Iris flowers, iris flower meaning, iris flower care, iris flower colors
Iris flowers come in many different colors and styles. The range of color spans the entire rainbow, and nearly every other color imaginable, except for black. The actual blooms of the iris flowers also come in a wide range of styles. There are two main classes of iris flowers, namely bearded and beardless.
The bearded iris flowers have six petals. Three of the petals, called standards grow up, while the remaining three, called falls hang down. The bearded iris flower gets its name from the falls, which have a ‘beard’ of fuzz down the center. The bearded iris flowers bloom in the late spring through early summer. Some bearded iris flowers will even re-bloom late in the summer, which lasts long into the fall months. This second bloom is not as showy as the first one.
Beardless iris flowers come in many different forms. One type of beardless iris flower, the Spurias, is tall and has blooms that often resemble orchids. The colors range from white and yellow through blue. A second beardless iris flower is the Siberian, which are mostly blue and need cold and wet conditions to thrive. A third beardless iris flower is the Japanese, which usually has huge, ruffled blooms that are flat. Most beardless iris flowers will bloom after the bearded iris flower blooming period is over.
Several other varieties of iris flowers are clumped together in a class called aril irises. Aril iris flowers are bearded, but not classified with the bearded iris flowers because they are so different. The beards are rather sparse, and generally nothing more than a fuzzy strip on the oncocyclus. Though the aril iris flowers are extremely beautiful and colorful, many of them are not able to grow in the United States, save for the hottest, driest climates.
