Wanted: dark blue/purple Iris for Little Honey Hydrangea

I know little about Irises, however, I am looking for recommendations for a deep dark blue Iris to grow behind my little honey Hydrangea:

It needs to be tall, and I would like a fairly long blooming season. Is this a possiblity or a fantasy?

Thanks in advance.

Sandyinva
There are MANY dark blue iris, of all kinds. Bearded, Siberian, Louisiana, Japanese and others. The most popular is Bearded, and even these, there are modern full ruffly ones, and older more tailored, simpler ones. But before I would recommend some, no iris will have an extra long bloom season. I would say the longest you could hope to find is about a month (depending on what kind of iris you were interested in). There are some beardeds called 'rebloomers', which 'may' reward you with extra bloom in the Fall, but no guarantees.
If you are not particular about what kind of iris you want, the next thing is to ask yourself if your soil conditions are moist or well drained, and is there lots of sun.
I am thinking the iris needs to be pretty tall to grow behind a hydrangea, what do you think?
Laetitia

This hydrangea stays 3 feet of below, the location mentioned does get a good amount of sun. is generallly well drained. A month blooming would be great, the foliage on the hydrangea is a chautreuse green to yellow so I thought the contrast would be beaurtiful.

If you got a late blooming Japanese Iris, it might bloom with the hydrangea, if you were interested in that. And they like the same soil conditions, acid, and wet. Some of the JI's are very tall. As Laetitia said, however, they are apt not to be long blooming. I think JI's and hydrangeas just go well together, though.

Hydrangeas like acid soil, I think. the beardeds like it more alkaline, but the JI's like it acid, and the Sibs do too. Most iris will not give you a month bloom time, unless you plant some early, mid, and late bloomers. The longest that I have seen one bearded cultivar keep throwing up blooms is about 3 weeks, but I am sure it varies.
You should check out pictures of the Japanese Iris and Siberians and decide if you like them. Japanese are a bit more finicky than Siberians, so you should check their requirements before you jump in.
Laetitia

Even when they're not blooming, I think the tall, upright foliage of Siberian iris would be a nice combination with your hydrangea! I've got a big clump of them in a "wet corner" of the garden, and they do get tall... the blooms don't have a long season, but they are so beautiful that I wouldn't want to be without them.

My hydrangeas bloom in June and all of my iris are gone by the end of June. My latest blue iris is Sea Power which is a really lovely one. This was taken May 18th. It's worthwhile growing even if it doesn't bloom at the same time.

My latest Lousiana iris is "Fly Away Blues" blooming the middle of May.

I got this lovely sib from Bluespiral, and it bloomed a couple of weeks after my TB irises. I don't have any hydrangeas large enough to bloom, so I can't comment on whether or not they might bloom together...

Thanks guys, the pictures are beautiful, I don't care about them blooming at the same time, there is a nice space to be filled just behind the Little Honey on the left: a tall blue Iris popping out of there would be worth the wait, even if it doesnot bloom long. I didn't realize that some iris like alkaline soil so thanks for the heads up. Time to check out pictures and catalogues!

Lousiana's like acid soil and their feet wet. Great to go along with hydrangeas.

It's getting late in the iris buying season but I just had a really nice shipment from Wild Iris Rows. They're in the Garden Watchdog and I left my feedback today. They've got a great selection and the iris I got were nice and clean. Most were a good size, but any that tended to be small, I received 2 of and a very generous and unexpected amount of bonus rhizomes. You do have to pay with snail mail but I've already emailed to see if I can place another order now:)

Doss,
That Fly Away Blues is really beautiful. I will have to try that one in Mississippi, where I have a farm. I planted my first LA iris there in the fall. I am hoping it is still there when I get back. Plants there don't get much attention, so I am hoping it will make it. The soil there is very acid, and it gets a lot of rain fall, but the rain comes in rainy seasons and dry seasons. Still LA Iris are native to South Mississippi the same as Louisiana, so I am hoping they will make it when I am not there.

I hope that they survive too! They are such beautiful plants. I have some in a place where they aren't thriving and that's too bad. I will transplant them a little later this fall and figure out something that can't be killed for the corner they are in. Nothing seems to grow there.