Iris germanica Blue Suede Shoes - Tall Bearded Iris

Iris ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ is a tall bearded iris that bears in May-June large medium blue, very wavy, almost self-coloured flowers. Their velvety texture catches the light and gives more depth to the colour in overcast weather. A yellow beard, tipped with white, lights up the centre of each flower. This mid-to-late season variety can repeat flower in late summer or autumn when the climate is favourable and the rootstock has been able to replenish its reserves.

This cultivar belongs to the Iridaceae family. Gardeners classify it among the tall bearded irises, rhizomatous perennials whose flowers bear a line of coloured hairs on the trailing sepals. They are simply called garden irises. They are descended from Iris × germanica, an old hybrid from Iris pallida and I. variegata, native to the north-west of the Balkan peninsula.

‘Blue Suede Shoes’ is an American introduction from Schreiner, registered in 1996. Its parentage combines ‘Breakers’ with a seedling from ‘Land O’ Lakes’ and ‘Pledge Allegiance’. This variety received an Honorable Mention in 1998, then an Award of Merit in 2000.
The plant forms a thick, horizontal stump composed of fleshy rootstocks that are level with the soil surface. The clump gradually widens outward. It reaches about 1 m in height when in flower and spreads 40 to 50 cm in width at maturity, and will reach its full potential after two or three growing seasons. The leaves, upright, sword-shaped and grey-green, form fans. They partially dry in winter, especially during cold winters, then growth resumes from the rootstock in spring. The flower stems rise well above the foliage and bear several large, broad, undulate flowers in a medium to deep violet-blue. The upright petals and trailing sepals show a similar colour. The yellow beard, white at its tip, brings a clear contrast without breaking the blue harmony. Repeat flowering has been observed in several climates; it depends on good sunshine, rich soil and a sufficiently humid summer.
The name of this cultivar, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, is taken from the title of a song by Carl Perkins popularised by Elvis Presley; the flower evokes that blue suede by its soft colour and velvety texture.

Plant the Iris ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ in groups of three rootstocks, spaced 35 to 40 cm apart, to quickly obtain a clump of blue flowers. Associate it for example with the Helianthemum ‘Wisley Primrose’ with pale yellow flowers and the Euphorbia × martinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’ for its cream and chartreuse tones. You can place a Baptisia Decadence® ‘Dutch Chocolate’ in the background and a Nepeta 'Cat's Pajamas' at the edge.

The vegetable garden can be embellished with a few clumps or borders of irises, because it is also the classic place dedicated to cut flowers.