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Key characteristics

Family: Iridaceae
Height: 34 in to 38 in
Width: 18 in to 24 in
Flower color: Creamy tan standards with soft lavender undertones
Foliage color: Blue green sword shaped foliage with an upright fan shaped growth habit
Bloom time: Mid to late spring
Light: Full sun
Water: Low to moderate
Maintenance: Low; remove spent flower stalks and divide clumps every few years
Growing zone: USDA zones 3 to 9
Wildlife: Butterflies and pollinators attracted to spring flowers

Perennials

Iris 'Coffee Trader'

Coffee Trader Iris

Iris 'Coffee Trader' produces ruffled flowers in blended coffee, caramel, and silvery blue tones, blooming in late spring and bringing layered color to the garden. Upright, sword-like leaves are blue-green and form clean fans that provide a strong vertical framework through the season. The flowers rise above the foliage on sturdy stems, with warm coffee-toned standards, falls in soft lavender-blue tones, and an orange beard running down the center of each fall, adding texture and depth during bloom.

Light

Full sun

Water

Low to moderate

Bloom time

Mid to late spring

Find this plant

Works well in

Borders
Sun Gardens
Pollinator Gardens
Waterwise Gardens
Cut Flower Gardens

Companion plants

Garden phlox · Black-eyed Susans · Daylilies · Lavender · Coreopsis · Russian sage

Design tip

Spring bloom is its headline moment, and it reads best in a group rather than as a single plant. Give it open sun and room to fill out, and repeat it in threes or fives so the planting reads as one sweep instead of scattered dots.