Eye Liner is a robust pseudata iris, a cross between yellow flag and Japanese iris. Its pearly white flowers have a yellow eye zone and a violet edge that radiates along the veins, a pattern that really catches the eye in early summer.
Plants reach about 3 feet tall and 2½ feet wide, with flowers held above the foliage on well-proportioned stems. Because pseudatas are sterile, it will not seed around. It works in borders, rain gardens, along ponds and as a cut flower.
What it looks like
Flat, open flowers with pearlescent white petals, each with a yellow eye zone at the base and a violet margin that radiates inward along the petal veins. Flowers are held on upright stems just above the foliage. Leaves are long, sword-shaped and bright green, forming an upright clump about 34 to 38 inches tall and 28 to 32 inches wide. Several blooms open in sequence on each stem. At peak the white flowers with violet edges and yellow centers stand out crisply above the green fans.
Growing it with lavender
This iris prefers more moisture than lavender likes, so place it in a moister bed, rain garden or pond edge, where its early-summer flowers can bloom ahead of the lavender season.
Care
Grow in full sun to part shade in average to moist soil; it tolerates wetter ground than most garden iris and also handles ordinary border soil if watered in dry spells. Hardy in zones 4-9. The plants are sterile and do not self-seed; cut spent stems after bloom and divide crowded clumps in late summer.
At a glance
-
Botanical name: Iris × pseudata
-
Flower color: Pearly white with yellow eye and violet-veined edges
-
Foliage: Bright green
-
Growth habit: Upright clump
-
Mature size: 34–38 in tall × 28–32 in wide
-
USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
-
Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
-
Bloom start: Early-June
-
Peak bloom: Mid-June
-
Bloom pattern: Single Flush
-
Deer resistance: Resistant
-
Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
