Iris sibirica Persimmon - Siberian Iris

In summer, Iris sibirica 'Persimmon', also known as Siberian Iris, bears elegant pure blue flowers, finely veined with dark blue and distinctly marked with white and golden yellow at the base of the petals. Appreciated for their graceful flowers and their fine, upright foliage in a sculptural and vigorous clump, the so-called Siberian irises are beautiful plants for wet soils, unlike their cousins the German irises. They are also hardy and adaptable plants, which will thrive in good garden soil, simply retaining moisture in summer. Indispensable near water features, as long as the roots are not submerged in winter, they are perfect for romantic, English, and even contemporary gardens.

'Persimmon' is a rhizomatous and deciduous perennial plant, with an upright clump habit from spring onwards. It belongs to the Iridaceae family. It is one of the many cultivars obtained from the Siberian iris, native to Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Turkey but absent from Siberia, and Iris sanguinea, present in China, Siberia, Japan, Manchuria, and Korea. This iris will reach a height of 80cm (32in), 1m (3ft) when in bloom, and the clump will spread over 50cm (20in). Its growth is moderate, slower than that of German irises. 'Persimmon' has an elegant upright habit in a dense clump. The foliage consists of long, narrow green-grey leaves. In late spring and early summer, the flower stems project above the foliage, bearing flowers with 3 sepals and 3 petals arranged in a solitary manner and successively appearing from the tip of the stem to the lower branches. They are of a pure blue colour, marked with yellow and white in the throat and veined with dark blue. This iris propagates through rhizomes.

'Persimmon' is irreplaceable along the edge of a water feature or stream, or simply in very moist soil. It can also be used in any type of non-arid garden. Its grace is perfectly suited to romantic gardens, English gardens, and other mixed borders. In wet soil, it can be paired with summer snowflake, camassia, poet's narcissus, montbretia, crinum, daylilies, and astilbes, delphiniums, columbines, corydalis, phlox, asters, herbaceous peonies, and alchemilla.

Good to know: The wild Siberian iris (Iris sibirica L.) is an endangered and protected species that must be absolutely respected. Horticultural Siberian irises are hybrids obtained from different species in the Sibirica series (I. sanguinea, etc.). Their flowers are larger than those of the wild forms and come in various colours. Several hundred named cultivars are registered.