Iris germanica Vanity Girl - Tall Bearded Iris

The Iris ‘Vanity Girl’ is a tall garden iris that blends soft pink and white tones on its large, wavy flowers. Its tall stems bear lightly scented blooms. This mid-season to late variety accompanies salvias, catmints and ornamental onions in late spring. It also provides excellent stems for cut flower arrangements.

This plant belongs to the Iridaceae family. The tall bearded irises sold under the name Iris germanica are horticultural hybrids. The botanical name Iris × germanica refers to a very old rhizomatous hybrid resulting from a cross between Iris pallida and Iris variegata. It is thought to originate from the north-west of the Balkan peninsula. In the garden, these irises behave as robust perennials, resistant to both cold and dry conditions. Their sword-shaped leaves persist more or less through winter.

'Vanity Girl' was registered in 2016 by Thomas Johnson and introduced the same year by Mid-America. This cultivar comes from a cross between 'Rite of Passage' and 'Venita Faye'. In 2018, the judges of the American Iris Society awarded it an Honorable Mention, an accolade recognising a variety noted in cultivation. It belongs to the tall bearded iris group. The plant reaches about 89 cm in flower. The clump widens by means of short rhizomes that form at its periphery. The leaves are long, flat, glaucous green to medium green, arranged in a fan. The branched flower stems rise clearly above the foliage. The buds open into large flowers with six tepals: three inner tepals, upright, light pink, and three outer tepals, more trailing, white, marked with medium pink on the shoulders and washed with pale pink on the edge. The beard, located on the sepals, gives its name to the bearded iris group; in this variety, it is white, brushed with coral and touched with lavender at its tip. 
The name Iris comes from ancient Greek and referred to both the flower and the rainbow; indeed these plants offer a very wide colour palette.

Plant this iris 'Vanity Girl' in full sun, on a slope, bank or in a very well-drained border. Allow the tops of the rhizomes to show and avoid associating it with plants that shade the rhizomes. It will look superb with the Eremurus ‘White Beauty Favourite’, the Nepeta ‘Purrsian Blue’, the Salvia nemorosa ‘Schneehügel’ and the Sedum ‘Matrona’. Place the Eremurus in the background, as its spikes rise above the iris flower stems. The resulting bed will remain in flower until the end of summer.

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