In Praise of Siberian Irises

When I think about my garden in June, the first flower that comes to mind is the siberian iris (Iris sibirica). These flowers usually begin blooming around June 1st and continue until the first week of July. I find all irises beautiful, but the siberians are my favorites.

Siberian irises were the first perennial flowers I grew here. A few years after I bought this property, a friend gave me divisions of two different varieties from her garden, and I created a half-moon flower bed under the bow window at the front of the house for them. I don’t know the names of these original varieties; one is a deep blue and the other is more violet. The blue one may be the original species because the new iris seedlings that pop up here and there always look like this one. Over the years, I have divided these original plants many times; and I now have their divisions and their volunteer offspring growing in many parts of the garden.

The original blue and violet siberian irises that began my love affair with this plant.

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For many years, I assumed that all siberian irises were blue or blue-violet — until  I visited Eartheart Gardens in Maine one summer, was privileged to meet the pioneer iris breeder Dr. Currier McEwen, and discovered the world of iris breeding and cultivars. I came home from that visit with my first non-blue iris, I. sibirica ‘Chartreuse Encore,’ a yellow rebloomer, and planted it in the bedroom border at the front of the house. Alas, this cultivar has not rebloomed consistently for me; but, in the wet, cold summer of 2009, another of my non-blue irises, an unidentified white and yellow cultivar from the same friend who gave me my original plants, sent up a second set of blooms that lasted until the end of July.

Once I discovered the variety of siberian iris cultivars, I was eager to add more to my garden. When I created the deck border, I included three pink and lavender varieties; and when my mother and I visited Tranquil Lake nursery in Massachusetts to see their iris fields in bloom, I came home with four new plants in various shades of blue for the blue and yellow border. Today, I have eleven different varieties of Iris sibirica growing in six different flower beds.

Click on the collage above to see a slide show of all the siberian irises growing in my garden.

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Why do I love siberian irises so much? First, they are happy to grow in my garden conditions. As their name suggests, cold climates suit them, and they are hardy to USDA zone 3. Moreover, although my plant references say that they prefer wet soil, they perform well in my sandy garden. I have never lost a siberian iris. Even the self-sown seedlings that develop in such unlikely places as the woodchip walkway or under the steps always survive (if I don’t yank them out).  When I first divided my original siberian irises, I moved those divisions to the back slope, planting some at the top, and some about halfway down the slope. Since then, these plants have seeded a third tier of irises at the bottom of the slope.

If that weren’t reason enough for loving siberian irises, I have also found that these elegant, graceful plants work well in the perennial garden. Their narrow lance-shaped foliage is attractive all season long; and, unlike many of their larger, more showy iris cousins, they are amiable companions for many other plants.

Siberian irises getting along nicely in the perennial garden with Tradescantia ‘Danielle’ and Baptisia australis

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Although the arrival of the iris budfly in my garden (see Battling the Iris Budfly) has kept siberian irises from being completely carefree plants for me, the beauty they bring to my garden each June is well worth the extra effort.