Iris Come In Many Shapes, Types, and Color Variations

This past week, my wife, elderly mother-in-law, and I took a ride down to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster, Ohio.

We ran a bit late this year and missed the crabapple display, but as we were driving through the country and looking at the rural residential landscapes, I noted the vast array of blooming iris which are as striking as any flower you can see in the month of June.

The Iris takes its name from the Greek word for rainbow and indeed the variety of Iris colors lives up to the name rainbow.

This indeed spectacular flower and many of its different species has been painted by many artists including Vincent VanGogh and serves as the state flower of Louisiana. The fleur-de-lis is a stylized iris promoted by used by French King Louis Xll in the French colors of his reign. The fleur-de-lis continues as part of the New Orleans Saint NFL team logo and appears in other international flags and emblems.
　
Unlike the flowering bulbs of narcissus, crocus, and tulips, the Iris species most commonly grown,  come from rhizomes.

Rhizomes are characteristically the horizontal stems of a plant (in this case Iris) that form underground sending roots and shoots from its nodes. As with most of the more familiar bearded Iris varieties, the rhizomes grow at the surface of the soil.

There are many varieties of Iris, way too many to explore in this blog. But Google the following key words:

• Bearded German Iris
• Re-Blooming Iris
• Beardless Iris
• Japanese Iris
• Siberian Iris
• Dutch Iris

And you will quickly appreciate the diversity of iris varieties.


Rather than go into specific minute details of each species or variety, I have included several photos of each variety and a brief description, which should serve you well when looking for the variety you want for your garden.

Bearded German Irises are the most visible irises found blooming in June gardens.

The beard of this iris is the fuzzy "caterpillar" part of the flower, which lies across the lower three petals (falls) of the Iris flowers.

Today, there are varieties of bearded iris which not only bloom in the spring and but may re-bloom again in the fall.

Beardless Irises include the Siberian Iris and the Japanese iris.

Unlike the bearded Iris, the leaves of these iris appear almost grass like, their rhizomes are fibrous versus the typical fleshiness of the Bearded German Iris, and they do not have the fuzzy caterpillar part of the flower laying across their lower flowering petals (falls).

Three varieties of the beardless varieties to grow are the Siberian, Japanese, and Spuria (they thrive in hot sunny climates and grow tall in very large clumps.) soil will cause them to wilt as will lack of enough moisture.

Reticulate irises are grown from bulbs versus the fleshy or fibrous rhizomes of the bearded or beardless varieties. These small irises bloom early in the spring and can grow in many diverse light climates. The familiar Dutch Iris is a variety of reticulate iris and often times the reticulate iris appear in floral arrangements due to the variety of colors, long stems, and lasting power in a cut bouquet.