Our new irises that we purchased last fall have started to bloom. The first is ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, with an intense deep blue-violet flower held about 12″ above the ground. It’s supposed to eventually get to 17″ tall, so maybe the first year things are a bit closer to the ground.
We purchased the plants bare root last fall from an iris specialist. They went in the ground, and basically sat there until the end of winter. Once they felt a bit of sun and warmth on their leaves, they made up for lost time, extending leaves skyward and flower stalks soon after that.
Bearded iris, although not native to California, do very well here and require little if any supplemental water. They go dormant after flowering, so it’s good to have some other vegetation that takes their place after the big show is over around mid-May.
Another thing they like is good drainage, so most of our plants are sitting happily on mounds. The new additions are in the meadow area, where there’s a patch of sand left over from a previous owner’s project, nature and purpose unknown.