New Releases

Iris 'Clearly Pink'

After about a three-week delay from the cool spring, bearded iris season is finally underway, spurred by a week of highs in the 80s and 90s. The early frontrunner for favorite of the season is this beauty we got from Barb and Terry Aitken of Aitken’s Salmon Creek Garden, an iris and orchid specialty grower in Southwest Washington not all that far from the home I grew up in. A border bearded, it’s slightly shorter and daintier than the tall beardeds we typically see in gardens, and all the more graceful for it. It didn’t bloom for us at all last year after it’s first season in the ground, ostensibly building up reserves for this year’s terrific display of pure pink flowers with coral orange beards and a delightfully sweet and heady scent—easily among the best we’ve smelled in an iris so far.

From Grow