Gardening : Pacific Coast Iris Hides Its Beauty Until Spring
One of the nicer, and most unappreciated, native California plants is the Pacific Coast iris.
Quite unlike the stiff, bearded iris of gardens, the Pacific Coast iris looks more like a grass and can be hard to spot among native grasses, at least until it comes into flower.
The Pacific Coast iris flowers in early spring, usually in March. The flowers are flat and open and easy to see in the garden and they can be so numerous as to nearly hide the plant beneath. They come on the end of slim, delicate stems and as one finishes up, it is replaced by another, so the show runs for about a month.
The iris only bloom once a year, but the flowers are replaced by rusty-brown seed pods that are nearly as ornamental.
The Pacific Coast iris ( Iris douglasiana and several other species) have leaves that are narrow and arching, just over a foot tall, and a dark grass-green, though the tips are often colored brown, a natural phenomenon.
It forms spreading clumps that can grow 3 to 4 feet across in a few years, though the center of the clump becomes open as the plants’ spread.
Beth Chatto, a renowned English gardener and author, describes them in her new book “Plant Portraits” (David R. Godine, Boston; $25):
“In the garden, they make low tussocky clumps of evergreen leaves which themselves provide useful ground cover along the edge of a border. In May (in chilly England), long, slender flower stems appear from among the rose-tinted leaf bases, carrying flights of flowers like butterflies. Long, furled and pointed buds open silk-textured petals, frilled and ruffled in every pastel shade imaginable.
“Not until autumn do you pay much attention to their dark arching foliage. Then suddenly among the leaves you notice seed pods splitting open to form a shape as attractive as flowers, crinkled brown outside, pale cream within. On dried and curving stems they make something special for winter arrangements.”
As prophets are without honor in their own land, so seems to be the case with native plants. California natives, in particular, are unappreciated here, although English and European (as well as Australian and New Zealand) gardeners adore them.
No California gardener would wax as enthusiastic as Chatto over our native iris; most don’t know we have a native iris. But they should, for Pacific Coast iris are special and they can be easy to grow in the garden, taking water with the rest of the garden, or doing without.
Pacific Coast iris are not as drought-resistant--or as fussy--as a ceanothus or coyote brush, and need supplemental water between winter rains and a tad in spring and summer, but compared to other garden plants they are not at all thirsty.
They could be the beginnings of a garden that needs less water, because they are easy to tuck into little spots here and there.
In my own garden, I found a spot for them beside a quiet container of water where water lilies bloom in summer. And I have them beside the back steps where their grassy foliage helps hide that awkward transition between house and garden.
My favorite is a cream-colored hybrid named ‘Chimes,’ developed by McCaskill Gardens.
Most of the available Pacific Coast iris, including ‘Chimes,’ are hybrids of several different native species, and the colors run the gamut from truly lovely blues, through lavender, into soft yellow and gold, and even a shade of brown that takes a little getting used to.
There are no true pinks though that shade can be found on some of the lavender or lilac-colored flowers.
Being unappreciated by most, they are unavailable at most nurseries, and specialists must be sought out. McCaskill gardens is one, at 25 S. Michillinda Ave. in Pasadena, near the Los Angeles County Arboretum.
They are having a special sale of about 300 native iris and will be open today through next Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. Otherwise they are only open Saturdays, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and then from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Other sources include the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden plant shop, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, (805) 682-4726; the Theodore Payne Foundation nursery, 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley (in the San Fernando Valley), (818) 768-1802; Tree of Life Nursery, which only sells retail on Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 33201 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano, (714) 728-0685.
Because the flowers can be so distinctly colored, it is best to buy these plants in bloom, though fall is the better time to plant. You can plant now and carefully water through spring, summer and fall, or keep the plants in their containers until fall and then plant.
When shopping, look for strong, vigorous plants because some of the hybrids are much tougher than other. A few are downright difficult to keep alive.
Most authorities say these plants need a rich, woodsy soil, so in a level garden with a heavy clay soil, you may want to mix in organic amendments (sold by the bag at nurseries).
But if you don’t want to water much, you may prefer to simply plant them in unamended soil and then be careful not to overwater once they become established.
On sloping ground, no amending of the soil is necessary. They are good soil holders and grow well on hillsides, even in fairly heavy soil like that found on the Pacific Palisades bluffs or in Palos Verdes.
Near the beach they grow in full sun, although they will grow in some shade. In Brentwood, Ruth Borun grows a meadow of Pacific Coast hybrids under a huge camphor tree. The camphor lets through spots of sunlight and the plants get regular water.
At Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, they are grown in full sun and are not watered between July and September, so they clearly tolerate extremes.
Ruth Borun points out that fall is the time to tidy up the clumps--to cut off the dead leaves and the seed stalks. Otherwise, the plants become choked with old leaves.
Pacific Coast iris are difficult to divide or move about, but it can be done in November or December, just as the plants are making new roots. Be careful not to break these fat white roots as you dig the clumps from the ground. Cut off the old rhizomes that are no longer flowering and replant.
GARDENER’S CHECKLIST
For dedicated gardeners, here are suggestions on what to do in the garden this week from the California Assn. of Nurserymen:
Whether planting vegetables or flowers, be sure to dig down deeply and add organic matter to improve soil.
The color impact of your garden can be increased by planting containers with seasonal annuals as a finishing touch.
Sow vegetables such as lettuce, radishes, corn and carrots in successive intervals to lengthen your harvest.
Check out the day lily because it comes in many colors, heights and blooming seasons--making it a versatile plant to use in your landscaping plans.
