For Unexpected Colour, Try Winter Irises

Don’t wait until spring to enjoy the sight and scent of irises in bloom when there are options that will supply flowers in the depths of winter, says Graham Rice

- Graham Rice

FANS of irises will know that by choosing a mix of different species and types you can have flowers from early spring until late summer – but the idea of an iris that flowers in the middle of winter sounds a little too good to be true. Luckily for us, it’s not. In fact, there are two lesser-known species that fit the bill, along with a small, select group of invaluable varieties. These will provide not only welcome winter colour in the garden, but also unexpected cut flowers. What’s more, they’re all tough and easy to grow.

Available to buy now from good garden centres, these irises originate in warmer climates than ours – north Africa, Turkey, the eastern Mediterranean and even Syria. Yet they seem perfectly happy in the UK’s colder, wetter winters, opening an abundance of large, prettily patterned flowers over many months.

Winter irises are evergreen perennials; after a slow start they’ll spread steadily to make crowded clumps, with long and slender dark green foliage. From November to March – before the reticulatas get going – the flowers emerge on upright stems, in blues, purples or white. Many of these blooms are sweetly scented, too.

Winter wonders

The two species are Iris lazica and Iris unguicularis – which used to be called I. stylosa until botanists stepped in. The main difference between the two is that I. unguicularis likes the sun and well-drained soil, while I. lazica prefers shadier situations and soil that is less parched. At 16in (40cm) tall in flower, I. unguicularis is the more statuesque of the two and has longer, floppier foliage than the 10in (25cm) I. lazica.