Purple Dragon's Valley is a tall pseudata iris that blooms from mid to late season. Reddish-purple upright petals rise over falls marked with a deep purple outline around a bright yellow signal, all above dark green foliage.
It reaches about 4 to 4½ feet tall and 4 feet wide, bringing height to moist borders, rain gardens and pond edges. Pseudatas combine vigor, a high bud count and a long bloom season, and because they are sterile they will not seed around.
What it looks like
Flat, open flowers with reddish-purple standards and falls marked by a deep purple band that outlines a bright yellow signal at the base. Several flowers open in succession on tall, upright stems. Leaves are long, sword-shaped and dark green, forming a tall, upright clump about 45 to 54 inches tall and 48 inches wide. At peak the purple blooms with glowing yellow centers are held high above a dense fan of dark foliage.
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: Reddish purple with a deep purple-edged yellow signal
-
Foliage: Dark green
-
Growth habit: Tall, upright clump
-
Mature size: 45 in–54 in tall × 4 ft wide
-
USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
-
Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
-
Bloom start: Mid-June
-
Peak bloom: Late-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
