Species Iris, Sweet Iris, Dalmation Iris

I love the scent. This very old variety can be hard to find in the US, but in Europe it is farmed for an essential oil used in perfumes. ...Read MoreOld House Gardens usually offers it when they have enough stock.

Old fashioned sweet iris {Iris pallida} is the most prized plant and iris in my garden, now a days this heirloom variety, the non-variga...Read Moreted form with the beautiful solid silvery leaves and grape laundry detergent smell is becoming so hard to find, it hasnt been widely available in catalogs since late 60's, but i understand is still being marketed now under Princess Beautrice..most of the ones i have were here long before i moved in to this small old brick NC farm house way out in the country side from early 1900's..i have a whole hillside of ones almost 4' tall!! 100's rhizomes that hadnt been seperated probably 40 years and were so neglected till i moved in and finally seperated, em 3 years ago...they now spead like wild fire!!!!!!! i drool i wish they bloomed all year!! Update 4/9/2011 their is a slight difference between the original iris pallida dalmatica and iris pallida var:princess beatrice..although almost identical in everyway, 'princess beatrice' has a flaring of the falls and lower part of the beard.

http://www.hips-roots.com/photos/i-pallida.html
http://www.hips-roots.com/photos/princess-beatrice-pe.html

We've had this Iris growing in our gardens for years. It's scent reminds me of a grape lollipop. It's slow to spread.

I love the historic iris, and this is one of the oldest I've found. From the 17th century, this iris is nearly 400 years old!
...Read Morer /> Collected in 1612, this small iris is one of the earliest recorded in European horticulture.