Question
I live in Westchester County NY, will be moving during the winter to a nearby home and want to take the iris from my garden which were transplanted from my mother's Ohio yard 20 years ago. How can I store them until Spring? They are large bearded ones.

Answer
You need to first cut them back to a 6 inch fan and then dig them up.  You might need to divide them, if they are in a large clump.  Get all the dirt off of the root system, by rinsing really well.  Once you are sure you got all the dirt off of the roots, you need to lay them out on newspaper in a warm dry place,  (like inside your home) for a couple of weeks until the roots have completely dried out.  Then you can store them in Perlite or Vermiculite or in a paper bag, in your closet (or some place that is cool & dark, but not freezing).  Check on them once a week and make sure they are not getting moldy or they might need to be laid out to dry some more.  If they are beginning to grow inside the house, they need to be moved to a colder place, like in a insulated cooler inside an unheated garage, or kept in your fridge (in the crisper), so that they stay dormant, but the roots are not getting frozen.  You can also sprinkle Garden Sulfur on the roots to keep them from getting a fungus or mold on the roots and crown.  Once Spring comes and the ground is no longer frozen, slowly start acclimating them to the cold by putting them outside during cold days (but not freezing) and bringing them back to there storage space.  This way they won't go into shock once they are planted outside.  And after a week of acclimating them, they can be planted in the ground.  Let me know if you have any more questions.