Product Description
Native Iris with unique copper-red/ terracotta flowers.
Moisture loving, but growing perfectly fine in average garden soil.
Natural = best hummingbird feeder.
Awarded by the Award of Garden Merit by RHS (Royal Horticultural Society, Britain) for it's outstanding qualities, but still underused in American gardens.
Blooming Time: May to June
Size: usually 2-3' tall and 2' wide, in time spreads into wider clumps
USDA zones: 5 to 9
Culture: full sun is the best, tolerates half shade (especially in the hotter southern areas). Adaptable to common garden conditions - average soil with some organic matter, clay, wet saturated soil, up to shallow standing water of 4- to 6’’ deep. Appreciates higher content of organic matter, organic mulch. In natural areas grows in slightly acidic soils, but grows well in neutral pH and also alkaline soils.
Moisture Needs: average (medium) to wet or shallow water
Origin: Native to Illinois and Ohio, down south to Georgia and west to Missouri and Texas. The greatest distribution is in the Mississippi River valley from Louisiana to Ohio. Often grows in places tat are flooded in spring and dry out in the summer (that's why it does well in average moisture garden conditions). Can be found in swamps, along streams, wet ditches, wetlands, soggy meadows, wet pine savannas, cypress swamps.
See the BONAP distribution map.
Iris fulva is one of five parents of the “Louisiana iris" hybrids (with Iris hexagona, Iris brevicauli, Iris giganicaerulea and Iris nelsonii) and is also one of the most hardy of these.
In nature can cross pollinate with another native Iris brevicaulis (Zigzag Iris) to form natural occurring hybrid Iris × fulvala.
Deer/Rabbit Resistant: yes / yes
Attracts Butterflies or Pollinators: offers nectar and also pollen for bumblebees (who are the main cross pollinators with hummingbirds). Some insects and larvae of insects feed on the foliage or rhizomes (Lesser Bulb Fly, Tulip Bulb Aphid, Ground Mealybug, the larvae of Iris Borer Moth, larvae of the moths (Virginia Ctenucha, Agreeable Tiger Moth - feed on folaiage), feed on the foliage. Larvae of Dull-Barred Endothenia bore into the seed capsules. Also larvae of a picture-winged fly and Western Flower Thrips (feed on flowers).
Attracts Hummingbirds: yes - they are the main pollinators
Pot Size: square 3.5" x 4" deep perennial pot
Plant combinations : Great for regular sunny beds, beds with heavier or clay soils, excellent for rain gardens, pond gardens, hummingbird gardens, naturalizing in moist areas or even erosion control.
The companions depend where you plant this iris - because it can be used in wet soil (or even in shallow standing water) or rain gardens with Asclepias incarnata, Caltha, Chelone, Eupatoriums, Helenium autumnale, herbaceous Hibiscus and it's hybrids, other moisture-loving irises (I. sibirica, I. x lousiana, I. versicolor, I. ensata, I. pseudata, I. virginica), Lobelia, Lysimachia, Mimulus, Physostegia and sedges (Carex).
Or with common perennials like Amsonia, Baptisia, Chelone, hardy Geranium, Helianthus, Hemerocallis, Penstemon calycosus (and hybrids = with dark leaves and purplish flowers), Persicaria amplexicaulis, Phlox paniculata, Phlox maculata, Rudbeckia, Sanquisorba, Spigelia marilandica, Thalictrum, Veronicastrum and grasses like Andropogon, Panicum.
Picture copyright : Irvin Etienne, Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art)