The Yellow Flag Iris – Iris pseudacorus
Iris pseudacorus is own as the English Water Iris or the Yellow Flag iris. Upright lance shaped leaves and golden yellow flowers, each petal with soft crimson markings. However other colours are to be found.
Found along streams and waterways in large areas of North America, although this is seen as a water plant it will grow well in drier soils as well. This makes the plant adaptable, however also sometimes invasive as it does have a tendency to spread easily.
Best suited to growing in a water feature or a pond where in cannot escape into waterways. Probably not one that we would grow.
A spring flowering perennial growing to nearly 2m this is a species that really does like to grow in water. Large flowers are not always yellow, white through to yellow is the range.
Care and growing conditions
Sun is the main requirement for successful flowering, although it is also known as the water iris it does in fact grow well when not in water.
Although this is an attractive ornamental, you need to be a little careful where you grow it. Unfortunately in Australian conditions it does seem to spread just a little to easily, it does this by both seeds and rhizomes, the rhizomes are not such a problem in a garden situation as they can be kept under control, however the seeds will allow ‘self seeding’ as they float along waterways.
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