Question
I live in Georgia  (Atlanta area)
We have iris and day lillies.  I have 2 questions -
When they begin dying back, do we cut them or just let them go? They look pretty bad by now and we want to clean up the garden.

Also, I think that they need to be split - the beds were pretty crowded this year.  When is the correct time to do this?

Thanks,

Answer
Carole
 the iris leaves should be cut back to about 3"-4" in the fall, probably at the end of Sept. for you.  The Daylilies will die back and as you see dead leaves, just pull them out, eventually they will all be out.

When all the leaves of the daylilies are gone and you've cut back the iris--THAT is the time to divide them.

Here is a good site on how to divide:
iris

http://www.daytonnursery.com/tips/Dividing%20Iris.htm

daylilies

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/DaylilyDivided.html

Happy Gardening,
Sijka