Heavenly Hager Irises

Late at night, after I kiss my dear husband goodnight, I sneak out of our bedroom, pad down the hall, and turn on the computer in my study.  I spend hours on the internet chasing my next fix:  beautiful photographs of irises.  I search garden blogs, Facebook pages, garden forums, and commercial iris grower catalogs.  I assemble dream gardens and wish lists.

I expected to grow weary of this obsession within a few months and to move on, perhaps to something more respectable like playing Resident Evil 5.  I was mistaken, and my nightly sojourns only leave me wanting more.  Occasionally I find a photograph that is so beautiful that I must share.  My husband Mike is a good sport, and will give an animated nod of appreciation when I call him in to look at an especially pretty iris, but to tell the truth, from the glazed appearance of his eyes, I suspect the Nairobi Trio is playing in his head.


When I saw Barbara Kuhlman's photograph of Ben Hager's iris 'Edith Wolford' on Gardenweb, I knew I couldn't limit my sharing to Mikey.  I had to share it with all of you.

After a night spent with this photo, I recalled another lovely picture of 'Edith Wolford' and decided on the theme 'heavenly Hager irises.'  I was smitten with this enchanting photo by Laurawege on Dave's Garden quite some time ago.  Here the geraniums and delphiniums make perfect companions, and have me fantasizing about a new lavendar-blue and yellow bed in my garden.  

All of Joel Shaber's photographs of his Idaho garden are worth staying up into the wee hours to view, but his images of 'Edith Wolford' are particularly lovely.  These photos show why this iris won the highest honor for an iris, the Dykes Medal, in 1993.

The word 'clump' seems unsuited to describe such beauty.

'Edith Wolford' blooms midseason and is a tall iris, reaching 40 inches.










Susanne Holland Spicker grows irises in her brilliantly coordinated and charming Utah garden.  She feeds the iris addiction with her exceptional photography in her blog, Sowing the Seeds, a great site for late-night iris ogling.  Here she has captured the beauty of Hager's 'Poem of Ecstacy' which she grows with 'Jump For Joy.'

'Poem of Ecstacy' was the winner of the John C. Wister Memorial Medal for tall bearded irises in 2004.  Here it is paired with tall lupines in Susanne's garden, demonstrating her talent combining plants with different forms and coordinating colors.

'Poem of Ecstacy' grows to be about 36" tall and blooms midseason.














'Beverly Sills' is Ben Hager's most famous iris, with consistently high ratings in the American Iris Society's popularity polls.  It was the 1985 winner of the Dykes Medal, and is named after the famous opera singer.  It does her justice.

This iris is easy to grow in Southern California and makes a satisfying clump in a short period of time.  It has quite an extended bloom season in cool weather here.  Last year it was blooming from late April through June.

'Beverly Sills' is a pale, warm pink.  It is a photogenic iris, and has the wide falls that Ben Hager is so famous for creating.

This is 'Beverly Sills' with 'Lady Friend.' 

















'Chasing Rainbows'  is a 1998 Hager introduction.  Naomi DiVincenzo, an avid gardener who has just won her first blue ribbon for iris horticulture, grows a lovely clump on her grounds, Front Range Iris, in Colorado.  You can see how she brought home the blue from this photo.

One of my regular stops during my nighttime forays on the internet is the archive of the American Iris Society's annual Photo Contest.  This is why:

This photo of 'Chasing Rainbows' by Becky Fain, the proprietor of the Inn at Iris Meadows in North Carolina, won first prize and appeared on the cover of the AIS magazine.  I wanted to make sure that those of you new to growing irises got to see it too.


The American Iris Society Photography Contest is a wonderful way to share your irises, your garden, and your photography with other iris lovers.  The deadline this year is June 30, so if you love taking pictures of your irises, please consider entering.  We have many long nights ahead in front of the computer, and we need more beautiful photos!

Bloomin' Fools

'Kiss of Kisses' Reblooming Iris (Hybridized by Kerr, 1997)

Visitors to my garden are surprised by the irises. The comment I hear most often is "I thought they only came in purple!" followed closely by "they're not supposed to be blooming NOW, are they?"

'Beverly Sills,' an occasional rebloomer, (Hager, 1978) with 'Frequent Flyer' Reblooming Iris (Gibson, 1994) in July

In my Southern California garden, tall bearded irises bloom from March until January, thanks to reblooming varieties. Those of us who live in Mediterranean climates with very late or insignificant frosts can take advantage of the rebloomers to have irises as the main focus of our gardens, since they bloom practically year-round.

'Grand Circle' Reblooming Iris (Sutton, 2003)

Reblooming irises are not all created equal. Hybridizers strive to expand the color range and to create more beautiful forms of reblooming irises, but it is a tricky business. Some irises rebloom with great vigor and an abundance of blooms, others are quite stingy and may send up a single flower stalk out of dozens of fans every few years. Some bloom twice on the same plant, and some reproduce so fast that they send out new plants that bloom in the same season. Some have been known to bloom themselves right out of existence!


My best performer is, by far, 'Total Recall'. This iris begins blooming at the end of March and blooms right through to July, when it usually takes a little rest for about six to eight weeks, then it starts up again in September and blooms until frost in January. This year we have had an unseasonably cool summer, so it has not taken a break, and is in bloom right now.

'Total Recall' Reblooming Iris (Hager, 1992)



The Reblooming Iris Society, a section of the American Iris Society, has a web page that lists reblooming varieties of irises and the USDA zones in which they have been reported to rebloom. If you would like to introduce rebloomers into your garden, this is the place to start. You may also enjoy the Reblooming Iris Society Facebook Page, where lovers of these plants post information on what is reblooming where, and for how long.

'Frequent Flyer' and 'Lady Friend' occasional rebloomer (Ghio, 1980)

I am a newbie to the world of irises, and my experiences are limited to Southern California and to tall bearded irises. Do irises rebloom where you live? What kinds of irises do well there, and which are your favorites? My favorite is usually my newest. 'Rose Teall' (Holk 1995) opened yesterday for the first time, so it's my favorite today.



Many iris nurseries specialize in reblooming irises, so check the AIS website or do a Google search for commercial growers in your area.

"Are they supposed to be blooming NOW?" Yes! Plant reblooming irises suited to your area and enjoy the beauty and grace of irises, in every color of the rainbow, for weeks on end.

Irises in the Garden: Planting with a Dominant Color

By Renee Fraser

Irises are the perfect beginning gardener's plant. Tall bearded irises in particular grow in most areas of the country, have low water requirements, need little fertilizer, and reproduce perfect copies of themselves.

Irises are also the ideal garden flower for those of us who are color-challenged. By matching companion flowers to the color of the iris, beautiful garden planting schemes can be achieved even by those of us who wear stripes with checks. The beauty of irises is accentuated when they are set against other perennial flowers, bulbs, shrubs and foliage, or even grasses.

The classic companion for irises is roses. Here is reblooming iris 'Total Recall' with 'Julia Child' floribunda rose.

'Sweet Musette' looks great with alstroemeria.



Limonium perezii (also known as Statice) has the same water requirements as tall bearded iris. 'Designer's Art' with limonium:

Perennials and bulbs are good choices as companions in colder climates. Brenda Fox gardens on 40 acres of land in Western New York. Her first gardening love was irises, and she plans her gardens around the use of a dominant color in each bed. You can see her masterful use of color and design in the garden here.

In this photo, she uses 'Gypsy Romance', her favorite iris, with malva mauritania and lupines. She says this is not photoshopped; the iris really is this bright.

Nepeta 'Walker's Low' with tall bearded iris 'Dover Beach'. Brenda claims her photo does not do this iris justice.
















Her talent with color is shown by her combination of iris with Salvia eveline, Persicaria bistorta, and pink forget-me-not:

And for those of you who love brightly colored foliage, take a look at Brenda's combination of 'Samurai Warrior' and red barberry.

The blue-green color of iris foliage works well with most any color of foliage. In a California garden, 'Lady Friend' with new rose growth:

Annuals are another choice that can work well in the garden with irises. Nasturtiums are lovely companions but can smother iris rhizomes, so be careful. Here is 'Cajun Rhythm' with 'Apricot Trifle':

And rebloomer 'Frequent Flyer' with annual paludosum daisies, which reseed.





Grasses are a nice contrast to the ornate flower form of irises. 'Rip City' with Japanese blood grass.


















And the enchanting, muted 'Thornbird' with juncus and artemisia.



Some of the most beautiful and surprising uses of irises, however, show a cheerful disregard for color coordination.










However you use them in your garden, irises provide a rainbow of color.