Potsize – 1L
Iris unguicularis (Iris stylosa). This is rather a cinderella of a plant In truth it is no great beauty for most of the year as the leaves are long, strappy, dullish green and usually a bit brown at the tips and edges. However come November to March when the skies are grey and most border plants have long gone to ground this intrepid little Iris starts into growth and on mild Winter days can delight the jaded eye with its most delicate mauvey blue, fragile flowers. Like all Iris it has 3 standards and 3 falls. The latter are white as they meet the tube and are heavily painted with violet-blue veining and a vivid egg-yolk yellow splash. One way they do vary is that the standards are held flat, close to the falls, making for a fuller flatter flower than a typical Iris. The individual flowers are not long lived and are perhaps best picked before they unfurl and enjoyed indoors where you can enjoy their exquisite beauty and scent. However a word of warning, you will not be the only one who appreciates this Iris as the slugs relish them for breakfast. tidying up the old foliage in August can reduce their accommodation and has the added benefit of letting the sun and light in to ripen the rhizomes. Unfortunately this Iris has a reputation for sulking if it is moved and may take a while to settle down and resume flowering. However it is undemanding in the garden and is best situated in a sunny well drained spot, ideally at the base of a wall on alkaline soil and given a top dressing of a potash feed once a year in Autumn or Spring.
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