The poor-man’s orchid has come a long way from grandma’s garden

Japanese Irises: Butterflies in Flight, Exuberant Charity, Singing the Blues

By MARY REID BARROW
The Virginian-Pilot

THERE WAS A TIME when an iris was just an iris. Simply put, it was the iris that grew in grandma’s garden.

There wasn’t much talk about species. Grandma’s irises were the only irises we knew. They were handed down from generation to generation, old familiar friends brightening up gardens in the spring with their big, gaudy, mainly purple and lavender blooms.

Today, you have to characterize these old-fashioned flowers as bearded irises or else folks might think you were talking about beardless irises, such as Louisiana, Japanese or Siberian irises, among other groups, said Portsmouth iris aficionado Bill Smoot. He grows all of the above and more.

Irises, like roses and day lilies, are a popular flower for gardeners who like to collect and show. There are hundreds of species of irises, with thousands of named varieties having come on line in recent decades.

Most irises grow in an intricate shape with three petals called standards that reach for the sun and three full petals, called falls, that open downward like skirts on a ball gown. The flowers come in many delicate hues, often subtly streaked or blotched with a contrasting color. An iris close up is an exotic beauty, very reminiscent of an orchid.

“The iris genus is only a step away from the orchid family,” Smoot said. “They are sometimes called the poor-man’s orchid.”

Smoot grew up with the bearded irises that bloomed in his mother’s and grandmother’s yards. A couple of decades ago, an iris field in Deep Creek, owned by the late Weldon and Viola Ballard, piqued his interest.

“The Ballards kind of encouraged me,” Smoot said. “And I jumped in with both feet.”

Now he grows around 200 varieties in his garden and is an American Iris Society judge. He also is on the board of directors at the Fred Huette Center in Norfolk, where many irises grow. Today, Smoot’s favorite is the Japanese iris because it is “big and showy. Some are as big as a dinner plate,” he said. Japanese irises also come in doubles and peony types.

The Japanese iris also is a favorite of Virginia Beach iris fancier, Frances Thrash, also an American Iris Society judge. In fact, she recommends the Japanese iris for this area, because they like acidic soil and mulch, “though you really do need to water them.”

The differences in various groups of iris and how to raise them are subtle but gardeners like Smoot and Thrash know how to grow each and how to distinguish for sure, say, a Louisiana iris from a Siberian iris. There also are some general characteristics and horticulture tips that would help the budding iris enthusiast begin to understand this world of spring bloomers:

• Bearded iris, the ones that grandma used to grow, are named for the “characteristic little fuzzy beard on the lip,” Smoot said.

• Beardless irises, which include Japanese, Siberian, Louisiana and Dutch iris, don’t have beards. They have a “signal,” instead, a brighter color on the lip, which “signals the bees to fly in and pollinate the flower,” Smoot said.

• The beard is a giveaway for the bearded iris, but sometimes it’s hard to tell the others apart unless you look at the foliage. Japanese and Siberian iris have long slender look-alike foliage, so check for the ridge that runs down the center of the Japanese iris leaf. Louisiana irises have wider flatter leaves more reminiscent of the bearded iris leaf.

• Most irises grow from rhizomes, a bumpy root-like structure that grows parallel to the ground. A few groups, such as Dutch iris, grow from bulbs.

• Bearded iris like it high dry and sunny,” said Smoot. “Beardless like it wet, moist and sunny.” You can even plant Japanese, Louisiana and Siberian iris near a drain spout. “Louisianas can grow right in a pond,” Thrash said.

• Bearded irises don’t like mulch and do best in alkaline soil. Their rhizomes like to receive the heat of the sun, so they should be planted just a “thumbprint” below the surface, said Smoot. On the other hand, beardless iris like it cooler so their rhizomes should be planted a little deeper and should be mulched.

• Bearded irises don’t need much fertilizer, but beardless irises are heavy feeders, Smoot said. He uses 10-10-10 or 6-6-6.

• Pests are not a major problem for iris in this area, though the dread borer causes problems farther north.

• Most irises like to be separated every 3 to 4 years after their foliage has died back. “You can divide them anytime between July and late October,” Smoot said.

• Irises can keep your yard in bloom through most of the spring. Bearded flower in late April and early May with Siberians maybe a little later but very close. Louisianas come next and Japanese come along in late May and early June. Some bearded iris varieties even re-bloom in the fall.

• Smoot recommends planting bearded irises and day lilies together because they like the same conditions and the day lilies come in as the iris are just about bloomed out.

• Dutch irises, the flowers that are familiarly seen in fall bulb catalogs, are the iris fancier’s stepchildren. Thrash is not taken with them because there are few interesting varieties – only old familiar yellow, white and blue flowers.

Smoot said that Dutch iris tend to weaken each year, much like tulips do. Dutch irises also are not recognized by the American Iris Society for any best-in-show awards. Dutch Irises are registered only with the Dutch government while other irises are registered with the American Iris Society, Smoot explained.

• Though names like Siberian and Japanese mostly reflect far away lands, Iris virginica, or blue flag iris, as well as some other species are native to Virginia. Blue and white Iris virginica grew in many areas in Chesapeake in the late 1800s, Smoot said. Water loving, the iris thrived before much of the land was drained for farmland. Some still grow in farm field ditches and in the Dismal Swamp.

• Wild irises growing in the Rhine are said to have saved the life of 6th century Frankish King Clovis, by showing him where the river was shallow enough to cross and escape the Goths. Clovis adopted the iris as his emblem and so did future French kings. Known as fleur de Louis at first, it was shortened to fleur-de-lis. Smoot grows several color variations of this species called Iris pseudacorus which can be invasive.