Northwest Blooms · Irises
Iris 'In Living Color'
In Living Color Iris
- Height
- 3 feet
- Width
- 1 to 1 1/2 feet
- Flower color
- Golden yellow, plum, violet and muted rosy tan
- Foliage color
- Medium green, upright, sword-shaped foliage
- Bloom time
- Midseason
- Light
- Full sun
- Water
- Moderate, drought tolerant once established
- Growing zone
- USDA zones 4 to 8
About this plant
Iris 'In Living Color' is a tall bearded iris with heavily ruffled flowers that bloom in midseason. Bright golden-yellow standards rise above multicolored falls that shift from plum near the shoulders through violet and muted rosy tan, finishing with a narrow golden edge. Small gold patches surround the bright yellow beards, intensifying the warm color at the flower's center. The blooms have a pronounced musky fragrance, while upright, sword-shaped green foliage forms tidy fans below the flowering stems.
Introduced in 2004 by hybridizer Paul Black through Mid-America Garden, 'In Living Color' received an American Iris Society Honorable Mention in 2006 and Award of Merit in 2009. Its unusual combination of gold, plum, violet, and softened rose tones gives it plenty of visual interest in mixed perennial borders and dedicated iris plantings.
Works well in
Cottage Gardens · Borders · Cut Flower Gardens · Mediterranean Gardens · Waterwise Gardens
Companion plants
Dwarf smoke bush · Shrub cinquefoil · Purple salvia · Golden yarrow · Blue flax · Silver horehound · Creeping stonecrop
Design tip
Let 'In Living Color' bridge warm and cool sections of a planting rather than treating it as a single-color accent. Its yellow standards connect naturally with golds, while the violet and plum falls can carry the eye toward nearby purple flowers.
Where to see it
This plant can be seen at Schreiner's Iris Gardens.
