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How to Extend The Blooming Season of Your Tall Bearded Irises

Bearded Irises, Tall Bearded Irises, Iris Bloom Times

LateBlooming Bearded Irises, Late Season Bearded Irises, Late Tall Bearded Irises, Late Intermediate Bearded Irises, Late Miniature Tall Bearded Irises, Late Border Bearded Irises

Bearded Irises are magnificent perennials that deserve a place in any garden. Available in a veritable rainbow of colors, they reward us with breathtaking colors from early spring through high summer and sometimes again in the fall! Easy to grow, they require little maintenance, multiply readily, are deer or rabbit resistant, and are quite drought-tolerant once established.

Nothing is more spectacular than elegant and regal bearded irises in their relatively short season. With more and more early and late bloomers introduced each year, extending the blooms of your irises for up to 4 weeks or more is possible. Select varieties with early-season, mid-season, and late-season bloom times to enjoy their huge and exotic blooms longer.

  • Early season – Tall Bearded Irises usually open their striking blooms in early May and possibly late April.
  • Early Midseason – Tall Bearded Irises grace the garden from early May to mid-May.
  • Midseason – Tall Bearded Irises parade in fanfare in mid-May
  • Late Midseason – Tall Bearded Irises join the garden show from mid-May to late May
  • Late Season – Tall Bearded Irises star in the finale of the iris show, with their blooms opening up to reveal their splendor in late May to early June.

Please note, however, that bloom times are approximate and highly depend on the weather conditions. As an example, an early-blooming bearded iris might bloom in late March in California but not before early May in New York.

Tips:

  • If you live in a cold winter area where late freezes loom well into the iris season, you may want to avoid selecting early Tall Bearded Iris varieties that could get severely damaged. Focus instead on midseason and late-flowering irises. The more your plants last into summer, the better.
  • If you live in a warm climate area,  you may want to avoid selecting late Tall Bearded Iris varieties whose blooms would suffer under the intense sun or high humidity of early summer. Focus instead on early and midseason irises.
  • Another way of extending the floral display of your bearded irises is to select reblooming iris varieties, which will flower in spring and again from late summer into fall depending on climate and growing conditions.

Here is a list of spectacular bearded irises with blooms between early May and early June. Most of them have won prestigious awards and bloom with great goodwill, opening bloom after bloom and prolonging the show considerably over the traditional 2 or 3 weeks.

Hopefully, this bloom calendar will help you plan a gorgeous spring garden!

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 10
Heat Zones 1 - 9
Climate Zones 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Plant Type Perennials
Genus Iris germanica
Exposure Full Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Late)
Summer (Early, Late)
Fall
Maintenance Average
Water Needs Average
Soil Type Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Neutral
Soil Drainage Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Plant of Merit, Showy
Tolerance Drought, Deer
Landscaping Ideas Wall-Side Borders, Beds And Borders
Garden Styles City and Courtyard, Coastal Garden, Informal and Cottage, Traditional Garden

Early Season Bearded Irises - Early May

Iris ‘Autumn Circus’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Best Bet’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Clarence’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Red Rider’ (Bearded Iris)

Early Midseason Bearded Irises - Early to Mid-May

Iris ‘Acapulco Gold’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Anything Goes’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Autumn Tryst’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Beverly Sills’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Celestial Flame’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Champagne Elegance’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Hello Darkness’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Hemstitched’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Jesse’s Song’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Louisa’s Song’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Magic Happens’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Mariposa Skies’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Pink Attraction’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Rare Treat’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Splashacata’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Titan’s Glory’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Venita Faye’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Winesap’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)

Midseason Bearded Irises - Mid-May

Iris ‘Absolute Treasure’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Before The Storm’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Belgian Princess’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Champagne Walz’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Discovered Treasure’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Edith Wolford’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Immortality’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Jennifer Rebecca’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Lovely Kay’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Mary Frances’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Royal Storm’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Sea Power’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Secret Rites’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Silverado’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Wabash’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Who Needs A Prince’ (Bearded Iris)

Late Midseason Bearded Irises - Mid to Late May

Iris ‘Celebration Song’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Conjuration’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Dangerous Liaison’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Diamond Blush’ (Reblooming Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Dusky Challenger’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Florentine Silk’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Gypsy Lord’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Men In Black’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Purple Serenade’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Queen’s Circle’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Royal Snowcap’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Supreme Sultan’ (Bearded Iris)

Late Season Bearded Irises - Late May to Early June

Iris ‘Absolute Crush’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Catch A Star’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Finalist’ (Bearded Iris)
Iris ‘Rajah’ (Bearded Iris)
Compare All Iris germanica (Bearded Iris)
Compare Now
Explore Great Plant Combination Ideas
Iris germanica (Bearded Iris)
While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Hardiness 3 - 10
Heat Zones 1 - 9
Climate Zones 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Plant Type Perennials
Genus Iris germanica
Exposure Full Sun
Season of Interest Spring (Late)
Summer (Early, Late)
Fall
Maintenance Average
Water Needs Average
Soil Type Loam, Sand
Soil pH Acid, Neutral
Soil Drainage Well-Drained
Characteristics Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Plant of Merit, Showy
Tolerance Drought, Deer
Landscaping Ideas Wall-Side Borders, Beds And Borders
Garden Styles City and Courtyard, Coastal Garden, Informal and Cottage, Traditional Garden
Compare All Iris germanica (Bearded Iris)
Compare Now
Explore Great Plant Combination Ideas
Iris germanica (Bearded Iris)

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