Iris x hollandica White Excelsior

The Iris hollandica 'White Excelsior' offers a flower of pure white, with narrow floral parts, highlighted by a small golden yellow spot on the sepals. This bulbous iris blooms at the beginning of the Dutch Iris season, usually before the blue varieties Blue Magic and Sapphire Beauty. Its sleek, stylized flowers stand out for their elegance in the garden and allow for the creation of sumptuous bouquets. The pure white of 'White Excelsior' pairs well with all kinds of flowers, in pastel or vibrant colours!

The Dutch Iris, or bulbous iris, have an underground storage organ in the form of a bulb, rather than a rhizome like their famous cousins, the German Iris or garden iris. Belonging to the same botanical family as the German Iris, the iridaceae family, they also differ by the absence of "beards", those pretty little fluffy and colored tongues found on the drooping sepals of German Iris. The first Dutch iris (x) hollandica never grew in the wild on Dutch soil, but are the result of cross-breeding between two main botanical species: Iris filifolia, sometimes confused with Iris xyphium which resembles it, both native to Spain and North Africa, and Iris tingitana, from Tangier and northern Morocco. The genealogy of Dutch hybrids can sometimes be confusing, but the result is always remarkable. Their flowers, a bit underused in the garden, are highly appreciated in floristry.

The cultivar White Excelsior forms over time a dense, upright, and narrow clump of 50-55 cm (20-22in) in bloom, this perennial expands without theoretical limits through the production of bulblets. This cultivar blooms in late spring, usually in May-June, for 2 to 3 weeks, on sturdy wind-resistant stems. Its solitary or paired flowers on the stems, measuring up to 10 cm (4in) in diameter, are relatively thin compared to those of German Iris, but undeniably elegant. Each flower is composed of 3 upright, slender, translucent, small petals. Beneath this trio are 3 arched sepals, upright then drooping at their tips, closely attached to the dentate petaloid styles along the edge, arranged in quincunx. Slightly wider, they are slightly spatulate, marked with a beautiful bright yellow spot under the crest of the styles. Each flower can live for 5 to 7 days, even in a vase. The bulb is round, 2 to 3 cm (1in) wide, covered with a fibrous tunic of a rosy beige colour. It produces a few linear, thin, leathery leaves, somewhat resembling those of a grass, with a slightly glaucous green colour, often lightly striated and folded in half towards the ground. They often appear in autumn, persist to a greater or lesser extent depending on the severity of the winter, and dry out in summer during the dormant period.

Less known and less used by gardeners than German Iris, Dutch Iris are nevertheless easy to grow in fertile, light soil, with undeniable elegance, but also indifferent to wild grasses that have difficulty infiltrating their very vertical clumps. Plant them in groups of 10 to 20 bulbs of the same variety; they will come back year after year to offer you more and more sleek and cheerful flowers, which go well with the spring flowering of flowering shrubs. They are also stunning when planted alongside ornamental garlic, in the midst of perennials such as Californian poppies, peonies, and daylilies, which will mask their absence in summer when they are dormant. Their Mediterranean origins give them excellent adaptation to summer drought. Finally, pick their flowers to create bouquets with roses, arums, or even late tulips. All iris varieties need a sunny exposure to flower well. Give them at least half a day of full sun per day.