Irises with differing habitats
According to my textbook there are only two types of native wild iris: Stinking iris, Iris foetidissima, and Yellow (flag) iris, Iris pseudacorus. Sometimes Bearded iris, Iris germanica, escapes from gardens too. I spotted both native types flowering at similar times over May and the beginning of June.
Stinking iris, Iris foetidissima
This seems to be unfussy, growing in shade, in rough ground. It doesn’t mind dry conditions and has leathery strap leaves with primrose yellow flowers sometimes with purple veining (my camera didn’t do it justice when I photographed a gorgeous primrose yellow one at Seaford Last Wood in June) and orange berries later in the season. Apparently it smells of meat when crushed, hence the name, but I’ve never noticed that when weeding it from my garden.
Sometimes the flowers have a tinge of purple, as for these on Seaford Head:
Yellow iris – Iris pseudacorus
A lovely bright lemon yellow and it loves water, growing alongside ponds.
Bearded iris, Iris germanica for comparison
Bearded iris enjoys full sun and flowers best with sun-baked rhizome.
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