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  Where the garden meets the wild

IRIS  FLEUR-DE-LYS   Iridaceae (Iris family)

Return to Plants Index     Bulbs Index    Regeliocyclus Hybrids

Iris tenax in our garden at dusk in June. 


Grow Iris in stands and drifts. Glory! This is a vast group of plants, important in myth and art, ancient in cultivation. Please click on our pictures to enlarge them. 

Some Iris are bulbs, others rhizomes. Some thrive under Arctic duress, others in the glasshouse. Some like wet roots all year, some only in spring, and some need drought once they've bloomed. Some have beards; our favor tilts toward the beardless. With the exception of true woodlanders, Iris need sun to bloom well. When in doubt, plant in sun. 

We have long been advocates of species Iris. Those we offer include:  

  • Natives of China and Japan. 

  • Natives of North America, including the western Californicae.

  • Junos  ~  the often fragrant, bulbous iris of  Central Asia. All Junos can be grown in the glasshouse; we have decided to focus on those that thrive in our garden, which gets rain in every season. 

New in our repertoire are Regeliocyclus hybrids ~ crosses that make some of the world's most difficult species easier to grow. We have given them a separate page.

There's so much wrong information about Iris in the ether that we recommend a few sound resources


Iris aucheri May 2002 Pat.jpg (160408 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris_aucheri_rain_IMGP0492x.jpg (61491 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward

Iris aucheri (Baker) Sealy. Sky-blue form. Subgenus Scorpiris. This is a new form of a very fragrant Juno. We are told that it is more compact than other forms in commerce, with flowers that are a more intense blue and very early flowering. We don't have a photograph yet. The ones at left show our usual stock, which blooms in April-May. Iris aucheri has a flower set in the leaf axils, with  blue standards and falls and a yellow crest. Native to SE Turkey, N Iraq, N Syria, Jordan, and NW Iran, it was named for Pierre Martin Rémi Aucher-Eloy (1792-1838), who collected in the region. Iris aucheri prefers full sun, good drainage, neutral to alkaline soil, a fairly dry, cold winter and a dry summer. Lift it from the garden if your summers are wet. Summer is our only dry season, but we grow this outdoors in road mulch. It also does well under glass. Award of  Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994 to the species in general. Height 20-24 cm (8-10"). Zone 6, perhaps colder.   

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $12.00


Iris_aucheri_indigo_c_x.jpg (73617 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris aucheri (Baker) Sealy. Deep indigo form. Subgenus Scorpiris. We received this treasure as "Deep Indigo Form." Much will depend on how your screen is calibrated. Some of you may call it cobalt-blue. Never mind. This is a glorious iris  and there are only a few on our planet.  

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $25.00


Iris_bracteata_April_04.jpg (73702 bytes)

Iris_bracteata_IMGP0114x.jpg (109611 bytes)

Iris_bracteata_IMGP9354x.jpg (74391 bytes)

Photographs © Paige  Woodward 

Iris bracteata Sereno Watson. Siskiyou iris. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae.  Flowers of cream to buff or yellow with a yellow signal, spreading yellow crests and contrasting veins of  purple to chocolate bloom in May-June. The perianth tube is very short. The dark, shiny, evergreen leaves are ribbed, red-tinged at the base, and have a paler underside. Alternate, bract-like leaves clasp the flowering stem, giving it a braided appearance. This uncommon plant is native to cool, shaded slopes in pine forest in just two counties where the Siskiyou Range straddles the Oregon-California border. Our plants are from several lots of wild seeds. Height 15-30 cm (6-12"). Zone 6, perhaps colder. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $6.50


Iris_bucharica_Princess_IMGP2781x.jpg (92628 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward 

Iris bucharica Foster 'Princess'.  Subgenus Scorpiris.  A fragrant Juno; our clone smells deliciously of Freesia. The flowers, crowded in the leaf axils in April-May, are white with  yellow blades on the falls. Native to NE Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Our plants are garden divisions. They like full sun and good drainage but they grow well in the open garden and need not be lifted over the summer. This plant has been sold as I. orchioides f. bicolor.  The true orchioides is different. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994 to the species in general. Height 25-35 cm (10-14"). Zone 6. 

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $11.00


Iris chrysographes.jpg (232500 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris chrysographes Dykes. Gold-vein iris, black form. Jinmai yuan wei (Chinese). Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Sibericae. Dark, dark, purple-black flowers bloom on tall stems in June-July amid grey-green leaves. They bear only traces of the "gold writing" signal patch for which the species is named. Native to meadows, marshes and open scrub in N Myanmar (Burma) and SW China. Our plants are from garden seed. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994 to the species in general. Height 45 cm (18"). Zone 6. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $6.50


Iris_chrysophylla_H01012459_IMGP2075x.jpg (68095 bytes)

Photograph © Paige Woodward

Iris chrysophylla c Ken Walkerx.jpg (24138 bytes)

Photograph © Ken Walker

Iris chrysophylla Howell. Yellow-leaved Iris. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. Delicate-looking flowers of cream to white with veins of gold to purple bloom in May-June. The perianth tube is long, emerging from closed spathes. The leaves are narrow, light green (not yellow, despite the name) and sometimes glaucous and stained red at the base. Native to open, coniferous woods in S Oregon and barely into N California. Our plants are from wild seed collected in  Oregon. Height to 20 cm (8"), sometimes almost stemless. Zone 6. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $9.50


H.Iris_collettii_999-104_17.6.06x.jpg (20456 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris collettii J.D. Hooker. Plateau iris. Subgenus Nepalensis. From a small rhizome with fat roots rise 1-2 fragrant, blue to violet flowers with a beard like an orange caterpillar on the midrib. They bloom in May-June and are at most 5 cm (2") tall. (Technically the stem stays in the ground; the flower has a long neck, as in Crocus.) The ribbed, grey-green leaves lengthen after blooming to 10-20 cm (4-8"). Native to open pine forest, scrub and grassland on mountain plateaus in N Burma, Thailand, Tibet (Xizang) and Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in China, at altitudes to 3400 m (11,000'). Named for Sir Henry Collett (1836-1901), who collected in most of those regions. Our plants descend from Chinese rhizomes. Moist, rich loam and part shade suit them. Zone 6? 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $5.50


Iris cristata IMGP8826x.jpg (61311 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward

Iris cristata Pat webx.jpg (281324 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris cristata Solander ex Aiton. Crested iris. Subgenus Limniris, Section Lophiris [Evansia irises].  Blooming in April-July, these choice flowers, 3-4 cm (1.5") across, are blue to lilac and reflexed, with 3 yellow-crested ridges on a white signal bordered with purple. The short, scimitar-like leaves are keeled. Native to woods and ridges in much of the east-central United States. Often associated with calcareous soil, but doesn't object to our acid loam. Easy in dappled shade to part-day sun as long as the roots are cool and moist. The rhizomes should lie flat, with at least their lower half in soil. Our plants are of garden origin; our pictures show  them in our garden. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994. Height of leaves to 15 cm (6"). Zone 6. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $5.00


Belamcanda_chinensis.jpg (75465 bytes)

Photograph from Illustrated Medicinal Plants of China  

Belamcanda chinensis seeds panel.jpg (66065 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris domestica (Goldblatt & Mabberley). Blackberry lily, Leopard flower. She gan (Chinese). This beautiful plant is the familiar Belamcanda chinensis (L.) Redouté with its name changed after DNA analysis. It has flowers in July-August that are peach to papaya-red and spotted with scarlet. Fat seed pods burst open in September-October to reveal shiny black seeds arranged like perfect blackberries. Each flower lasts only a day, but there are so many that bloom may last for weeks. The swordlike, grey-green leaves form braided fans. They are wonderful massed on a slope. As you might expect, Hemerocallis (Daylily) and Iris dichotoma (Vesper Iris, Pardanthopsis) are its closest relations. 

Iris domestica is native to much of E and SE Asia, from Japan to the Himalaya and the Philippines. It may be variable but there is only one species, the Flora of China says firmly (writing before the DNA analysis, it calls the plant Belamcanda). The knobby rhizome has long been valued in Chinese medicine for its antiseptic properties.  Our plants are from garden seed. Height 60 - 100 cm (24-36"). Zone 6. 

Rhizome. Fall shipping only. $6.00


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Iris_douglasiana_garden_IMGP9385x.jpg (44886 bytes)

Photographs © Paige  Woodward 

Iris douglasiana late June 02 rock terrace cu Pat.jpg (32392 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward 

Iris_douglasiana_cu_3_Brousseaux.jpg (22989 bytes)

Photograph by Brother Alfred Brousseau, © St. Mary's College of California

Iris douglasiana Herbert. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. Douglas's iris. This is one of the easiest Pacific Coast Iris species to grow; it tolerates a wide range of site conditions. The flowers vary in color from white to deep blue, but always have darker veins and some yellow at the arch of the falls. The stems are usually branched. The dark green, basal leaves are usually shiny but sometimes not. Native to coastal, grassy slopes at low elevations in Oregon and California, this species forms majestic clumps. Our plants descend from wild seed collected near Davenport, California by Karen Hinsen. Height to 50 cm (20"). Zone 6. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994.

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $8.00


Iris_foetidissima_Citrina_IMGP5484x.jpg (42754 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward 

Iris foetidissima L 'Citrina' . Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Foetidissimae. Received from the British plantsman Sir Cedric Morris of Benton End as the "Chinese form" of the species. The greatest attraction of this plant is its decorative, lacquer-red seeds, which remain attached to the open capsules for months. But in this form the large flowers  are also intriguing. Canary-yellow, veined and streaked with mauve, they bloom between the tall, fanlike leaves in June-July. This good garden plant thrives in many conditions and tolerates dry shade. Height of leaves: 60-80 cm (24-32"). 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $10.00


Iris_hartwegii_IMGP1908xx.jpg (53948 bytes)

Iris_hartwegii_IMGP1123x.jpg (74284 bytes)

Photographs © Paige Woodward 

Iris hartwegii Baker. Rainbow iris. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae.

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $9.00


H.Iris histrio var. aintabensis pair 993-001x.jpg (68118 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris histrio H.G.L. Reichenbach var. aintabensis (G.P. Baker) B. Mathew. Subgenus Hermodactyloides.  Diminutive and vigorous. Slate-blue flowers bloom in February-March, the falls sprinkled with white and blue, the crest golden. Native to a small area around Gaziantep (formerly Aintab) in S Turkey. Our plants descend from bulbs collected there ca. 1930 by the American Mission. Height 6-9 cm (2.5-3.5"). Hardy. 

Bulb (Fall shipping only).  $6.00


H.Iris_histrioides_var._major_996-176_19.2.06x.jpg (63007 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris histrioides (G.F. Wilson) S. Arnott var. major Grey. Subgenus Hermodactyloides section Hermodactyloides. This is a reintroduction of a favorite "reticulata" iris after the previous stock was weakened by ink-spot disease. The flowers of this healthy stock are large, about 10 cm (4") wide, with standards and falls a deep gentian blue that is even deeper at the apex of the fall. The golden crests are surrounded by white marks. The foliage is compact, very short at flowering time in February-March. Height of flowers 10-12 cm (4-5"). 

Bulb (Fall shipping only).  $10.00


Iris hoogiana IMGP9123x.jpg (195579 bytes)

Photograph © Paige Woodward 

Iris hoogiana Dykes. Subgenus Iris, Section Regelia.  The large, fragrant  flowers (2-3 per stem), are lavender-blue with a yellow beard. They bloom in  May-June amid wide,  purple-stained leaves. Produces long stolons. Native to the Pamir Alai of Tajikistan. Our plants descend from rhizomes collected there by Paul Graeber in 1913. Height 40-60 cm (16-24"). Hardy. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $4.50


H.Iris hoogiana f. purpurea 983-135.jpg (50306 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog 

Iris hoogiana  Dykes forma purpurea. A deep purple clone selected by the Dutch firm of Van Tubergen. Other details as in the preceding item. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $4.50

 

 


Iris innominata yellow Pat.jpg (31496 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward 

Iris_innominata_IMGP3901x.jpg (41817 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward 

Iris innominata Henderson. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. Golden iris. Small and choice. Flowers that are typically golden yellow to orange (but may be purple-blue, maroon, buff or cream) open in May-June. The leaves are very narrow, shiny, and evergreen, their bases stained red to purple. This species is clump-forming. Native to S Oregon and N California, it is adapted to open meadows  and forest slopes, sunny or lightly shaded, and very well drained but moist soil.  Our plants descend from wild seed collected at many sites in Oregon. Height to 20 cm (8"). Zone 6. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only).  $6.00


H.Iris_korolkowii_x.jpg (76341 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris korolkowii Regel. Subgenus Iris, Section Regelia. This is one of our favorites. Flowers of variable color bloom in May. They are typically pale mauve-grey with a dark central beard, darker veins and a dark purple-brown signal near the base of the tepals. Native to the mountains of Central Asia from NE Aghanistan to the Tien Shan and Pamir Alai. Named for N.J. Korolkov who collected in Central Asia in the 1870s. Our rhizomes are grown by the Lithuanian nurseryman Leonid Bondarenko. Height to 45 cm (18"). Very hardy. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only).  $22.00


Iris laevigata dark blue & white Pat cu.jpg (14618 bytes)

Iris laevigata yellow line.jpg (182669 bytes)

Photographs © Pat Woodward

Iris laevigata F. E. L. von Fischer. Rabbit-ear iris. Yanzihua (China). Kakitsubata (Japan). Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Laevigatae.  Flowers that are blue to mauve to white, often with white or yellow central markings, bloom in May-July, depending on altitude. This is an elegant and reliable plant for shorelines and shallow ponds. Native to Russia, China, Korea and Japan. Our plants are from wild and garden seed from both China and Japan. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1993. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $4.50


Iris macrosiphon purple white Brousseau web.jpg (25917 bytes)

Iris macrosiphon white etched purple Brousseau web.jpg (17235 bytes)

Photographs by Brother Alfred Brousseau, © St. Mary's College of California

Iris macrosiphon Torrey. Ground iris, Bowl-tubed iris.  Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. Flowers that may be white to purple or yellow bloom in April-June. The sepals are pale in the centre and marked with dark veins. The perianth tube is very long (to 8 cm / 3") and bowl-shaped at the top. Native to sunny meadows, hills and verges in N California. Our plants are from several collections of wild seeds. Height to 25 cm (10"). Zone 6. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $6.50


Iris_magnifica_Agalik_IMGP6576x.jpg (57456 bytes)

Iris magnifica 'Agalik' IMGP2679x.jpg (205666 bytes)

Iris magnifica 'Agalik' H01100917 IMGP9841x.jpg (200880 bytes)

Iris magnifica IMGP8605x.jpg (124578 bytes)

Photographs © Paige Woodward

Iris magnifica Vvedensky 'Agalik'. Subgenus Scorpiris. This is a vigorous Juno that blooms in April-May, a beauty in both flower and foliage that does well in the open garden. The flowers shade from lavender-blue to white, with tangerine crests. This species is adapted to water-receiving subalpine slopes. Our plants descend from bulbs collected by Jánis Rukšáns in the Serawschan Range of Uzbekistan in 1977. We grow them in road mulch, because we get a lot of rain. We are told, however, that 'Agalik' also does well in loam. Divide it when the clumps get crowded. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994. Height 40-60 cm (16-24"). Hardy.

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $11.00


Iris missouriensis cu.jpg (29686 bytes)

Iris missouriensis late May 2003x.jpg (301230 bytes)

Photographs © Pat Woodward 

Iris missouriensis  Nuttall. Western blue flag. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Longipetalae.  Flowers pale to deep blue (rarely white) with purple-blue veins. Usually branched. Leaves stout and grasslike. Adapted to wet catch-basins in low-rainfall sagebrush and yellow-pine country. We keep its feet damp all year, and it thrives. Blooms May-June. Native east of the Cascade Range, from British Columbia to California and the Dakotas.  Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994. Height to 60 cm (24"). Zone 4.  

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $6.00


H.Iris orchioides Deep Yellow 996-166cu.jpg (18861 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris orchioides Carričre true species, Deep Yellow form.  Subgenus Scorpiris. This is a dwarf Juno for the glasshouse. The April flowers, much deeper yellow than in other forms,   have falls with wide, 2-cm (1") wings on the hafts and bright yellow crests. The stem is concealed by the channeled leaves until flowering ends. Our photograph shows a more typical, pale form. Please make the yellow much more intense in your mind's eye. Native to the mountains of Central Asia. Our plants descend from stock collected in Kyrgyzstan.  Height at flowering 15-20 cm (6-8"). Dry summer.

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $20.00


Iris purdyi Berkeley Bot Gdn Mendocino County c Ken Walker x.jpg (18054 bytes)

Photograph © Ken Walker

Iris purdyi Eastwood. Purdy's iris. Redwood iris. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. This small beauty was common when it was discovered by the digging plantsman Carl Purdy; now it is endangered. Spreading, fairly flat flowers of cream flushed lavender, with pink- or lavender-dotted veins, open in May-July. The flattened. red-stained stem is almost completely sheathed in short, reddish bracts. The evergreen leaves, variably slender to 1.5 cm (3/4") wide, are shiny dark green above, glaucous below, and stained red or pink at the base. Native to N California's ancient stands of redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). Logging and development have enabled other iris species to move in and cross with it, swamping its genes. Height about 12.5 cm (5"). Zone 7, perhaps colder.  

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $9.00


Iris sanguinea Pat cu.jpg (113757 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris sanguinea J. W. Hornemann ex Donn. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Sibericae.  Rabbit-ear Iris; Xisun (Chinese) Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $4.50


Iris setosa dwarf form cu.jpg (29796 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris setosa Pallas ex Link. Northern flag, dwarf form. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Tripetalae.  This is the form sometimes called var. arctica. We grew it from wild seed collected in Alaska. Everyone who sees it in our rock garden wants it. We have only a few divisions to offer each year. Height 15 cm (6"). 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $9.00


Iris setosa Changbai form.jpg (9938 bytes)

Iris setosa burgundy med cu.jpg (11363 bytes)

Photographs © Pat Woodward

Iris setosa Pallas ex Link. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Tripetalae. Northern flag. Shan yuan wei (Chinese). Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $4.50


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H.Iris sintenisii cu 993-033x.jpg (36369 bytes)

Photographs © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris sintenisii Janka. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Spuriae. Violet-blue flowers with a metallic cast, 5-6 cm (2.5") across, bloom in June-July. This beautiful clump-forming Spuria is named for Paul Sintenis (1847-1907), who collected plants throughout Eurasia. Native to the mountains of southern Italy, the Balkans, SW Russia and Turkey. Our rhizomes descend from material collected by staff of the Copenhagen Botanical Garden in Greece, on Mt. Smolikas in Ioannina province. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1994. The linear leaves are only 2-5 mm wide and overtop the flowers. Height to 30 cm (12").  Zone 6. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $10.00


H.Iris stolonifera 'Z Beauty' 981 419xx.jpg (21609 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog 

Iris stolonifera Maximowicz. 'Zwanenburg Beauty'. Subgenus Iris, Section Regelia. This May-flowering heritage iris was selected at the renowned Van Tubergen nursery in Holland. The standards are bluish-white with bronze edges and veins. The falls are lilac shading to white in the centre, again with bronze veins; the beard is cream-white. Height 30-40 cm (12-16"). 

Bulb (Fall shipping only).  $13.00

If you like this plant, you will probably like our regeliocyclus hybrids.


Iris tectorum2.jpg (80646 bytes)

Photograph © Pat  Woodward

Iris_tectorum_IMGP1232x.jpg (98880 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward

Iris tectorum Maximowicz. Roof iris. 鸢尾  Yuan wei (Chinese). Subgenus Limniris, Section Lophiris. The scimitar-shaped leaves make a beautiful groundcover on a slope. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $4.50

 


Iris tenax pale yellow cream Pat.jpg (29082 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris tenax Douglas ex Lindley. Cascade iris, Oregon iris, cream and gold form. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. This color form looks very like var. klamathensis.  

Not available this season. 


Iris_tenax_IMGP0105x.jpg (134953 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris tenax Douglas ex Lindley. Cascade iris, Oregon iris, mixed blue forms. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. Our plants are raised from wild seed from various sites in Oregon. We no longer segregate paler and darker forms of blue and purple. All are beautiful. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $6.00


Iris_tenuis_H01011916_IMGP2083x.jpg (35630 bytes)

Photograph © Paige  Woodward

Iris tenuis S. Watson. Clackamas Iris. Subgenus Limniris, Section Lophiris [Evansia irises]. White or blue flowers with golden crests bloom in May. This is the only crested iris species in W North America. With its fans of wide leaves, it looks like a tall Iris cristata, except that its crests are flatter.  It is native to cool duff in the Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests of  Clackamas County, Oregon, on the border with Washington State. Our plants, all white-flowered,  are from wild seed. Though fairly shade-tolerant, this iris needs at least part-day sun to bloom. Height to 25 cm (10"). Zone 6, perhaps colder. 

Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $10.00


Iris tenuissima cu Brousseaux.jpg (32842 bytes)

Photograph by Brother Alfred Brousseau, © St. Mary's College of California

Iris tenuissima Dykes. Shasta iris, Long-tubed iris. Subgenus Limniris, Section Limniris, Series Californicae. Cream flowers with purple or red-brown veins, the petals narrow and the style crests long and reflexed, bloom in June-July. The perianth tube is long, rises from closed bracts and suddenly widens near the top. The evergreen leaves are narrow, grey-green, and often pink or red at the base. Native to dry, sunny woods in N California. Our plants are from exchange seeds. Height to 25 cm (10"), though much shorter plants are common. Zone 6. 

Not available this season. 


Iris vicaria Vvedensky 'Varzob' 2002.jpg (121045 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward 

Iris vicaria Vvedensky. Subgenus Scorpiris.  Up to nine flowers, white with a yellow crest and falls of the tenderest possible blue, are carried in the leaf axils and bloom in April-May. Native to the Pamir Alai, where spring thaw provides the year's main water, this plant is nonetheless growable outdoors where we are, in rainy Zone 6. Our stock descends from bulbs collected in 1982 on the upper Varzob River in Tajikistan. Height  30-40 cm (12-16"). 

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $14.00


H.Iris warleyensis 996-168cu.jpg (15843 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris warleyensis Foster. Subgenus Scorpiris. A most elegant Juno. The April flowers are summer-evening blue with a white margin on the blade of the falls and a white crest edged in yellow. The blades curve down. The standards are deflexed, pale blue with a night-blue band in the centre. The leaves have a white margin. This beauty is named, like Iris willmottiana, to honor the English plantswoman Ellen Willmott (1858-1934), who made famous gardens in France, in Italy, and at Warley Place in Essex. Iris warleyensis is native to the Pamir Alai of Central Asia. Our plants descend from bulbs collected in the Aman-Kutan mountains S of Samarkand in Uzbekistan. Height 25-45 cm (10-18"). Hardy. 

Not available this season. 


Iris_warleyensis_X_bucharica_bronze_shaded_007-118x.jpg (81800 bytes)

Photograph ©

Iris warleyensis x bucharica, bronze-flowered. Subgenus Scorpiris. So new it doesn't have a name, this is a cross of the same parents that produced 'Warlsind'. 

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $20.00


Iris 'Warlsind' with butterfly April 2003.jpg (177680 bytes)

Photograph © Pat Woodward

Iris x 'Warlsind'Subgenus Scorpiris. This famous Juno is a cross between Iris warleyensis and I. bucharica. It has lost none of its charm since it was raised by the Dutch nurseryman Thomas M. Hoog a century ago. The standards are pearl streaked with milk-blue. The coarser falls have bright yellow lozenges tipped with chocolate brown. Height 24-35 cm (10-14"). Hardy.

Not available this season, but we have a new, intriguing example of the same cross here. 


H.Iris_willmottiana_998-123_28.3.06_2x.jpg (82933 bytes)

Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog

Iris willmottiana Foster. Subgenus Scorpiris. Another of the 60 or so plants named for Ellen Willmott, this Juno grows wild in the stony foothills of the Pamir Alai. Up to 6 large, exquisitely marked blue flowers bloom amid the compact  foliage in May. Height to 20 cm (8"). Our plants are raised from seed from a few plants collected in Kazakhstan, on a plateau between the Bugun and Sasi-Kazan valleys in the Karatau range. This plant is very hardy, but most of us will grow it best in a glasshouse or a cold frame. 

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $32.00  


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Photograph © Paige  Woodward

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Photograph © Missouri Botanical Garden

Iris winogradowii Fomin. Section Reticulatae. Tiny, choice and growable: What more can we ask? Low prices, agreed; but cheap reticulatas are too often in failing health. The flowers of this beauty, pale primrose-yellow with gold-dust freckles and narrow orange crests to the falls, bloom in mid-spring. Our plants descend from stock collected in the subalpine on Mount Lomtismta, the "Mountain of Bears," in the Republic of Georgia, where this Iris grows in damp meadows and in pockets of humus among rocks. It is difficult to grow in a pot. In gardens it prefers humus-rich, porous soil in cool shade and does best if replanted each year after a fairly dry summer. Once considered near extinction, Iris winogradowii  appears to be on the road to recovery. Height. 5-8 cm (2-3"). Zone 5, perhaps colder. 

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $32.00


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Photograph © Jim Almond

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Photograph ©

Iris x ‘Sunny Side Up’. This hybrid of I. magnifica and I. bucharica was found in the garden of the Irisarian's Irisarian, Brian Mathew, who gave it to Kew, which judiciously shared it with a few connoisseurs, one of whom shared it with us. We thank Jim Almond, proprietor of Alpines for the Enthusiast, for permission to use his photograph. (No, Jim is not our source.) Like both of its parents, this cross is floriferous, vigorous and happy outdoors. From magnifica it has inherited resistance to flopping in bad weather. The gold and white of its flowers comes from both parents, and does them proud. Height to 50 cm (20"). Zone 6, probably colder. 

Bulb (Fall shipping only). $30.00


IRIS RESOURCES

These references stand out: 

Because they summarize information from other sources, these websites are also useful: 


This page was updated May 12, 2008.
 
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