Tall Bearded Iris
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These photographs were taken from the CD "100 Modern Tall Bearded Irises" - please see publications for details of how to order. |
The Tall bearded (TB) iris, so called because they are 71cm (28”) or more in height, are generally regarded by their supporters as the aristocrats of the iris family.
They flower, on average, from mid-May to mid-June, at a time when colour in the border is scarce. They are hardy, and will succeed in most soils, but avoid frost pockets. They are greedy feeders, and will amply repay liberal dressings of manure or compost, buried a spit deep when planting, plus an application of general fertilizer each spring. Be prepared to stake the stems in exposed situations, and to split the clumps every 3-4 years.
TB’s require adequate drainage, and as much sun as you can give them. They should never be buried, and the upper surface of each rhizome should be visible, not only after planting, but throughout its growing life. Because most of the hybridizing work on irises over the last 100 years has been carried out on TB’s, they now come in a very wide range of colours, colour combinations and patterns, including new forms such as Space Agers and varieties with new colour breaks. They are equally at home on the show bench as they are in the garden, and as the estate agent might say, “no garden can be considered complete without them”. Better still, have a collection displaying the wide range of rainbow colours, forms and patterns now available.
Bryan Dodsworth
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