Northern Blue Flag Iris, Harlequin Blue Flag

Iris versicolor

Northern Blue Flag Iris is a marginal deciduous perennial with a clumping habit.  The long blue-green sword-like foliage is erect and lightly arched.  Long sturdy stalks grow from the center of the plant and are topped with soft bluish-purple flowers with deep purple veining and a central yellow splotch surrounded by a white zone in summer, attracting bees.  Grows best in rich, slightly acidic, moist to wet water-retentive soils.  

Iris versicolor is pollinated by various types of bees but is still a good food source for butterflies and highly attractive to hummingbirds.

MAINTENANCE NEEDS:  Medium Maintenance.  Water regularly, then occasionally once established.  Can cut back any dying foliage after flowering.  In winter, it is intolerant of wet or boggy soils- the roots may rot- move to dryer ground for fall and winter.

LANDSCAPE USES:  Accents or Group Plantings, Borders, Woodland Gardens, Water Gardens, Ponds and Streams, Naturalized Areas, Foundation Plantings, and Containers.

COMPANION PLANTS:  Joe Pye Weed, Spiderwort, Turtlehead

IMAGES: Photo by Bob Gutowski, Iris versicolor, (2) Photo by John Munt, blue-flag-iris, (3) Jean-Pierre Guillet, Iris versicolor au parc national du Bic, CC BY-SA 4.0, (4) Ryan Hodnett, Northern Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) - Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, CC BY-SA 4.0, (5) PantaRhei, Feldberg (Schwarzwald) - Naturschutzgebiet Feldberg (Black Forest) - Bild 3 Feldsee, CC BY-SA 4.0

*As plants have ranges in appearance they may not appear as the images shown.