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Iris arenaria

Iris arenaria
Photo: PiPi, Public domain

Iris arenaria, the sandy iris, is a small rhizomatous perennial from Central Europe with grass-like leaves and fragrant pale yellow flowers. It grows best in full sun in sandy, well drained, limey soil, such as a rock garden.

Family
Iridaceae (Iris family)
Grows as
Grass, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly and let the soil dry out between waterings; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Sandy, well drained soil with some lime.
Temperature
Hardy; protect from severe winter cold or wet, which may need shelter in winter.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
C. & E. Europe
Climate
temperate

About

Sandy iris, or sand iris (Iris arenaria), is a species in the genus Iris; it is also in the subgenus of Iris and in the Psammiris section. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Central Europe, found in Hungary, Austria, Romania, Czech Republic and Ukraine. It has grass-like leaves, a short stem and pale yellow flowers. It has had a mixed origin and was once Iris humilis subsp. arenaria, a subspecies of Iris humilis (another Psammiris iris), until it was reclassified as a separate species. But many sources still state that it is either a synonym or subspecies of Iris humilis. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.

How to grow it

It is a hardy plant, more hardy than Iris humilis.

It may need to be sheltered in the winter.

Other Iris plants

Iris acutiloba subsp. lineolata · Iris acutiloba · Iris adriatica · Iris afghanica · Iris alberti · Iris albomarginata · Iris alexeenkoi · Single Bract Iris · Iris antilibanotica · Stool iris · Iris assadiana · Jal'ad Iris

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Iris arenaria by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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