Iris blooms in Philadelphia

Iris is available in every color imaginable; and today, you can even buy Iris in animal print patterns. The name Iris actually derives from the Greek word, rainbow because of the vast array of colors available.(1) Iris colors include shades of white, cream, tan, brown, peach, orange, apricot, red, burgundy, pink, lavender, purple, blue, and yellow. They can be all one color or two-toned, bi-colored, tri-colored, spotted, speckled, veined, striped, variegated; as well as, unusual color combinations, including black blooms, and black and white blooms. The common bearded iris gets its name because of the fuzzy beard that grows on the petals. The beards can bloom in colors of white, yellow, orange, blue; and yes, even black.

If you visited the 2011 Philadelphia Flower Show, you saw a carpet of dwarf purple, blue, yelllow, and burgundy Iris displayed by Jacques Amand, the Bulb Specialists, from New York, giving us an early preview of spring-blooming Iris in the landscape. If you take a ride anywhere in the Philadelphia region right now, you’ll see Iris blooming, from the Philadelphia suburbs to the Shofuso Japanese House and Garden at the Philadelphia Horticulture Center in Philly’s Fairmount Park, to the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens, which is an Iris Museum in New Jersey with over 2,000 varieties of Iris and over 10,000 plants on display.(2) This red Iris is also blooming at the Philadelphia Horticulture Center. Check out the slideshow of Iris blooms all over the Philadelphia Region.

View slideshow: Iris in bloom right now

There are over 260 species of iris,and over 1500 varieties, and thousands of cultivars. Many gardeners are familiar with both bulb Iris and rhizome Iris. The Rhizome Iris is the most commonly used Iris in the Philadelphia garden, and they are classified in three major groups, Bearded, Crested, and Beardless Iris.(3) Gardeners can easily identify common varieties such as the German Iris (Bearded Iris), Siberian Iris, Japanese Iris, and Dutch Iris. Iris identification can get complicated; as the iris experts can’t always agree on how to classify certain species. Also, some were misnamed and mis-categorized during commercial trade. For this reason, the Species Iris Group of North America (SIGNA) has put together a website to help identify iris species by the flowers, as well as the seeds and seed pods. The database solicits the advice and knowledge of the public and anyone can submit iris information to their website. (4)

The American Iris Society of Philadelphia (AIS) has been in existence since February 2, 1927, in Philadelphia County, and exists for the sole purpose of promoting and improving Iris. (5) For more detailed information, the AIS Iris Encyclopedia classifies iris in the following categories:

Lifting, dividing, planting and transplanting Iris

Planting iris is easy, all they need is 6 hours of sun each day and well-drained soil. Iris grow from creeping rhizomes. The best time to lift, divide, and transplant here in the Philadelphia Zone 6 region is after your Iris has completely finished blooming, and no later than August. That gives them plenty of time to rest up for May blooming the following year.

You can dig around the Iris, lift rhizomes, and then break them apart with your hands, or use a sharp knife.
Rinse them off and untangle roots
Throw away rhizomes that are soft, mushy or diseased.
Cut the leaf back to about 6” from the Rhizome before transplanting
Plant Iris at least a foot apart, or 2 feet if you have the room.
Plant iris with the top surface of the rhizome level with, orjust slightly below, the soil surface. Rhizomes should not be totally buried or planted to deep or they could rot or refuse to flower.
Do NOT mulch over the rhizomes for purpose of air circulation
Water every few days for a few weeks until established. Do not overwater.

Videos on Growing Iris:

References:

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_(plant)

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presby_Memorial_Iris_Gardens

(3) http://www.irises.org.au/TypesIris.htm

(4) http://www.signa.org/index.pl?Database

(5) http://www.irises.org/About_AIS/About_AIS.html

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