Always harvest during the cool hours of the morning or late afternoon/evening. Bearded irises are very fragile once they’re open, so it’s important to pick them before that. Do this when they’re in the “pencil” stage—this is when blooms are still closed but an inch or two of color is showing at the tip. If picked at this stage, the flowers will open inside in the vase within a day or two. You can also harvest flowers when they are fully open, but take extra care when handling them because the petals will bruise and crease quite easily. Remove faded flowers and buds will continue to emerge. Expect a vase life of 3 to 7 days.