code: 1006
These plants are extremely hardy considering their origins
Family: Iridaceae
Plant Classification: Hardy perennial
Minimum Height: 90 cm
Maximum Height: 1.2 meters
Packet Content(approx.): 10
Quite a magnificent rhizomatous plant from Greece and Turkey giving an amazing display of white and yellow flowers. These plants are extremely hardy considering their origins and when established will be happy for many years with little work needed to maintain them.
Sowing advice:
For best results, sow seeds immediately onto a good soil-based compost. Cover the seeds with fine grit or compost to approximately their own depth. They can be sown at any time, and germination can sometimes be quicker if kept at 15 to 20 degrees C. However, we sow most seeds in an unheated greenhouse and wait for natural germination as many seeds have built-in dormancy mechanisms, and often wait for spring before emerging regardless of when they are sown. But spring sowing will obviously give them a full season of growth if successful germination occurs.
Information:
- Position: Full sun, partial shade
- Soil: Almost any soil, grows well in Ballyrobert
- Flowers: July, August
- Other features: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM), Cut Flowers or Dried Flowers
- Hardiness: H6 – Hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15°C), Fully hardy – grows well in Ballyrobert
- Habit: Clump forming
- Foliage: Deciduous, semi evergreen
- Height: 60 – 90 cm (2 – 3 ft)
- Spread: 45 – 60 cm (1.5 – 2 ft)
- Time to full growth: 2 to 5 years
- Plant type: Herbaceous Perennial
- Colour: Green, white, yellow
- Goes well with: Hosta, Hemerocallis, Geranium
Habitat
Iris orientalis grows on saline marshy lands, including damp meadows, and ditches, or irrigation channels.
It grows at altitudes of between l50-1400 metres above sea level.
Cultivation
it prefers saline soils, it is tolerant of many garden soils. It prefers positions in full sun or partial shade. Sometimes slugs can be a pest, and can nibble on the young shoots.
It can take several years to start flowering again after being moved, but once settled, it can develop into a large round clump.
It also could be grown within an orchard and is also good for use within a cutting garden.
It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
Propagation
It can also be propagated by division or by seed growing, after allowing the capsules to mature and then break to release the seeds.
Toxicity
Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), if mistakenly ingested can cause stomach pains and vomiting. Also handling the plant may cause a skin irritation or an allergic reaction.
Uses
It has been listed with Iris paradoxa and Iris spuria subsp. musulmanica as a suitable halophyte crop.
