Northwest Blooms · Irises
Iris 'Collusion'
Collusion Iris
- Height
- 3 to 3 1/2 feet
- Width
- 1 1/2 to 2 feet
- Flower color
- Lavender-blue and pale blue washed with soft golden yellow
- Foliage color
- Medium green, upright, sword-shaped foliage
- Bloom time
- Early midseason
- Light
- Full sun
- Water
- Moderate, drought tolerant once established
- Growing zone
- USDA zones 4 to 8
About this plant
Iris 'Collusion' is a tall bearded iris with softly ruffled flowers that open in early midseason. Lavender-blue standards deepen toward their bases with subtle mauve shading, while the falls blend pale blue with a translucent wash of warm yellow. Fine golden veining spreads across the lower petals, with touches of purple appearing deeper in the throat. Golden-bronze beards add warmth at the center. Upright, sword-shaped green foliage forms tidy fans beneath the flowering stems.
Introduced in 2020 by hybridizer Keith Keppel, 'Collusion' received an American Iris Society Honorable Mention in 2022. Its unusual combination of lavender-blue and muted yellow gives the flowers a soft, watercolor-like quality. The gentle coloring works especially well in perennial borders and iris beds where it can mingle with both cool blues and purples and warmer cream or golden tones.
Works well in
Cottage Gardens · Borders · Cut Flower Gardens · Walkways · Waterwise Gardens
Companion plants
Dwarf ceanothus · Shrub cinquefoil · Catmint · Golden yarrow · Perennial geranium · Blue oat grass · Creeping baby's breath
Design tip
Use 'Collusion' where its subtle color blending can be viewed at close range rather than across a large garden. Nearby blue-grey foliage can reinforce its cooler tones, while small touches of yellow elsewhere in the planting draw out the warmth in the falls.
Where to see it
This plant can be seen at Schreiner's Iris Gardens.
