Iris Tiger Honey - Tall Bearded Iris

Iris 'Tiger Honey' (TB) is a prolific, vigorous and floriferous variety of bearded iris with 'Broken colours', which offers surprising, fragrant flowers in May. Its petals are beige to honey-coloured, randomly striped with gold and silver, and its soft yellow sepals are striped with caramel and cream-white, with a caramel beard. Each flower has a unique design and pronounced scent. This variety has been rewarded for its numerous qualities and will seduce enthusiasts of original but easy-to-grow flowers.

Iris'Tiger Honey' is a rhizomatous and deciduous, upright perennial plant belonging to the Iridaceae family. It is one of many cultivars obtained over centuries, with a controversial origin debated around the number of chromosomes of potential ancestors. It should be noted that bearded irises have European origins.

'Tiger Honey' is part of a group of irises called 'Broken colours', which are distinguished by their randomly striped and speckled flowers. It is the origin of 51 more recent varieties, all beautifully striped. It is a tall variety, reaching 90 cm (35in) high in flower, with a strong and well-branched stem bearing several flower buds. The clump will spread very quickly, with no theoretical limit over time, as the central rhizomes become bare in favour of the outer rhizomes. The foliage consists of long, glaucous green, and highly veined sword-shaped leaves. Floral stems appear in April and flower in May, the beginning of the season for tall irises, blooming from the top to the bottom. The colouration is magnified by the silky texture of the petals and sepals. The flowers of this beautiful iris are very fragrant.

Obtained by Brad Kasperek, 1993. (Kingdom of the Desert x Maria Tormena)

Awards: HM 1995 / AM 1998.

To accompany irises, choose plants that will thrive in the sun and in dry soil, preferably low or with light foliage to avoid shading them, with a complementary decorative appearance and flowering time. Gauras, for example, fulfil these three criteria, and their later flowering will keep the flower bed attractive in summer. California poppies, perennial geraniums, salvias, and Libertias also complement irises very well. Tall irises can be used at the foot of a wall, in the relative shelter from the wind. They can also be planted in the foreground of shorter and earlier varieties. The vegetable garden can be embellished with a few clumps or borders of irises for cut flowers.

Path border: the entire range can be used, from early dwarfs under 40 cm (16in), to tall irises over 75 cm (30in), flowering in May, including intermediates (in size and earliness) and border irises, which are medium-sized but flower with the tall ones. Tall irises, exposed to the wind, may need staking.

Flower bed border: the domain of border irises but also dwarfs.

Mixed border: the entire range of sizes can be used according to the location (foreground, background) and the height of the surrounding plants.

Iris bed, the iris garden: the paradise of the iris enthusiast. The use of the entire range of bearded irises allows for two and a half months of flowers in spring. The choice of reblooming irises offers some additional flowers in late summer or autumn.