RIGHT now bearded irises everywhere are coming into bloom.
Late spring is their great single period of display.
They flower just once, but the sheer, dominating beauty and colours of blooms make up for the remaining 11 months of relative drabness.
Oddly enough, just as bearded iris blooms wither, it is also the best time to divide up old, congested clumps.
This means healthier plants and even more spectacular displays next time.
It's true we can also divide clumps during cooler, dormant periods in autumn, but by then it is too late for newly-separated divisions to grow strongly enough to flower the following spring.
When bearded irises come into flower, a definite change also occurs in the way they form roots.
The living rhizomes - that's the bright green, bulbous, swollen root parts - start forming new roots as older ones die.
Examine any old bearded iris clumps that have been neglected for years and they look a bit like weird, giant sea-creatures half-submerged in the soil.
All old, dark tuberous material in the centres of an old iris clump is dead.
It may look alive but it is totally useless for growing new plants.
While it exists, it becomes a constant drag on healthy growth.
The living, useful parts are the bright green parts right on the ends of old rhizomes.
They are often called "increase" - which is what they do - and are the living parts of bearded iris clumps, identified because each has a cluster of sword-shaped leaves sprouting from them.
It is these green bits that are now starting to form new roots.
Turn them over and new, emerging roots look like little warts.
This renewed growth during late spring is why we can safely cut them free to create lots of new, healthy plants.
Doing the job now gives new "increase" almost 11 months to become fully established and deeply-rooted enough to ensure great displays next spring.
Bearded iris division is easy and the number of new iris plants that can be obtained from an old clump is astonishing.
Wait until flowering has finished - or even after flowers have been cut.
Use a fork to lift an entire clump from the soil and put it on a path or lawn.
Hose it to blast off all soil.
The new, healthy roots can then be more clearly seen.
Old, dead roots are black.
Use a knife to slice off every increase. An old clump can supply up to 10 or more new, healthy iris plants.
All dead material can be left to rot in the compost heap.
When preparing new bearded iris divisions for planting, a brutal pruning operation is necessary.
Those long, top-heavy leaves must be cut back hard to leave only a short fan just above the rhizome.
There is a reason for this heavy pruning.
Securely planting top-heavy bearded iris divisions is difficult because they keep coming out of the soil as the heavy weight of long leaves pulls them over.
After all, these irises are never planted deeply and the top of the rhizome must always be left exposed and never buried.
Spare divisions can be potted into containers. They make welcome presents to other keen gardeners and bearded iris lovers.
The plants love full sun, perfect drainage and a sweet, well-limed soil.
They grow to perfection among roses, flowering just before the roses come into bloom.
The easiest and quickest way to plant out young, beared iris rhizomes is to make two parallel grooves in the soil roughly 100mm deep and about 50mm apart.
Settle a new rhizome on the ridge between the grooves, wriggle it into the soil a little and dangle any new roots over each side.
Backfill, covering only the roots and sides of the rhizome.
A good watering and the job's done.
The new roots soon start delving down deeply, anchoring the plants firmly in the soil.
