Northwest Blooms · Irises
Iris 'Color Capers'
Color Capers Iris
- Height
- 3 to 3 1/2 feet
- Width
- 1 1/2 to 2 feet
- Flower color
- Magenta, buff-apricot and yellow with carnelian-red beards
- 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 'Color Capers' is a tall bearded iris with ruffled, multicolored flowers that open in early midseason. The standards blend deep rosy magenta through their centers with softer buff-apricot coloring toward the edges. Broad yellow to warm apricot falls are marked with fine reddish-purple veining near the throat, while deep red-orange beards add a concentrated burst of color at the center. Upright, sword-shaped green foliage forms tidy fans beneath the flowering stems.
Introduced in 2020 by Keith Keppel, 'Color Capers' received an American Iris Society Honorable Mention in 2022. Its mixture of warm apricot and yellow with cooler magenta accents gives it considerable versatility in sunny perennial borders, cottage gardens, and dedicated iris collections.
Works well in
Cottage Gardens · Borders · Cut Flower Gardens · Walkways · Waterwise Gardens
Companion plants
Dwarf weigela · Shrub rose · Purple coneflower · Blue salvia · Gaura · Silver artemisia · Stonecrop
Design tip
Use 'Color Capers' to connect warm and cool sections of a sunny border. Its apricot tones work naturally with yellows and corals, while the magenta accents provide an easy transition into purple plantings, creating continuity without making the garden feel overly coordinated.
Where to see it
This plant can be seen at Schreiner's Iris Gardens.
