Iris versicolor

Iris versicolor: Violet Flag for the Soggy Corner

Violet-blue flowers with white veins and a yellow blotch, growing right where the yard turns soggy. This native iris looks at wet clay and says, WHAT PROBLEM?

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Iris versicolor
• Common Name: Blue Flag Iris, Harlequin Blue Flag, Water Edge Iris
• Height: 60–80 cm (2–2.5 ft)
• Spread: 60 cm (2 ft)
• Flowers: Violet-blue with white veining and a yellow blotch at the base of the falls
• Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer (May to June)
• Foliage: Upright, sword-shaped, grey-green leaves in a clump
• Features: Handles wet and clay soil

Where to Plant: Blue flag is a natural fit for rain gardens, pond and stream edges, low spots and wet meadows, and it will grow in shallow standing water and hold soil along banks. In a regular border it does fine as long as the soil never dries out completely, and it copes well with heavy clay.

Companion Plants: Plant blue flag iris in a wet, sunny or part-shade native bed, at a pond edge or in a rain garden. Lobelia cardinalis adds scarlet cardinal flower spikes at 60 to 120 cm from July to September. Chelone glabra brings white turtleheads at 60 to 120 cm in August and September. Eupatorium maculatum rises behind at 120 to 180 cm with dusky pink Joe Pye heads from July to September. Deschampsia 'Northern Lights' edges the bed with cream-striped blades at 30 to 40 cm.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun to part sun in moist to wet soil. More sun means more flowers. Set the rhizomes just at or slightly below the soil surface and water well. In a drier bed, keep it watered through summer. Cut the spent flower stalks after bloom if you don't want seed pods. Clear away dead leaves in fall, which helps reduce iris borer. Divide crowded clumps every few years in late summer. All parts of the plant, especially the rhizomes, are toxic if eaten, and the sap can irritate sensitive skin. Wear gloves when dividing.

History: Blue flag grows naturally in marshes, sedge meadows and along shorelines across eastern Canada and the eastern United States, and the species name versicolor means variously coloured, a nod to the violet, white and yellow in each flower. Quebec adopted it as its floral emblem in 1999.

Final Thoughts: Deer resistant, bee friendly and happy in the spots where everything else drowns. Plant it by the downspout. PUDDLES ARE ITS LOVE LANGUAGE.