Bearded iris, the beautiful garden iris

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Three broad, frilly petals, most often in tones of purple but also blue, yellow, red or white, make the bearded iris (Iris germanica) one of the easiest showpieces of a sunny border. Give it a hot, sunny spot and leave the rhizomes half exposed at the surface, and the same clump can flower for five to twenty years.

All in one classical, beautiful and elegant, it loves growing in the sun and doesn’t ask for anything else!

Planting bearded iris

Ideally, bearded iris is to be planted in fall or in spring for it to bloom in the following summer.

• Plant the bearded iris rhizomes in the sun in a spot where it gets hot in summer.
• Bearded iris likes soft, broken-up soil and shouldn’t be buried too deep.
• Keep sufficient spacing of about 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) between neighboring plants.
• Let the rhizomes stick out here and there for the sun to shine on them directly.
• It is nicer to plant bearded iris in groups of several specimens.

More or less every 3 years, you’ll do well to divide the clumps and separate the rhizomes in order to regenerate the foot.

• It is best to divide them in summer.
• Pull the entire crown out of the ground with a spade.
• Cleanly slice the rhizome with a very sharp blade.
• Replant the new bunch in an appropriate location.
• Water.

Sowing bearded iris, the garden iris

If sowing, best to sow in pots in early autumn to mid-autumn.

• You can leave them outdoors, under some type of shelter, all winter long.
• Blooming will only occur 2 to 3 years after the sowing.
• You’ll proceed to transplant them directly in the ground as soon as the first leaves have sprouted.

• Leaving the pots out in the cold isn’t neglect but sound practice: bearded iris seed generally germinates better after several weeks of chilling, though some seeds will sprout without any cold treatment.
• For alpines and other seeds that need sharp drainage, sow into a gritty, free-draining compost, cover the seed to roughly its own depth, and top with grit to keep the surface open.

Planting, dividing or sowing: which method and when

Bearded iris can be started from rhizomes, renewed by division or raised from seed. The three routes differ mainly in the season they are carried out and in how long you wait for the first flowers.

Dividing every three years or so is what keeps an established clump flowering freely.

Pruning and caring for bearded iris

Bearded iris is a very easy perennial to care for and generally doesn’t require any care when it is properly settled in.

• Weed often around it so as to keep weeds from lording it over the rhizomes.
• Remove wilted flowers as they die off, but keep the leaves until the very end of their yellowing, usually until early autumn.
  Iris leaves must be kept connected to the roots for the plant to build up its stocks for the following blooming.
• Remove weeds that grow amidst the plant leaves to free the rhizomes.
• No need to water because the plant doesn’t need it.

All there is to know about bearded iris

Bearded iris is a rather hardy plant that survives winter pretty well, so it needn’t be protected.

• Cold actually helps the plant grow properly.

Three magnificent petals form the flower, and their colors are most varied.

Often in tones of purple, they can also be blue, yellow, red or white.

Bearded iris flowers tend to be more frilly and wider than those of other types of iris such as Dutch iris, for instance.

• Avoid burying bearded iris rhizomes under mulch, since trapped moisture encourages rot; many other rhizomatous plants, such as cannas, ginger, bergenia and mint, are routinely mulched or grown fully buried without harm.
• Iris germanica rhizomes are toxic if eaten and the sap can irritate skin, so wear gloves when lifting and slicing them.

Popular bearded iris varieties compared

Bearded irises are sold by size group as much as by colour, and the group decides when the clump flowers and how it sits in a border. The selection below gathers the cultivars most often found in UK and North American catalogues and garden centres.

Smart tip about bearded iris

The lifespan of a bearded iris can reach anywhere from 5 to 20 years.

To ensure it lasts a generation, offer it bulb-plant organic fertilizer every year after the blooming.