Tutu Blue Siberian Iris - Bare Root Plant

Tutu Blue is an especially vigorous Siberian iris with lush, full foliage and a heavy crop of ruffled periwinkle blue flowers in early summer.

It grows about 27 to 32 inches tall and 1½ to 2 feet wide. The abundant blooms and dense leaves add both color and texture to borders, rain gardens and waterside plantings, and the flowers cut well.

What it looks like

Ruffled flowers in periwinkle blue with lightly waved petal edges and faint darker veining, produced in large numbers on slender, upright stems. Foliage is lush, dense and grass-like in mid-green. The plant forms a full, upright clump about 27 to 32 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. Many flowers are open at once in early summer. At peak the clump is covered in a crowd of ruffled blue blooms.

Growing it with lavender

Siberian iris prefers steadier moisture than lavender, so it fits best in a moister border or rain garden nearby, where its early-summer blooms can open just before the lavender begins.

Care

Grow in full sun to part shade in average to rich soil and keep it well watered through the season, especially in spring and early summer. Hardy in zones 3-9. Cut back the foliage in late fall or early spring, and divide crowded clumps in late summer; Siberian iris is not bothered by black walnut.

At a glance

• Botanical name: Iris sibirica
• Flower color: Periwinkle blue, ruffled
• Foliage: Mid-green
• Growth habit: Full, upright clump
• Mature size: 27–32 in tall × 18–24 in wide
• USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
• 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.