Too little attention has been given to the number of small iris that can be successfully grown in the garden. The tall bearded class has long dominated the iris family, though rightfully so, as it consists of the most magnificent specimens.
However, several little irises should be seen more often. Charming and delicate, dwarf iris are easy to grow and are useful in places unsuitable for taller varieties.
These small fries look their best when they are sheltered by friendly rocks, clustered at the foot of a wall, planted along the edge of a garden path, or under trees in semi-shade.
Through their use, the iris blooming time may be stretched from the last cold days of winter to the early days of June.
Hardy Harbingers Of Spring
The first hardy garden iris to appear in the spring, sometimes through the snow, is Iris reticulata from the Caucasus, a bulbous species called the netted iris because of the veins that cover each tiny bulb. The purple flower, marked with bright gold, grows on a stalk to a height of about 6” inches.
It blooms with the crocus, a distant relative. It requires similar culture, and the bulb should be planted early in the fall; it must have good drainage and should be left undisturbed through the summer to ripen thoroughly.
Cantab
Slightly earlier in the light blue hybrid called Cantab. The interesting leaves of this variety, four-sided, very narrow and soldier-straight, continue to grow after the flower fades to a height of 10” inches. Then, they gradually die down and disappear entirely.
I find these iris easy to grow in my rock garden, thriving in loamy soil, semi-shade, and without any particular care.
Planted in clusters of six or eight, the purple type contrasts sharply with the yellow crocus, but a better companion is the hoop-petticoat daffodil, Narcissus bulbocodium conspicuus.
The hybrid, Cantab, blends well with the lovely blue blossoms of the Siberian squill, Scilla sibirica.
A Yellow-Flowering Candidate
Blooming in late April are several tiny iris, species, and hybrids, which set the pattern for continuous bloom well into May.
The first to bloom is:
- Iris atroviolacea, a minute purple-flowered variety of I. pumila.
- A species, with yellow flowers, is Iris flavissima of Hungary called the sand iris. Fleeting in flower, barely a half day, and rather difficult to please, it was only a transient in my garden.
- The hybrids, however, Ylo, yellow, Cream Tart, and Mist O’ Pink, a dainty mauve, all tiny, are easier to grow.
Zwanenburg
Through the oncocyclus strain from the Orient come other interesting irises. One, Zwanenburg, by comparison, grows 15” to 18” inches tall on my rock wall.
Its unusual brown flowers look best with yellow flowers, such as those of Alyssum saxatile luteum, madwort.
Peshawar
While this iris is early, another hybrid with Oriental blood, Peshawar, a smoky purple in color and a fast increaser, blooms well into June with the tall bearded class. Its dark-colored flower needs the brightness of yellow and other contrasting hues.
Dwarf Bearded Hybrids
There are innumerable dwarf bearded hybrids, some of which fall-blooming, making choosing very difficult.
A few of the newer ones are a must, for they have better form and color. They also increase quickly and are floriferous and responsive even to ordinary care.
Familiar among the older varieties:
- Yellow Glee
- White Bride
- Purple Tony
- Jean Siret
- Blue Mascot
- Little Elsa
- Recurrent Sound Money
- Violet Gem
- Yellow Frills
- Path Of Gold
- Ladies of Peeling
There should be a satisfactory season of dwarf iris bloom of over three weeks. Forming a spring garden in a sunny place on a rock wall or a stony bank, these iris belong among mounds of Phlox subulata, both the pink and the white arabis, primroses, alyssum and the plump, purple spires of the grape hyacinth.
Iris Cristata And Its Varieties
Blooming with the tulips, is a native to our South, Iris cristata. Belonging to the evansia group, this dainty creeping plant is called the crested iris because of the ridged growth on the lower petals in place of the more familiar beard.
It likes semi-shade and loamy soil, and the tiny, fat green, and brown rhizomes must be kept covered.
A top dressing of light humus in the spring and late summer will protect the threadlike roots and keep them anchored to the ground.
The flower is lavender-blue; the foliage rather heavy and broad. The white form, I. c. alba, is more unusual and considered more difficult to grow. However, both thrive for me among stones where the tiny roots play out among the crevices.
Not a formal garden, but a wild garden seems the proper place for this iris. There you can also grow a variety of I. c. lacustris from the Great Lakes region. It is smaller, a deeper blue, and in moist, peaty soil, seems content with the violets and trilliums under Rhododendron carolinianum.
A slender and dainty species flowering a little later is another crested species native to Japan, I. gracilipes, a slender iris, is sometimes described as a miniature Japanese iris.
It is an extremely dainty species with a frilled pinkish-mauve flower, slender 6-inch branching stems, and drooping grass-like foliage.
It appreciates some protection, semi-shade, moist, rich soil, and time to become established. Phlox divaricata makes a fitting companion for this choice of little plant.
Iris Gracilipes
The third crested iris for the garden is I. tectorum, native to China, well known as the roof iris. Two or more to a stem, the blue-lavender flower, stippled with dark blue, is more commonly seen than the white, but the latter has a cleaner color and is more distinguished.
For many years, I have grown both clumps at the foot of a terrace wall facing the morning sun. Recently, divisions of these plants were put in the rock garden and wild garden, where they are becoming established. They like rich, slightly acidic soil and semi-shade.
A characteristic of all crested iris is to push up out of the ground as they spread. Thus soil must be added to cover the new roots. However, unlike I. cristata and I. gracilipes, the foliage of I. tectorum is evergreen, and although the tips will brown, the fans need only slight protection during the winter.
Iris Verna
Another Southern native, I. Verna, beardless but with blue-purple flowers resembling those of a tall bearded blossom in miniature, has short evergreen foliage and a tiny tube-like stem. It must have acid soil, semi-shade, and some protection, such as that provided by the shelter of a rock.
Iris Graminea
In May, there blooms a small spuria, I. graminea, a beardless species from central Europe. This species grows easily and increases quickly, and although it is not decorative as a plant, the blue and purple flower is interesting and useful for cutting.
The foliage, slender and drooping, tends to conceal the numerous blossoms, and when the 10-inch stems are cut, one of the leaves must be taken also.
Iris Foresti
Yellow is a color too often lacking among the iris species, but there is an attractive one that fills the void — I. foresti from China. The soft yellow flowers, veined in reddish-brown, are beardless and reach a height of about 15 inches.
It resembles a small Siberian, in which class it is listed. It has moisture-loving, fibrous roots and very narrow foliage. This iris, which grows for me in loamy soil and almost complete shade, blooms in June.
44659 by Elizabeth B. Miles