When dwarf iris enthusiast discusses their favorite subject, they usually have the dwarf beardless or native types in mind, and they usually qualify their enthusiasm by some such phrase as “Once you have found a way of growing them…”
But why do they neglect the dwarf bearded types, which need no qualifying reservations whatsoever? I simply can’t understand.
Except in certain restricted areas where the soil and moisture are just right, and 90% percent of the United States are not, the dwarf beardless types pine away and eventually disappear.
Their requirements, that is to say, are too exacting for the great mass of home gardeners. But the bearded dwarfs are just the opposite.
Hardy Dwarf Bearded Iris
Bearded dwarfs are very hardy and will grow under almost any conditions, and besides that, they have everything else you would want in a miniature iris.
They are true dwarfs, ranging from 3″ to 12″ inches high.
They bloom at a time when the garden is almost bare of bloom—their flowers are showier and better proportioned than the other dwarf iris, and their range of colors has been so greatly improved in recent years.
It just doesn’t seem fair to compare any others with them.
After that description, I may sound prejudiced, but I honestly can’t think of anything more beautiful than masses of these little irises in the rock garden or as edgings of borders or walks.
I find them extremely useful at the top of rock terraces and as individual clumps in front of borders.
Dwarf Iris Varieties
When speaking of dwarf iris, we immediately think of Iris atroviolacea.
It is commonly found in cemeteries, abandoned farmyards, and small-town lots, among the elite, almost everywhere.
It is the first to bloom, sometimes in late March but usually during the first week in April.
Iris atroviolacea has masses of violet-colored flowers that make your heart jump into your throat and is 4” inches tall with terminal buds on neat slender stems.
Quickly following this comes Azurea and Coerulea, both blues, the latter being the better of the two.
From April 15 on, there is a continuous parade of dwarfs until about May 15, through the intermediate iris season, and until the earliest of the tall bearded types bloom.
The Best Among The Hundred Varieties
Dwarfs thus prolong the iris season by 5 to 6 weeks.
From here on, it is a matter of selection. I myself have over a hundred varieties.
They include many shades of purple, ranging from red and blue to almost black, and they have beards of white, blue, purple, yellow, orange, and indigo.
Among the best of them are the following:
- Tiny Tony
- Marocain
- Tony
- Violet Gem
- Balkana
- Bronya
Tiny Tony was probably the finest of all the dwarf iris.
It had perfect form in all its characteristics, such as:
- It is really a dwarf, 6” inches high.
- Its standards are closed and domed.
- Its falls do not tuck under as so many of the dwarfs do.
- Its substance is good and weather-resistant.
- It has neat slim stems with terminal flowers in abundance
- Fine foliage and everything in proportion.
- Its color is rich red-purple, and it is a self. Falls, and standards are the same color.
Yellow Dwarf Iris Varieties
In yellows, the dwarfs run front, pale tints, through lemons, to deep chronic.
There is Tiny Treasure, with wide flaring falls, and Keepsake, the same but a trifle lighter in tone.
Cream Tart is even smaller, with flaring falls and a spot of red in their centers.
Sound Money is gorgeous in color and in good form, but a little taller, about 8” inches.
Praire Gem is good, and Yellow Frills has a delicate color, an orange beard, and frilled edges to the petals.
Orange Queen is older but still good.
Red-toned Dwarf Iris Varieties
The red-toned varieties still are rather scarce, but some fine improvements are on the way.
Tampa is probably the nearest to a real red that we have. It is an Iris arenaria (flavissima) seedling, has fine flaring falls, neat sterns, and is 8” inches high.
It is much redder than Tiny Tony.
In the past, Rose Mist was considered the best pink.
It is a sort of pinkish lavender blend, rather petite and charming.
It’s often used with arenaria and gets pink with a mahogany cast on the falls.
It is called Mist O’Pink and has wide flaring falls, is slim stemmed, and is about 8” inches tall.
It is an Arenaria seedling and is the celor of the old Noweta.
It is very ruffled, has heavy, wide, flaring falls, and is very diminutive.
New Developments Of Dwarf Iris
Many new developments are coming along in the dwarfs. In fact, it seems like something of a renascence.
In my garden, there are near-amoenas, variegatas, plicatas, new shades of blues, bicolors, etc.
These are not quite ready for introduction yet, but they are mentioned to dispel further some people’s idea that dwarfs are all purple and yellow and of poor quality.
If you are rather fussy and would like to play with some of the aristocrats among the species, try Iris arenaria (flavissima) with its bright yellow flowers, 3″ inches high, grassy foliage, and very ruffled, flaring falls.
Or you can try Iris bloudowi, another form that is very similar but not ruffled.
Then there is Iris mellita, 3″ inches, with standards a creamy white and falls a buffish citron purple with a border like the standards, and with a huge fuzzy white beard.
Iris rubro-marginata, a similar plant in that both have curved sickle-shaped leaves, has smokey red standards, the falls deeper and with a haft of blue, lavender, and red and iridescent as a peacock’s feathers. The beard is brilliant purple.
Then there are three forms of Iris pumila, true species, called sulina, carpathia and nana, collected by Robert Schreiner, which will enrich anyone’s collection.
You will have to search for some of these dwarfs, but most are available through regular channels.
No doubt you will have noticed the omission of whites.
There are, of course, several, such as the following:
- Alba
- Fiancee
- Brautjungfer
- Albatre
- Mignonette, etc.
But they are not yet comparable in quality to the other colors.
However, fine progress is being made with them, and they will soon merit inclusion. In the meantime, the ones mentioned will fill in.
Grow Dwarf Iris Under Great Conditions
As I remarked initially, the dwarf iris will do well under most conditions.
But they will, of course, respond favorably to being well-fed and to being given an ideal environment.
They like sweet or neutral soil, plenty of sunlight, good drainage, and sonic leaf mold “down under,” where the roots can forage.
I like to separate them and replenish the leaf mold, with the addition of a little bone meal, every 2 years for super results.
Some have been in my rock garden for 10 years without disturbing me, and they still make a mass of bloom.
“April showers,” they say, “bring May flowers.”
Not here! While most of you are waiting for spring flowers, I enjoy thousands of them.
So better investigate these little fellows, for if you don’t know them, you are really missing something.