STYLE : GARDENS : True Blue

Few blue flowers really are, but count on the modern bearded iris for a convincing hue. Grandma called her bearded irises “flags” and swore they were blue, but the perennials that grew nearly wild in her garden were actually the royal purple of a fleur-de-lis. It was not until the 1920s that hybridizers produced the first bearded irises that could be called blue, though in photographs, their rich purple ancestry often shows through.

Some of the best early blues were California-bred, including ‘Santa Barbara’, ‘California Blue’ and ‘Sierra Blue’. Some of the newest blues, from the pale wash of ‘Miss Personality’ to the deep velvet tones of ‘Royal Elegance’, are also from California hybridizers, now so confident of the color that they no longer include it in the variety’s name. Riverside grower Jim Puckett selected these from the many he grows at his Blooming Fields Farm to show the current sweep of shades.

August is the time to shop for and plant the bearded iris’ sweet-potato-like rhizomes. In fact, now is about the only time of year that they can be found at nurseries. Originally from the Mediterranean, they are nearly dormant these days, waiting like the rest of us for some respite from summer. But planted at this time, they will be in full flower by next March or April, the perfect complement to all those pink spring flowers.