Northwest Blooms · Irises
Iris 'Shadowed Light'
Shadowed Light Iris
- Height
- 3 to 3 1/2 feet
- Width
- 1 to 1 1/2 feet
- Flower color
- Golden yellow with warm brown veining and orange beards
- 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 'Shadowed Light' is a tall bearded iris with warmly colored flowers that open in midseason. Soft golden-yellow standards rise above deeper yellow falls, where fine caramel-brown veining spreads outward from the center and gradually becomes lighter toward the edges. Rich orange beards add another warm accent to the center of the blooms. Upright, sword-shaped green foliage forms tidy fans beneath the flowering stems.
Registered in 2017 by hybridizer Keith Keppel, 'Shadowed Light' brings a subtle mixture of yellow, gold, and warm brown to sunny plantings. Its restrained coloring is especially effective in naturalistic borders and Mediterranean-inspired gardens, where it blends easily with grasses, silver foliage, and other sun-loving plants. The flowers also provide a warm transition between pale yellows and deeper earth tones.
Works well in
Mediterranean Gardens · Borders · Cut Flower Gardens · Slopes & Banks · Waterwise Gardens
Companion plants
Dwarf broom · Santolina · Red valerian · Verbascum · Blanket flower · Blue fescue · Creeping germander
Design tip
Use 'Shadowed Light' to bridge bright yellow flowers and plants with bronze or brown foliage. Its softly shaded petals make the transition feel gradual rather than abrupt, an effect that works particularly well in loose drifts along slopes or broad, informal borders.
Where to see it
This plant can be seen at Schreiner’s Iris Gardens.
