Iris: Bold and beautiful
For Laura Buelow, growing iris has been a 60-year passion.
“We moved here in 1949 and bought a house and as soon as I had a yard, my mother started filling it up with iris. And I never looked back,” she said.
At one time, Buelow had close to 3,000 named varieties in her Spokane Valley garden. But she has had to slow down a bit and has reduced it to only 350.
“It’s not enough for a confirmed iris grower,” she chuckles.
Buelow has good reason to be passionate about iris. Few perennials have the range of colors, sizes or can have such a bold presence in the garden. On top of it, they grow in almost any soil, are not fussy about their care and are very disease and pest resistant.
“They are actually one of the easiest flowers to grow,” says Buelow. If there is such a thing as a perfect garden plant, this is it.
The versatility and beauty of the iris have made them popular for centuries. They were an important part of classic Greek culture and mythology. Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and was supposed to have traveled along the rainbow, between the different gods and the earth. That should say something about the range of colors they come in.
The biblical reference to lilies of the fields is thought to refer to the iris. The classic French fleur-de-lis is thought to be a stylized iris. Iris roots were easy to carry from place to place and traveled far and wide with settlers in a number of cultures.
According to Buelow, there are people who hunt for old varieties of iris growing around abandoned homesteads. Bearded irises are the most popular and widely planted variety. The term “beard” refers to hairs that stand up on the top of the three drooping petal-like sepals or “falls” that hang from the base of the flower. The bearded irises come in a surprising range of sizes from 3- to 4-foot tall plants down to 6- to 8-inch dwarfs. The taller varieties are perfect for the back of borders while the smaller varieties add spiky interest to the middle and front of plantings. They bloom from late May through mid-June in a wide range of colors that bring the first summer borders to life.
Bearded iris and their close cousins the beardless iris all grow from a fleshy root called a rhizome. The rhizome grows right at the surface of the ground and actually projects a little above it. The strap-like leaves grow from one end of the rhizome. Each year the plant grows a new root and the clump slowly expands and can become quite large. Once established, Irises are fairly drought tolerant which makes them perfect for the back of a border where the sprinkler might not reach completely. They are very hardy and deer resistant.
Two other irises are common in the garden but have distinctly different growing habits.
Japanese irises are more delicate than the bold bearded iris. Their leaves are taller and have a distinct rib that runs lengthwise down the leaves. They bloom from May into early June in clear vibrant colors.
Japanese iris must have ample moisture even boggy conditions to do well, especially during bloom time and through our hot summers. In fact, they thrive in rich organic soil near ponds, streams and other places water tends to collect. They require regular applications of a 10-10-10 fertilizer and compost, and they need some shade from the afternoon sun.
Siberian iris are very similar to their Japanese cousins but have smooth, thin, grass-like leaves without the distinct rib that characterizes the Japanese iris. They prefer an ample and steady supply of water but do not require the boggy conditions needed by the Japanese iris. This is especially true for new plants until they have established themselves. They need a sunny spot with some shade from our afternoon sun to produce the most blooms. They prefer a slightly acid soil and benefit from a spring application of a 10-10-10 fertilizer.