One of the delights in the front yard of my home is a bed of purple irises. This is their third year here. The original iris bulbs from which these plants sprang are from Aurora, Colorado and the home where I spent most of my youth. Eventually, bulbs were sent to my older brother in Portland, Oregon and when I moved to Southern Oregon many years later, I got bulbs from my brother’s plants. And so these lovely plants have increased their range from home to home.
This iris has a lovely scent. It is reminiscent of grape, but something else which to my just says “they smell purple.” It was a drier, sunnier spring, so the deep purple faded a little quicker this year, but still my iris plants had beautiful and sweet flowers.
Some Fun Observations about the Iris
The delicate fragrance of iris flower is used in cosmetics and perfumes while the iris flower is used as a compress to treat acne. This plant’s flower has a sweet scent that makes them doubly enjoyable as a cut flower.
Each iris flower is made up of six segments, three upright standards and three downward falls. Located near the extremity on the underside of the style branch is the stigmatic surface through which the iris flower is fertilized. The root of the iris is the thinnest and most peripheral. The Iris flowers have three pollination units, each of which is composed of a sepal and stylar branch subtended by a single anther and the nectary.
Iris can be mulched lightly (for winter protection and weed control) as long as the mulch does not cover the rhizome. Irises can tolerate some shade during the hot California summer days (or similar climate).
Ground Iris often seem to be associated with Oak woodlands. Iris plants are native throughout the Northern temperate regions of the world. In fact, these perennials are happy to bloom lavishly over a very wide area of North America.
The iris flower is named after the Greek goddess Iris who carries messages of love from heaven to earth using a rainbow as her bridge. Probably because irises come in a rainbow of different colors. The goddess Iris often served as Hera’s personal messenger according to many ancient sources – making her a kind of female version of Hermes.
The most familiar irises are the tall (at least 28 inches) bearded irises (Iris germanica). And irises are tough being both deer-resistant and drought-tolerant. It is important that the roots of newly transplanted irises are established before any cold weather. Generally, the best time to transplant iris is in the summer, after the iris have finished blooming, up until fall.
Irises can live a long time, making it possible for irises to be passed around in families – indeed often family irises are passed down from great grandmothers to grandmothers and eventually end in the youngest of adult gardener’s gardens. One reader has commented that his bearded irises are about 30 years old, for example.
Books About the Iris
The Gardener’s Iris Book
A 40-year veteran of iris growing shares his expertise in choosing, planting, growing, and dividing the most exquisite irises. 163 color photos.
The Japanese Iris
An international authority on irises offers the first definitive book in English on the history and cultivation of the Japanese iris.
Iris Related Items For Sale
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Related Iris Flower Article
Irises multiply into flower-filled destination
LOOMIS, Calif. — Mary Ann Horton accidentally fell into the iris business. About 25 years ago, she started salvaging heirloom irises from abandoned foothill farms. “I’d dig up old irises and bring them home,” she said. When she discovered colorful hybrid irises, she bought eight to plant along her driveway — and her gardening hobby quickly…
