Iris spuria

‘New Hybrids’

NEW BUTTERFLY IRIS

Iris spuria ‘New Hybrids’
NEW BUTTERFLY IRIS

Iris spuria is grown for fine looks, tall stature and large, elegant flowers.
This is a mix of seed from some of the loveliest colours amongst recently bred hybrids.

Large showy blooms

Blooms of Iris spuria are large (up to 15cm. across), but slender and elegant like butterflies.

Rainbow of colours

And come in a rainbow of colours.
With most blooms blending an interesting contrast of colours, rather than being just one solid colour.
So flowers may include blues, violet, purples, burgundy, white, rust and russet colours in a silky, rainbow of shades.

Host of hovering butterfly blooms

Iris spuria are prolific bloomers during late spring and early summer.
They also very effectively extend the beauty of Iris season, as they generally begin to bloom after the Bearded Iris have finished.
Each plant bears several flower stems, and each stem produces several flowers.
So they really do look like a hovering flock of large butterflies.

Tall & elegant in flower & foliage

Iris spuria is amongst the tallest and most upright growing of the Iris family, growing 1 to 1.5m. high, but erect and tall.
So the clumps make a fine architectural statement with their slender, soldier straight swords over autumn and winter.
Even when they are not in spring-summer bloom.

Drought & frost hardy

Iris spuria are amongst the most obliging and easy of all Iris to grow.
So plant them in full sun to part shade.
Where they are remarkably dry resistant once established; and hardy in even severe frosts.
Iris spuria are reckoned amongst the most drought resistant of all Iris.

Tolerate summer humidity too

However they are also tolerant of summer humidity.
Iris spuria thrives untended in the wild, in a wide range of climates; from the heat of Africa to the tropical climes of Asia, and up into the cold of northern Europe.

Easy to please

Iris spuria is very easy to please, providing the soil is well drained (but they will not abide a bog).
So they will thrive in a wide range of soils, from sandy to clay (as long as it is not waterlogged), and can even tolerate saline soils.
They also appreciate lime, and a generous feed in spring to kick off the flowering season.
Unlike Bearded Iris, this Iris does not demand full sun all day; and is perfectly happy in shade for part of the day (a minimum of 6 hours of summer sun per day is ideal).

Low maintenance & untroubled by pests & diseases

Butterfly Iris are easy to grow & low maintenance, with virtually no trouble from pests or diseases.
The only work necessary is to tidy off spent flower stems after blooming, and to trim the clump ready for new autumn growth.

Good florists flowers

One or two stems with their multiple flowers fill a vase with elegant, slender butterflies.
Where they last very well.
They have an exceptionally long vase life if the stems are picked in bud and allowed to open in water.

Resistant to rabbits and deer

Rabbits and deer thoroughly dislike the taste and leave Iris spuria well alone.

Bees, butterflies & useful pollinators love them

Iris spuria is a summer deciduous perennial that forms a hardy clump of rhizomes.
It is tough and long lived.

1-1.5m. High in flocks of bloom x 75cm. Wide clump of handsome grey-green sword-like foliage.

SEED SOWING ADVICE:

Sow in punnets indoors / or sow directly in the garden autumn or winter.

Sowing indoors for quick & early plants: First rub the seeds gently between your hands with some sharp sand (or you can use fine sandpaper) to score the seed case. Then soak seeds in warm (not boiling) water that has previously been boiled.
And leave stand in the cooling water for 24 hours.

Now drain the seeds and sow in a punnet on the surface of good quality seed raising mix.
And cover with grit/mix/sand/vermiculite to depth the same as the of seed’s diameter.

Place the punnet in a warm, well-lit position (not in direct sunlight).
Continue to keep the punnet moist at 16 to 21°C for 2-4 weeks.

Then wrap the moist, sown punnet in cling wrap or a plastic bag & place in the fridge (not freezer) for 6 weeks.

Now remove from fridge, unwrap punnet & place again in a warm, well-lit position.

Temperatures 12-21°C approx. are ideal for rapid and optimum germination.

Seedlings may begin to emerge in approx. 30 days.
But patience – do not discard punnet, as some seedlings will continue to come over a longer period.
This is a natural strategy by the plant to give the seedlings the best sporting chance.

Seed Count: 5 seeds per pack approx. (Seeds of these new hybrid Spuria Iris are scarce).

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