What are the pods that form on some of the iris stems after the blooms drop?

Question

I have a small patch of Iris's that originally came from my husband's paternal grandmother's garden.  We estimate them to be aproximately 75 years old.  I am interested in finding out if the pods that grow at the top of the stem, just like the blooms, may be full of seeds.  Each pod is about 1.5 inches in diameter x 3 to 4 inches long, and is solid green.   There are 6 lines, from end to end, that divide the pod into 6 sections.

Each year my little patch of iris's produces about 30 blooms and 4 to 6 pods.  If these pods do contain seeds, when is the best time to plant them?

Answer 1

The pods are indeed seed pods, but I have yet to see a new plant grow from one of the seeds.  The seeds don't seem to be viable, but maybe they weren't pollinated.  In any event, it's much easier to propagate by taking off a section of the rhyzomes beneath the soil and planting them just below the surface somewhere else in your garden.

If you were able to get a plant growing from the seed, it very well might be hybridized from pollen of another color of iris blooming at the same time.

Answer 2

It sounds like you bulbs are very healthy.  When you let the seed pods form they take away the energy that should go to the bulb...............after the iris blooms and dies you could cut the flower stem back and let the sun hit the leaves to give energy back to the bulb.  You can also add bone meal to the soil in early spring.  It is wonderful that these bulbs have lasted 75 years.  They must be in the perfect location.  You might need to dig some of them up after they flower and die down and transplant some.  The bulbs multiply during the winter into spring.  When you use the bonemeal, where gloves & a mask.