by Tom Waters
Although I am an unabashed iris enthusiast and grow a garden
that is dominated by irises, I want an outdoor space with more than just rows
of irises. In particular, I like my garden to be a pleasant and interesting
space to sit in or walk through, any time of the year. So over the years, I
have acquired a collection of mostly care-free plants that flower during the months
when the irises are not in bloom. I live in the arid southwestern US although
at an elevation (6000 feet) that keeps us a little cooler than the true deserts
of this region. My location is in the United States Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 6a.
Although most of the plants I describe in
this article will be happy in most of the western US, this post is not really
intended as a plant list, but more as a recounting of how I have gone about
making my outdoor space a garden that features irises, rather than just a giant
iris planting. If you share that goal, I hope that you will pick up a few ideas
as you read on.
Although I love to read books and watch television programs
about garden design, I confess I am not the type who plans a garden on graph
paper and then goes out to buy the plants. Rather, I create the garden first,
try lots of different things as I think of them, and then see what works. If I
like how something turns out, I do it more. In this way, the garden is more the result of
evolution and editing than of advance planning.
My iris bloom season is centered in May, and the tall bearded bloom extends into June. I grow many plants of
Iris pumila and other dwarfs, which
start blooming early in April or at the very end of March. Spring bulbs are of
course the obvious way to beautify the garden before the bearded iris bloom
season. I gravitate toward daffodils and crocuses, rather than the more formal
bedding bulbs such as hyacinths and tulips. I like bulbs that can be scattered
around and surprise me when they come up. Although I like the smaller botanical
crocuses, I confess that the Dutch giants are really the only ones that make
much of an impact here. I do pay some attention to color: the yellow ones are
mostly in a bed along the driveway, whereas the quieter garden in the back yard
is given over to the white and violet crocuses, and white ‘Thalia’ daffodils.
True geraniums, columbines, and blue flax all start blooming
during iris season and continue on for months afterwards. The geraniums need
some room to themselves, but the flax and columbines are airy enough that they
can live amongst the irises without crowding in on them. The columbines are in
only a few places, as they require some shade here. The blue flax is an amazing
plant, with long arcing stems and beautiful spectrum-blue flowers. It keeps
blooming right through the summer and into autumn. Blue flax seeds itself, so after a
few years it will be anywhere in the garden that I want it to be (with no
attention or extra effort on my part).
I grow a few daylilies too, as they are showy and bright. I
have heard some people recommend not to mix daylilies and irises, since the
irises don’t like as much water as the daylilies need. Frankly, in my climate,
it’s almost impossible to give irises enough water to bother them. Mine do fine
together!
I have a couple very aggressive self-seeders that I enjoy: Mexican
feathergrass (
Nasella tenuissima) and clary sage (
Salvia scarea).
The feathergrass ripples in the wind and adds interest to the landscape all
year round, since the leaves look nice even when dry over winter. The clary
sage blooms profusely as the irises are finishing, through July, and the dried
seedheads also look nice through the autumn and winter. Bumblebees and
hummingbird moths love them, and we get little birds who come in large numbers
to peck around for their seeds. Some people can’t abide aggressive
self-seeders, but I don’t really mind. It’s not like you can stop weeding the
garden if you don’t grow these things! Since I’m weeding regularly anyway, it makes
no difference if I am pulling up these guys rather than something else that
would be there instead. The trick is to get used to how they grow and not be
taken by surprise. They can seem innocent while young, but that is when you
have to be ruthless if you find them in a spot where they will be unwelcome when
fully grown.
Last year, I grew a stand of showy milkweed (Asclepias
speciosa), thinking to do my bit to help out the monarch butterflies. I completely
misjudged how big these things get! I love them, though, both the
flowers and the raucous cotton-candy like seed heads. This year, they are
getting some severe editing. I will restrict them to areas in the back of the bed, behind the
irises, not amongst them!
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| Fallugia paradoxa and Penstemon eatonii |
Speaking of seed heads, I somehow managed to live my whole
life in New Mexico without noticing Apache plume (
Fallugia paradoxa)
until seeing it at a native plant society gathering a few years ago. Now I am
in love! This is a shrub that can grow quite large. It displays simple white flowers
late in iris season, followed by pinkish, feathery seedheads that persist until
frost. It’s a native here, and requires no care at all once established. With
very few exceptions, this is one of my rules: I water and weed the iris beds
routinely, but any plant that needs special attention beyond that doesn’t get a
place in my garden. I’ll try any plant once; a few might earn a second try, but
after that they are off the list.
I also grow quite a few different penstemon species. Most bloom
at the end of iris season or shortly afterwards and their flowers last maybe a month or so. Some penstemon species bloom longer. Red ones are pollinated by hummingbirds, although I have seen hummingbirds
enjoying the violet ones too.
Most of the other plants in my garden look their best in
early summer, and the garden tends to ramp down as the year progresses. My
favorite autumn-blooming plants are the hylotelephiums, such as ‘Autumn Joy’
and its ilk. I need to remind myself to get more of these. I have only a few in
one spot, but could enjoy them in lots of other places.
One of the consequences of not doing advance planning is
that you can end up with “holes” – periods of time when there’s not much in bloom
and the garden seems on hold. One solution is to stay alert for this; and when
the lull comes around, go visit friends’ gardens and local nurseries and see
what looks good. Even if you don’t buy them right away, you can record which
plants could be introduced to fill the gap.
I don’t put a lot of effort into finding plants that bloom
in autumn. Summers here are hot and dry, and everything gets stressed.
By the end of the season, both garden and gardener are looking ahead to the
peace of winter, rather than seeking to recreate the exuberance of spring and
early summer. I do, however, love the autumn crocuses (Crocus speciosus), which
pop up suddenly after a rain and give a final burst of color as the gardening
year winds down.
With a little experimentation and some time, it is possible
to have a garden that is mostly irises but still holds interest and looks
nice year round. Even iris nuts deserve a pleasant outdoor space!
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