1.2 m (GAMA 2009). Gardening Question From Molly: Hello! Dietes iridioides is a very common perennial grass-like plant. (Some incredibly sharp types of hedge shears are available from purveyors of garden supplies.) Kokemuller is an authorized substitute teacher and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Iowa. Seed pods are formed after flowering on the stems where the flowers were. About Dietes ‘Lemon Drops’ (African Iris) This evergreen upright plant is called Dietes ‘Lemon Drops’ or commonly as Fortnight Lily and African Iris. The white flowers bloom on the ends of 3-foot tall stalks from spring through the fall. She spent six years working in a private boarding school, where her focus was English, algebra and geometry. I'm hoping to find a spray that kills the bermuda, but not the dietes. Lemon Drops is ivory with yellow blotches, 'Orange Drops' ivory with orange blotches. This clumping, robust perennial has stiff leaves radiating up and out in a fan-shaped pattern (Fig. The roots are not deep, so except for the size of the plants, you will find this job is not too difficult. Sterilize the pruning shears by dipping their cutting blades into a solution of 2 tablespoons household bleach and 1 gallon of water for 30 minutes or by wiping the blades with isopropyl alcohol. I want to upgrade the containers which are currently plastic buckets. Dietes vegeta African Iris, Butterfly Iris 1. How to Prune an African Iris Fortnight Lily. The plant is more widely available at local garden centers in these areas. Continue Reading, Gardening Question From Crystal: I am going to be doing some container gardening this summer for the first time. I tested the soil this year and it still shows too alkaline. Pruning of Dietes Bicolor is not essential as it is quite an easy to maintained plant but doing so, will enhance the beauty and appearance of the plant. One solution is simply to cut off all the foliage now in fall. Introduction. They will bloom for several years. When yellow fortnight lilies (Dietes bicolor) have finished blooming, cut off the flower stalks down to the ground. Buy compost… They will not bloom again. The fortnight lily goes by many names, including African iris, butterfly iris, Wood iris, and scientifically Dietes iridioides. The two species most often grown in our area are Dietes iridioides, which has six-petaled white flowers with yellow and purple accents, and Dietes bicolor, which has cream colored flowers with maroon accents. I used a chainsaw to cut the dense clump close to the ground. Dietes or fortnight lilies flower in waves of bloom throughout the year and can be a very troublesome plant unless one deadheads them properly according to each species so the seeds are not carried around by birds. Make clean pruning cuts straight across the … Dietes iridioides: With a height of 50cm the wood iris makes an excellent ground cover in difficult parts of the garden – it spreads rapidly to cover the ground. Otherwise you will find this plant springing up all over and it is a real problem. ). They’re grown both for their attractive leaves and pretty flowers. We have dietes in the small front planter of about 50 homes that have spread into other shrubs in 27 years. After this has happened for several years it’s virtually impossible to clean up a large old clump. This will give the plant a chance to renew itself. What would be an easy repair? Would rectangular boxes… Form & Character: Upright, open, oriental, coarsely grass like. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Cover plants with mulch before the first frost in zone 8 to keep them from freezing over the winter. Use your pruning shears to cut off 12 to 18 inches, so only a few inches of the stems remain. I’ve purchased 4 15-gallon containers of Pandorea Jasminoides – Bowers Vine – that I want to train onto my wooden fence. The flower spikes are topped with 3-inch white flowers marked with yellow and blue. Dietes iridioides (African iris) will reach a height of 0.6m and a spread of 0.3m after 2-5 years.. Not only are the clumps huge but some of the leaves have gotten brown and messy-looking with dead foliage and debris mixed in with fresh growth. It produces fan-shaped clumps of iris-like, narrow, sword-shaped, basal, evergreen leaves. Lemon Drops is ivory with yellow blotches, 'Orange Drops' ivory with orange blotches. Sku #6160. Edward F. Gilman 2. Propagate by seed or by division of established clumps. Dietes cultivation is growing more popular because of the plant’s attractive, stiff, spiky foliage and multiple, showy blooms. More gardeners are growing a Dietes iris (Dietes iridioides) than in the past, especially in USDA hardiness zones 8b and higher. Cut brown or yellowing leaves and stalks back to the base of the plant with pruning shears. I am trying to do it as organically as possible. Eventually clumps of fornight lily become very thick with growth and the problem is that fresh new leaves mix in with the old spent leaves. This job can be done with sharp electric hedge shears or even with a very sharp pair of hand held hedge shears. The same goes for the foliage, any dead or yellowing foliage can be cut off at the base to reserve energy for new growth. Remove them one at a time; the leaves are tough and difficult to cut through. Someone planted a whole front yard of it, the next owner used a skip-loader to get rid of it. We now know best that we should replace these with another simply trimmed plant. Sub-Tropical, Mediterranean, Greenhouse, Flower Arranging, Containers, Beds and borders. Answer from Pat: They will not bloom again. Fortnight lily (Dietes iridioides) is an evergreen, long-lived member of the lily family native to East Africa. “All Dietes are extraordinarily drought-resistant” (Macoboy 1986). I have you now in my favorites. Dietes can be divided, but tend to resent disturbance and need care to re-establish (Kirsten 2004). Light Needs. Cut the entire plant back to ground level with hedge clippers in the fall if the plant has not been tended for several years and has an abundance of dead foliage. 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