Re-planting bearding irises

Q. I have a beautiful collection of bearded irises, and we have decided to sell our home and move - we are taking the irises with us. My question is, once I have dug and divided them up, how long do I have before they need to be planted again? We live in Southern Ca, Zone 8-9, and are moving to the same conditions.

Ans. You can store them for a few months. Best result is had if you can store them dry and cool (in a fridge for example, to avoid dehydration). Store in onion sacks or brown paper bags (not plastic) and do try to keep dry.
If you can borrow a neighbors (spare) fridge until your new home is ready, then that is preferred.
If you do not have a fridge, you can also just store the rhizomes dry and as cool as possible (as cool as you can .. say an airconditioned room, garage, or basement) and they will be able to be planted again. I had some stored for about 6 months which were shrivelled. They did not bloom the following spring, but the spring after they had all but rebounded, provided you plant in full sun, give fertilizer and water to the green leaves.