Perhaps you haven’t seen irises lately. You may recall them as those early fleeting blooms in drab violets or washed-out yellows seen everywhere some 60 years ago, thriving on neglect but adding little to the beauty or variety of the garden.
Or maybe you have acquired a new taste for the iris, but find the catalogs filled with an overwhelming number of types described in poetic language and promising a dazzling array of color to your utter confusion.
Iris Best In Beds, Borders, Or Accents Clumps
Because of their blooming height and the “church and spire” effect of foliage and stalk, irises serve best in the bed or border where clumps are relatively widely separated and placed toward the back of the planting.
They can successfully be planted as accent clumps singly or, if space permits, in drifts. There is no more unattractive planting of irises than a single line of unrelated colors and heights strung out in line with no backing or companion growth.
Plant A Iris Focal Point Of Color
For a pleasing effect in a minimum of time, plant from three to five of the same variety in one location. In this way, you will get a focal point of color and at least be able to cut some blooms without ruining the garden picture by the second year.
Avoid trying too many kinds until you have found definite places for them in your general planting scheme.
Tips On Blending Colors
If you want to blend colors in a grouping, use fewer dark or dominant colors and more light or subdued tones. For instance, three pale blues, two pinks, and one cream might be indicated in a pastel grouping. One white might well dominate three or more blues or lavenders.
For best color harmony, reds had best be planted only with yellows or tans, then combining blends or bicolors with “self” colored varieties carrying the exact color tones.
Naturally, different budgets must be considered in selecting iris varieties best suited to this area.
In this respect, the novice is fortunate, for there are thousands of available sorts in every price range. I have grouped the choices in similar price ranges in my list, giving as far as possible one or more varieties in each general color class.
Related: Hybridizing Iris Flowers
What Constitutes Good Iris Garden Performance?
Now in irises, what constitutes good garden performance? Adequate and consistent bloom first, I think. We grow irises primarily for color, and if a flower is sparse or inconsistent from year to year, our garden picture suffers.
Vigor and hardiness next, for no one, likes to tend “sick” plants or wait years for them to fill out their allotted space.
Clarity and smoothness of color, graceful and adequate branching, and sturdiness of stalk are desirable traits, for they must be appealing when viewed close up, either in the garden or as cut flower material. Form and substance are essential, for today’s iris is not a “droopy” creation.
Most standard catalogs contain adequate word pictures of varieties, and you will see that all the types answer the requirements set out.
Buying Iris: Look Before You Leap
Perhaps a little discussion about buying would be in order, where to purchase, how to select, and when to take delivery.
Let’s assume you have never bought “name” irises before. In that case, you indeed owe yourself a look before you leap.
So, having made some tentative selections according to your color preference, visit the gardens (preferably two or more of them) and ask to see the varieties you have checked. Please take note of their respective heights, foliage quality, and time of bloom.
In wet weather, digging iris encourages the spread of fungus diseases and makes later ground cultivation difficult. At this time of growth, the new rhizome is too tiny to be removed entirely from the parent plant.
On the other hand, by early July, the iris rhizomes have matured, the ground has dried out, the grower has time to dig, wash, select, trim and pack the varieties which you have ordered after more careful selection, the rhizomes are in a relatively dormant stage and may be planted at your leisure.