An excited friend of mine decided to go plant shopping, looking for some Hibiscus to put in his garden.  Traumatically, he did not find any hibiscus(I love hibiscus!), but no nursery adventure ends without a prize or a full wallet. He excitedly texted me about his knew plant additions (Love when people get the gardening itch!) and asked me what I thought about Iris. I said, “Eagleson Landscape loves Iris!”, so he told me he picked some up and wondered if they grew similar to the Daylily.  Well well, what a perfectly wonderful question and a great excuse to talk about this wonderful plant this week! Lets make this week all about the Iris!

The Iris can, in the right place, be a stunning eye catcher for your garden, boasting bright colors and a mid range height (perfect for leaning down and smelling it’s aroma).  However, their burst of color comes early in the season and is short lived.  Thankfully its spiked foliage adds a wonderful texture to a landscape and its deep green color is pleasing to all who pass by.  I do recommend planting other late season points of interest around them though. Doing this will ensure that after blooming your Iris will be a wonderful background plant rather than a focal point. Plant this perennial in a spot that gets about 6-8 hours of sunlight and make sure to bury them shallow in the soil. Iris that are planted too deep will not bloom!!! Make sure you can see the rhizomes (root like structures found at the base of the foliage) above the soil, if you can not then your Iris are planted to deep! Every few years they will need to be lifted and sometimes divided to keep them happy and healthy. Dividing your Iris will also help keep you Iris from spreading to far.  Though slow spreaders, Iris can take over a space if allowed to roam free.

Want to find out more about the Iris?!  Check out this website here and google Iris images to explore the many colors, shapes and sizes available to you!  Hope you are having a plant filled spring!