Bearded Irises

I love everything about this plant!
Irises have beautiful grey foliage, tall, short, soft, fragrant blooms, easy to grow. The only drawback for me is that Irises likes full sun and at my house that's where all of my plants want to be. :) Irises also comes in a large range of colors, patterns, heights and different bloom times.
Last year I bought two repeat bloomers - one pink and one yellow but forgot about it. Then in September I saw these fresh blooms in the garden and I had to go and take a look. Nice surprise!

The flower shape consists of three inner petals and those are called "standards" surrounded by three outer petals called "falls".
Leaves are flat and blue grey.



About Bearded Irises:
Bearded Irises: are Perennial
Blooming time: Early summer.
Repeat Bloomers - bloom in Spring and Fall.
Flowers range from 2" to 7".
Zones: 3 - 8

They also come in a huge range of sizes. At the moment I have short ones maybe (8-12") and medium size ones, maybe 2 feet, but irises are available from 2" to 5' tall.

How to grow Bearded Irises

1. Full Sun or very light shade
2. Rich, well drained soil
3. Divide in 3-4 years in summer or early fall
4. Pests - Iris Borer

How to divide bearded Irises

Split the iris fans with rhizome attached.
Cut iris leaves back before planting to reduce moisture loss.
Continue watering after division and fertilize routinely in spring and early fall.
I usually just add compost in the Fall and they seem to be happy.

Iris Pests

In my yard - I only have the Iris Borer.
It usually catches me off guard when I am busy, but if I see "slimy chewed up leaves/blades" I know what's wrong.
The eggs of this pest hatch in the spring, producing fat caterpillar like larvae. The larva enter a fan at the top and tunnel down towards the rhizome where they will eat the entire rhizome without being noticed. When I see the chewed green blades, I cut the whole fan down and look for the larva and hope to find it. If I don't find it's probably because it's already in the rhizome. If the Iris borer is in your rhizome, your rhizome will be soft and you can try and see if there's any rhizome left worth saving.

Cleaning up

In the Fall, remove all of the dead leaves, because that's where the iris borer likes to lays its eggs.
I cut the healthy leaves back to about 4-5" tall. Less to clean in the spring.

Landscape Uses

Small bearded are Irises; I use them in my rock gardens and edging walkways and paths.
When I am busy planting annuals, they bless me with beautiful fragrance and color in early spring.
The taller Irises, I have them in my perennial beds and they are so easy for me to look after and all of their beautiful colours - takes my breath away. Happy Gardening!