Iris germanica Dipped in Dots - Tall Bearded Iris

The Iris ‘Dipped In Dots’ is a particularly tall Tall Bearded Iris, late to very late flowering, fragrant, which does not go unnoticed in a border. Its colour appears different depending on the light: more white and violet in cool or overcast weather, more golden, coppery or honey-coloured when the sun shines through the petals. Planted in a clump, one perceives above all this mixture of white, plum purple and gold, with sepals veined, edged and washed in several shades. Overall bicolour, this beautiful variety offers a highly worked 'plicata' pattern.

The tall bearded irises that we call Iris germanica are bearded irises selected over many generations. They are descended from European rhizomatous irises, notably from the group Iris × germanica, an ancient European hybrid between Iris pallida and I. variegata. Modern varieties, such as ‘Dipped In Dots’, are highly worked cultivars, selected for the height of the scapes, the number of buds, the size of their flower, the ruffling and the colour patterns.

'Dipped In Dots' is among the tallest Tall Bearded Irises: its scapes reach about 1.17 m. They have 3 branches, a spur and 9 to 10 buds per stem. The flowers do not all open simultaneously, but successively, over several weeks. Its flowering is also one of the latest in this group: it arrives in June, at the very end of the season, when many other varieties have faded.
The flower is of the plicata type, meaning that their light background is covered with veins, dots or more coloured borders. Here, the upright petals are chalky white, adorned with a greenish-gold central vein and a wide coppery gold border. The trailing sepals have a white background that almost disappears under veins and dots of medium purple, plum and brownish-purple. A thin gold edge highlights some parts of the border. In the centre, the beards show a whitish-purple base, brown in the middle and an old-gold tip. The flowers emit a soft, sweet fragrance, easily noticeable in calm weather.

'Dipped In Dots' was raised in the United States by Paul Black. It was registered in 2011 under the seedling number O174XX, then introduced in 2012 by Mid-America Garden. Its parentage combines 'Magic Masquerade' and 'Ring Around Rosie'. This cultivar received an Honorable Mention from the American Iris Society in 2014, then an Award of Merit in 2016, an honour given to established cultivars after several seasons of observation.

With its lofty scapes, iris ‘Dipped In Dots’ is best placed in the middle of a sunny border or in front of taller plants. Plant it in groups of three rhizomes, spaced about 40 cm apart, to obtain after two or three years several flowering scapes simultaneously: its plicata pattern will be even more spectacular. Leave the rhizomes exposed to the sun and do not plant perennials against it that would smother it. To accompany it, choose for example the Iris ‘Arctic Age’, the Iris ‘Grand Canari’ and the Gaura lindheimeri ‘Summer Breeze’. You will plant them at the back of the iris clumps.