‘I have a new garden . . . . or the beginnings of one’

I have a new garden. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I have the beginnings of a new garden, one radically different from the old one in pretty much every way. So instead of a cold, heavy, claggy, acid clay, I have a rich and very free-draining loam. And instead of shade, I have sun. It’s much warmer, much drier (so much drier), much bigger and much wilder, opening up a vast and exciting world of possibilities in terms of the kinds of plants that I can grow.

One of these is the bearded iris (Iris germanica), a sun-loving, drought-tolerant species that’s acquired a kind of movie-star status as a result of its languid, elegant beauty.

Flower arrangers adore its blooms for their flouncy, lacy, ruffled petals that come in smudgy shades of faded apricot, dusty lilac, old gold and rusty copper, as well as for their scent and their sculptural silhouettes.

Gardeners love them for the distinguished air that they give to a planting scheme, as well as for the outstanding ability of their flowers and sword-shaped, grey-green leaves to add beautiful bone structure to the soft fluff of early summer.

Family affairs: How Ireland’s newly rich are putting money to work in secretive firms

---

All You Need Is Death review: Singular Irish horror is a symphony of weirdness

---

The Corrs’ manager’s secluded south Dublin home on an acre for €4.25m

---

Tactical breakdown: How Mickey Harte’s side have evolved into Derry 2.0

---

Children love them for the intricate nature of their flower structure, especially for that soft, strokeable fuzz of hairs — the flower’s “beard”— which is found deep inside the flower below its “standards” (the flower’s upper petals) and at the top of its “falls”, the flower’s three lower petals.

Speaking of which, plant geeks love them for their complicated taxonomy, nomenclature and associated terminology. Hands up if you can tell a “spoon” from a “signal”, a “reverse bitone” from a “bicolour”, the flower’s “hafts” from its “horns”. No? Me neither.

Last but not least, artists have long loved them — of course they do — for their special beauty, or what the mid-20th century British artist and celebrated iris breeder Cedric Morris described as “their elegance, pride and delicacy”.

How to grow them? As mentioned earlier, this hardy, herbaceous species of iris loves a warm, bright, sheltered position in full sun and light, very free-draining soil where its rhizomes (the plant’s fleshy root structure) can gently bake in the heat of a summer’s day. You also need to plant them shallowly so that the rhizomes aren’t fully buried below ground but instead have their upper flanks exposed to the light.

For the same reason, bearded irises hate to be crowded or overshadowed by weeds or other plants, which is why true aficionados like to grow them on their own in dedicated iris borders where the plants can form generous drifts. A narrow south or west-facing border along the base of a sunny wall or against the footings of a glasshouse is just their thing but they also look wonderful in a contemporary gravel garden where they associate very well with other heat-loving, drought-tolerant species such as lavender, perovskia, sedum, echinacea, alliums, cistus and santolina.

Container-growing suits them too, just so long as they’re given the growing conditions I’ve described. If your garden is prone to winter wet, you can also grow them in a sunny raised bed, adding plenty of horticultural grit to the soil to help with drainage.

Strange as it seems the very best time to plant bearded irises is in July-August after they’ve finished flowering and when their fleshy rhizomes have plumped up in readiness for winter but still have at least six weeks to get established before the first harsh frosts of autumn. That said, if you buy them as potted plants now while they are in flower, then you can be certain of what you’re getting (just like dahlias, irises regularly suffer from the same recurring problem of mistaken identity where labelled plants turn out to be an entirely different variety).

If you already grow bearded irises, then late summer is also the best time to divide established clumps, which begin to lose vigour after about 3-5 years in the ground. In this case, use a garden fork to gently lift each clump and then a sharp, clean garden knife to slice it into viable sections, discarding the woody centre of the clump.

Cut back the leaves to about 20cm to prevent root rock and replant the divisions quickly as described above, positioning the fan of leaves to the north of the rhizome to make sure the latter receives as much direct sun as possible. Work a little slow-release organic fertiliser (one with a low nitrogen ratio) into the planting hole, label and then water well, making sure to water fortnightly until they establish.

Established clumps also benefit from a scattering of organic slow-release fertiliser around the base of the plant in early spring and then again about a month after it has finished flowering.

Many hundreds of varieties of bearded iris are available, which are categorised into six different groups based on their size. Smallest and earliest to flower are what’s known as the miniature dwarf bearded (MDB), which typically reach a height of just 20cm and bloom for about two weeks in early spring. Tallest and latest to flower are what’s known as the tall bearded irises (TB), the flowers of which typically reach a height of 70-90cm and bloom in late May- June, one of the reasons why they’re such standout plants at garden shows such as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and Bloom. Along with these two categories are the standard dwarf bearded (SDB), intermediate bearded (IB), border bearded (BB) and miniature tall bearded (MTB), the latter of which is very similar to the tall bearded except that it has smaller flowers.

Which to grow? Of the numerous garden-worthy varieties available, here’s a little shortlist of five of the best that flower in May-June.

Five great bearded Irises

Iris ‘Superstition’ (TB): A dramatically beautiful variety with tall inky-purple flowers.

Iris ‘Jane Phillips’ (TB): A classic cottage garden variety with lots of large pale lavender-blue flowers.

Iris ‘Silvery Moon’ (TB): One of the famous Benton series of irises bred by Cedric Morris, this has creamy-white-and pale gold, prettily veined flowers.

Iris ‘Hever Castle’ (BB): Spectacularly beautiful, ruffled flowers in muddy, muted shades of pink-orange flecked with gold.

Iris ‘Petit Tigre’ (IB): A mid-height variety with bronze-pale yellow, deeply veined flowers.

This week in the garden

Keep a careful eye on newly planted summer pots and containers, which can quickly dry out at this time of year without sufficient watering. Signs of insufficient water include weak or wilting growth and the surface of the compost becoming caked and leathery. If the compost has become very dry, bottom-soak the container up to its waist in a wheelbarrow of water. Watch out for slug and snail damage too and nip out any badly damaged leaves or flowers to prevent problems with disease. Regular deadheading and a liquid seaweed feed every seven-14 days will help to keep bedding plants happy, healthy and floriferous.

Early June is a great time to plant many different kinds of heat-loving vegetables such as tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, melons, French beans, peppers, squash and sweetcorn into the polytunnel or glasshouse. Outdoors in the garden or allotment, you can plant leeks, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, chard, lettuce, spinach, kale, scallions, squash, courgettes, pumpkin, sweetcorn, French beans and runner beans, and sow the seed of maincrop carrots, beetroot, Florence fennel, lettuce, spinach, chard, radish, runner beans and turnip.

Dates for your diary

Tomorrow, Sunday June 12th (2pm-6 pm), the Rathmines Open Gardens 2022 will take place on six private gardens and Trinity Botanic Garden will open as part of it. See rathminesinitiative.com for details or contact Michael Kelly on 087 6697722

Also tomorrow, June 12th, Spink Community Grounds, Abbeyleix, County Laois, “Buds and Blossoms Laois Garden Festival” with plant sales by specialist nurseries, and talks and demonstrations by guest speakers Mary Keenan, editor of the Irish garden magazine and owner of Gash Gardens & Nursery; Hester Forde, owner of Coosheen Gardens & Nursery; and Fionnuala Fallon. See laoisgardenfestival.com for details.