108 | April 2019
SPRING
PARTY
Bearded iris bring both
sculptural quality and
softness to a mixed
arrangement of other
spring favorites like
peonies and garden roses.
Clip some stems higher
than others to
add architecture to the
arrangement.
earded iris are seen as
nostalgic flowers—the
kind your grandmother
might have grown,” says
Kelly Norris, director of horticulture
and education at the Greater Des
Moines Botanical Garden. (The
author of A Guide to Bearded Irises
started growing them at 12 and
is still obsessed.) “Of course,
the risk with being familiar is
that bearded iris have often been
forgotten in plain sight.”
These days, though, as
old-fashioned flowers come
back into fashion, bearded
iris are experiencing a
renaissance. Their frilly
beauty and color range
are big parts of their allure.
(They come in a wider array
of colors than
Japanese, Siberian,
and other types of
iris.) But it’s their
toughness that keeps
gardeners hooked. “Bearded iris
are quite drought-tolerant and
some varieties prefer almost no
watering,” Norris says.
Bearded iris have range in the
garden too. Tall heirlooms fill
out the back of borders; shorter
modern hybrids find homes in
the front. Planted along pathways,
the fragrance of the bearded iris
can be an especially powerful
memory cue for anyone who grew
up with them. “It’s sweet and
floral,” Norris says. “Delicate
but not shy.”
Support stems
in a wide
vase or bowl
with a floral
frog.
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