The iris planted years ago by the old lady who used to own this house are ready for thinning again. We did it about 3 years ago but they need it again, so a friend brought me his copy of The Gardener's Iris Book. He pulled up all the knotted clotted rhizomes in the west border and today we finished digging, fertilizing, and replanting, following the advice in the book. High phosphorus low nitrogen fertilizer, dig as deep as you can, leave some of the rhizome exposed. It was amazing how many we threw away. It's late to be doing this, but with cold weather coming later every year they will probably have time to get settled and put out new roots. I felt motherly as I tucked in their roots and watered them down.
Two years ago, a year after the last time we did this, the iris in that bed were spectacular. Tall, dark dark purple, thick, and so fragrant it was startling. That year I got an anonymous postcard saying how lovely they were as the sender drove by. It did a lot to perk me up, coming at a time when my mother was ill and things were hard. May was the cruelest month that year.