Photo by Tom Hennessy
With glorious colors, varying heights and distinct fragrances, irises are a garden staple for many. But in Richmond, the flower plays an additional, if somewhat obscure, role.
For over a century, the iris has served as Richmond’s official city flower. The elegant emblem can be found in front gardens, the James River watershed and public areas, including Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
The garden’s extensive iris collection goes back to the early 1990s and has been growing ever since. “We’ve been slowly adding to them,” says Nikki Clare, assistant horticulturist at Lewis Ginter. “[The] Louisiana irises we just brought on board last year.”
These can be found around the property’s Reflection Pond, alongside numerous others adorning the grounds, such as classic bearded irises and dwarf crested irises, which are one of Clare’s favorites. “It’s a small purple bloom [and has] a really pretty little white face in the middle,” she says.
Named after the Greek goddess of rainbows, the iris began its journey to Richmond renown in 1920, when City Council decided to declare an official flower.
With assistance from the James River Garden Club, they sought a bloom with specific traits, such as its appearance in a pot, its ability to fit in the mayor’s buttonhole for state occasions, its exterior hardiness and its originality — and it could not be a flower claimed by any other U.S. city.
Locals submitted ballots through The Richmond News Leader. The public’s winner, the rose, didn’t quite meet the condition of hardiness. After some debate, the club’s iris proposal was accepted, with the newspaper applauding the choice as a “rainbow flower” and “distinctive.”
In April 1921, City Council enshrined the iris in Richmond city code. The club soon got to work promoting the flower, sponsoring an iris exhibit and flower show the next month and planting irises around St. John’s Church, Monument Avenue and Monroe Park. The city seal even featured a ring of irises before its design was changed in 1968.
Richmond’s irises typically awaken in April and stay on display until mid-June. Some, like reblooming irises, might dazzle once more in late summer and even into early fall if conditions are right.
The flower works both in large gardens and small containers and offers an array of hues and styles. “Irises come in about every color except true red,” says Wayne Bryant, president of the Central Virginia Iris Society. “Newer varieties of bearded irises tend to have more ruffling and are very attractive.”
The iris is a uniquely generous perennial; as it grows, the plant produces increasing rhizomes (underground stems), which eventually become new irises. All gardeners have to do is dig them up and divide them. “It’s kind of like a free, forever growing plant if you do that little bit of maintenance,” Clare says.
On May 4, CVIS will host an iris show and sale at Lewis Ginter. “This is a great opportunity to see many types and colors of irises in one place and to start or add to your collection,” Bryant says. To show your RVA pride in subtle-yet-stunning fashion this spring, he suggests “[letting] your iris obsession thrive.”
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