Species Iris, Siberian Iris

Siberian irises are first-rate garden perennials, tough and adaptable. They are less prone to disease and iris borer than tall bearded ir...Read Moreis, require division less frequently, and perform better under crowded border conditions. Most garden centers carry only the old 'Caesar's Brother' and 'Butter and Sugar'.

However, there's been a great deal of progress in Siberian breeding since those two were introduced. Modern cultivars are more floriferous and bloom longer, many with larger flowers, and in a wider variety of colors (including not just white, violet, and true blue, but also yellow, wine red, mulberry, caramel, bronze, persimmon, cinnamon, pink, and slate gray).

Check out the winners of the Morgan-Wood Medal over the last twenty years: http://wiki.irises.org/bin/view/Main/InfoMedalMorganWood

As with all siberians, the narrow foliage is tidily upright during bloom season, and then gradually splays open as the season progresses, sometimes smothering close neighbors in the process. Foliage is best removed in late fall to reduce the chance of iris borer overwintering.

In the wild this species grows in moist to wet meadows, but it performs well under ordinary border conditions. More moisture makes for larger plants.

Clumps begin to die out in the center after 3 to 5 years, signaling the need for division and soil enrichment. Division is best performed in late summer. Spring divisions will need regular watering their first season.

Two clumps of Siberian iris grow against the house on the north side (very shady) here at altitude 6800 feet altitude in northern New Mex...Read Moreico. The house is 6 years old and we have been here for 16 months. The flowers are lovely. The plants get no attention but they are irrigated from a cistern twice a week (15 minutes) for 4 months a year (we have a short season, average May 15-October 15).

I have been told that they will grow "anywhere" here. I'll try them in a sunny non-irrgated area first.

I have several varities of this and prefer the ones with a darker shade of purple. They are gorgeous! Blooms May-June in my garden.

Dependable in my very windswept, prairie-like garden. Flowers aren't as showy as bearded iris, but I find them charming.