Night Thunder is one of the first pseudata irises to bloom. Its flowers are a warm peach blend lined with deep purple veins, with darker purple on the upright petals and a prominent yellow signal.
The plant grows about 2 to 2½ feet tall and spreads nearly 4 feet wide, with healthy, vigorous foliage. It is a cross between yellow flag and Japanese iris and is sterile, so it will not seed around. Use it in a moist border, rain garden, or pond edge, or cut the flowers for a vase.
What it looks like
Flat, open flowers in a peach blend with deep purple veining across the falls; the upright standards carry more solid deep purple color. Each fall has a prominent yellow signal at its base. Flowers are held on upright stems above long, sword-shaped green leaves. The plant forms a broad, upright clump about 26 to 30 inches tall and 44 to 48 inches wide. At peak the warm peach and purple flowers contrast with the fresh 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
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Botanical name: Iris × pseudata
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Flower color: Peach blend with deep purple veining and a yellow signal
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Foliage: Green
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Growth habit: Broad, upright clump
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Mature size: 26–30 in tall × 44 in–4 ft wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Early-June
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Peak bloom: Mid-June
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Bloom pattern: Single Flush
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Deer resistance: Resistant
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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
