By
Bryce Williamson
Gardeners
are always looking for ways to extend bloom season and iris gardeners are no
exception. In his recent blog, Hooker Nichols talk about using Louisiana irises
to extend the iris season after the tall bearded irises bloom; for those of us
that live in a mild climate, there is a little grown iris that can start to
flower as early as October and bloom during the winter months—I. unguicularis,
sometimes called the Algerian iris. The term Algerian iris is a bit confusing
since clones of I. unguicularis are found in the Greek islands, Greece, Syria,
Tunisia, and even Turkey.
Lavender Moonbeams (Tasco)--image by Rick Tasco
With
plants that grow 12 to 15 inches in height, the flowers can bloom in the
foliage. Producing fragrant flowers off and on through winter, the buds are
frost resistant though the flowers are not. Unlike most types of irises, I.
unguicularis produce flowers over weeks and even months during the winter;
however, the plants are loved by snails and slugs, making it necessary to keep
the plants free of debris and snails and slugs under good control or they will
eat the flowers before you have the chance to enjoy them.
As a
plant from dry Mediterranean areas, this iris survive in the summer with only
occasional moisture and grows and blooms in poor soil. I. unguicularis is
recommended from USDA Zone 7 and higher only. While not widely grown in the
United States, the Royal Horticultural Society has named I. unguicularis as one
of the top 200 plants in the last 200 years.
Curtis's
Botanical Magazine, 1869
Writing
in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine in
1869, J. D. H. May noted that information about this iris was “was first
published, without a specific name, in 1789, by Poiret, in his Voyage en
Barbarie, v. ii. p. 96, and afterwards, first as I. stylosa, by Desfontaines in
1798, and then as I. unguicularis by Poiret, in 1799.” Today I. stylosa is no
longer used to describe this fragrant little gem in the winter garden.
There
has been some interest in I. unguicularis in what is now known as Silicon Valley
for many years; the late Edith Cleaves, of Los Gatos, California, created the
varieties 'Edith Cleaves', 'Winter Gay', 'Winter Goldback', 'Winter Memories',
'Winter Mystery', 'Winter Snowflake', and 'Winter Treasure', but they no longer
seem to be in commerce. More recently, the noted Central Valley hybridizer,
Richard Tasco, best known for creating award winning tall bearded, median, and
arilbred irises, has been working with I. unguicularis too. This last year, he
raised 600 seedlings.
Image by Rick Tasco
To obtain plants, two sources are available: Superstition Iris Gardens are selling three
of the four Tasco varieties this year in 4 inch pots and can be
contacted at randrcv@sti.net or search for the Superstition
Iris Gardens page on Facebook; Plant Delight Gardens in North Carolina sells them too and
they have an on-line catalogue at https://www.plantdelights.com.
