do iris bulbs have a life span?

by Paul Wakeman
(Lansing, MI USA)

This spring only about ten percent of our iris blossomed. Do some bulbs just bloom for so many years and quit??

Doug says if you're talking about iris "bulbs" rather than iris corms (the big tall iris) then yes, they do have a very specific way of being grown and it you mess this up, the bloom time will be shortened. They want summer dry in a major way so a wet season will prevent them from blooming the following year. They "may" come back next year if you don't water them and we get a fairly dry year. Otherwise, they'll be toast and disappear.