Iris versicolor - Blue Flag Iris

Characteristics: Herbaceous perennial with sword-like leaves that grow in clumps from thick horizontal root (corm); flower color ranges from pale to deep blue or purple.

Flowers: May - July

Fruit: capsule with seeds in late summer

Growth: up to 4 feet, slow rate of spread (+/- 0.2 ft per year)

Shade: full sun to partial shade

Habitat: wet meadows, pond and lake edges, forested wetlands

Hydrology: obligate wetland species (OBL), regularly to permanently inundated up to 0.5 ft. or saturated approximately 26 to 100% of the growing season

Range: Newfoundland to Manitoba , south to Florida and Arkansas

Comments: requires full sun for flowering, limited wildlife value