May Queens – PNW Iris

 

I never thought of irises as a plant that pollinators would like. They don’t have brushy wands of pollen like a checkermallow or radiant disks of the stuff like a fleabane. Iris keeps her treasures secret, hidden behind rainbow-colored flags. The bees know how to find her secret nectar, though. They’re guided by the racing stripe signals on the lower petals called “falls” for the way they drape below the upright flags or “standards”.

One garden blossom shimmied at odds with the gentle winds. I looked closer, just in time to see a small bee emerge, butt first, from within, then back in the bee shot, no hesitation, into a neighboring bloom. The flower’s small opening is made for the bee body. The nectar inside lured the little critter in again and again.

Iris are famous for their multiplicity of colors. Big blowzy bearded iris, fragrant like grape soda, come in any color you can imagine. The Spanish word for rainbow is arcoíris, an arc of iris diversity. May is a good month for rainbows as well as iris.

 

 

Our native irises favor wild purples and creamy whites. I’ve been adding the stalwart native Douglas iris (Iris douglasiana) to garden plantings for years—for their blooms yes, which range form dark to light purple—but even more so for their reliably evergreen spears of foliage. This is what planting designers refer to as a structural perennial. Douglas iris gives a mixed planting bones. Placing it at bends in the path and repeating it in a rhythm across a bed increases the legibility of a dense and wild mix, even in winter.

 

 

The month of May, though, especially this year, it’s all about the blooms. So many of them jostling forth, emerging above the green spears, greeting gardener’s gaze and thirsty bees alike.

The pacific coast hybrid iris named ‘Joey’ (Iris x pacifica ‘Joey’) in my own garden has never had so many blooms before. Its soft orange blooms patterned with deep maroon on the falls make a compellingly weird color combination in the garden. I think of my quirky design app developer, also named Joey, with his up-curled mustache. They match they way a dog and her owner do—with curling gestures, hip styling, and generous spirits.

 

 

Our least commonly known native iris, curiously called the yellowleaf iris (Iris chrysophylla) even though its leaves are decidedly green and its flowers have only a hint of yellow in their creamy white, is packed with blooms this year in Tammy’s garden. Look at that jostling abundance!

 

 

Oregon or tough leaf iris (Iris tenax) is the one you’re most likely to see on your hikes in the Willamette Valley wilds. It, too makes a fabulous garden plant, especially where the irrigation is light, or not at all, through the summer.

 

 

May is a month of so many flowers. Irises, especially our Pacific Northwest natives, are queens as they rise reliably year after year regardless of fads and fancy cultivars.

 

Add some to your garden this spring. Let them add both year-round structure and beautiful blooms to mark the month of May.