Iris germanica Ever After - Tall Bearded Iris

'Ever After’ is a tall bearded iris with a generous colouration, between blackberry red, deep raspberry pink and dark fuchsia pink. Its large flowers are almost self-coloured, slightly paler near the mandarin beards. This variety has another asset: a sweet fragrance that is clearly perceptible when you bring your nose close to the flower. It flowers rather towards the end of the iris season, in May-June depending on the climate.

This iris is a perennial with fleshy rootstocks that grows in a clump. It belongs to the tall bearded irises, grown in gardens for their large colourful flowers, their hardiness and good drought resistance. These plants of the Iridaceae family descend from Iris × germanica, an ancient European hybrid derived from Iris pallida and Iris variegata. Their leaves are erect, sword-shaped, glaucous green to greyish, and are more or less deciduous or evergreen in winter depending on the climate.

In 'Ever After', the flower stems reach 95-97 cm. After 3 or 4 years of growth, the clump occupies 40 to 50 cm on the ground. The rootstocks, centrifugal, multiply slowly, while the older ones in the centre stop flowering. The flowers, of good size, very undulate, open in the second half of the tall iris season. Their 3 upright petals and 3 trailing sepals display a deep pink colour, close to fuchsia, described as "blackberry red". The centre of the sepals is a slightly paler pink. Long mandarin beards create a small focal point of light in the centre of the corolla.

Raised in the United States by Keith Keppel, registered in 1985 and introduced in 1986, this iris bears the seedling number 78-18B. It results from a cross-breeding between 'Mulled Wine' and 'Cranberry Ice', two names that herald its tones of red fruits and mulled wine. It received the Favorite Guest Iris in 1986, then an Honorable Mention in 1988.

Plant this iris 'Ever After' in groups of three rootstocks, spaced 35 to 40 cm apart, to obtain a well-flowered clump within 2-3 years. In a border, combine it with pastel or cool-toned irises to make its beautiful raspberry colour stand out. For example 'Lark Ascending', white with large mandarin beards, and 'Bleu de Gien', a self-coloured violet-blue. In the foreground, you can plant a few Catananche caerulea 'Alba' which offer small white flowers in summer, and carpets of bloody cranesbill Compactum, with a long flowering season of pale pink.

The vegetable garden can accommodate a few clumps of iris, along with other cut flowers, notably gladioli and hybrid lilies.