Irises are drought tolerant and carefree in the garden

May 09, 2008

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Irises can add a lot of colour to your garden and are easy to care for, making them perfect for busy homeowners.

Photo contributed

An Egyptian King named Thutmose III in 1479 B.C. considered the rhizomes, roots and bulbs he “captured” when conquering Syria, his most valuable “booty.”

These included the iris, tulip, lily and crocus. His favourite was the iris, which he had planted throughout his kingdom.

When Louis VII of France came to Egypt during the Crusades he fell in love with Thutmos’s iris and adopted it as his symbol of conquest. He had the iris added to his coat of arms and it became known as “fleur de Louis”, later corrupted to “fleur-de-luce” and finally “fleur-de-lis.”

The truth is everyone is looking for colourful, drought tolerant and carefree flowers for the garden and though there are quite a few which have these credentials the iris is really among the royalty. One of my favourite bouquet makers is the iris, part of the Iridaceae family and also commonly known as a flag.

The yellow iris you see growing in our bogs and wetlands is the yellow flag, iris pseudocorus. It isn’t native, just a “naturalizer” brought over from Europe. There are, however, two that grow wild in our area: iris setosa and the rare Western blue iris, iris missouriensis (which are poisonous).

A bit further to the south is the Oregon iris, iris tenax. Tenax means tenacious or tough which describes the foliage. So tough, that Aboriginal Peoples actually used the leaves for braiding into snares.

Iris do well with a half-day of sun but will flourish in full sun. If it’s dry in spring (not a problem in our area) they could use a bit of watering but after that they do just fine with whatever precipitation comes their way.

These flowers do well in almost any soil (ideal pH is 6.8) as long as it is well drained. I mix my earth with a bit of coarse sand and humus and they never let me down.

The recommended planting time is just down the road in July or August but any time after the May long weekend will be just fine. The truth is, I’ve actually been transplanting and planting mine since the end of March. The secret to planting this rhizome is to do it shallowly. You want to be able to see the top of the root, don’t cover it up! Space them 30-60 centimetres apart. In the late fall or early winter cut out unhealthy leaves and cut the healthy ones back to about 15cm.

The iris blooms in a diverse variety of colours, growing in different shades of red, blue and yellow and it was this trait that earned the flora its name.

The plant was named after the messenger of the gods, the goddess of the rainbow, iris. Iris was a member of Juno’s Court (Queen Goddess) and the lovely goddess was a favourite of the queen because of her purity. She dressed all in white with a wonderful rainbow robe. Juno decided to name a flower that bloomed in all the robe’s colours after iris, to commemorate the beautiful messenger.

Tip: To keep show-style healthy blooms, thin your iris out every three or four years.

Superstition: When kept in the home you can’t go wrong with a bouquet of iris as they promote domestic bliss while stimulating creative energy.

Questions or comments? Please contact me at whalebonestudio@embarqmail.com.

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Irises are drought tolerant and carefree in the garden

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