irises

'Victoria Falls' and 'Immortality'

The tall bearded irises are starting right now. The tall bearded iris is the iris that many people most look forward to, as it is arguably the most dramatic of the irises. Like all the bearded irises, it is easily grown, the rhizomes can tolerate total dryness for long shipping or storage, are easily divided, multiply readily (most varieties), easy to breed intentionally. The bearded irises can also be quite fragrant, and have large flowers. So it's no wonder that the bearded irises are popular, and that there are innumerable cultivars grown, and that people collect them. Their downside? They are not very attractive most of the year when they are not in bloom, they have a short window of bloom, and they have a pretty specific transplant season, which is not in the spring (unless container grown).

'Speed Limit'

I get into kicks where I get very enthusiastic about a certain type of plant for a while, and a couple of years ago it was about irises. I was planning our wedding and we had plans for the reception at our house, and I wanted some dramatic flowers for our May wedding. So I planted bearded irises. Of course they bloomed too early for the wedding, and most of them had the stems broken (and thus flowering destroyed) by some intense winds we had, but the roses more than made up for the lack of irises.

'Victoria Falls'

'Victoria Falls' was one of the first tall bearded irises that I planted when I was a teenager, and it is still one of my favorites. As a teenager, I discovered that in California at least, if irrigated in the summer, this iris multiplied quite quickly, and after a couple of years and dividing each year, I had a large grouping of them about 8 feet across. What a dramatic sight! They can also rebloom in the late summer, and although not heavily, a delightful surprise. I love the color and they have a fabulous scent.

'Immortality'

Although 'Immortality' is known for its ability to rebloom, it hasn't done so for me here in Albuquerque. Still, it's a nice white. There are other white tall bearded irises that have better form though.

'Best Bet'

'Best Bet' is the first iris that I planted here at The Modern House. I planted it when I made my first planting bed maybe 6 years ago. I've since had to move it to a better spot as the shrubs in that location grew larger. It is also supposed to rebloom, but mine has not. These are the first of the tall bearded irises to bloom. More to come. It's a good idea to plant irises that bloom at different times of the iris season if you want to prolong the duration of bloom. If you plant varieties that bloom at the same time, it will be a much more dramatic display, but for only a week or two.

'Gemstar'

Tall bearded irises are certainly not the only type of bearded irises or the only kind of irises, of course (otherwise people wouldn't specify "tall" and "bearded" would they?). There are a variety of classes of the bearded irises varying in size. I also have miniature bearded irises. They are similar to the tall bearded irises but, as you can imagine, miniature. They can be as small as 4 inches tall. They are also among the earliest to bloom of the bearded irises. My records say that mine began blooming April 3 this year. They are almost finished now.

'Autumn Jester'

'Riveting'

'Alpine Lake'

'Eramosa Enigma'

The miniature bearded irises are not the earliest of irises to bloom though. The earliest, if you can call if that, is Iris unguicularis. This iris is known for opening flowers during warm spells throughout the winter.

Iris unguicularis 'Logan Calhoun'

Delicately beautiful and scented, they are a delightful surprise in the winter garden.

Many more irises to come, as more of the tall bearded irises come into bloom. Then there will be the few spuria irises that I have.