Species Iris, Cemetery Iris, White Cemetery Iris, White Flag

I had been growing bearded iris & others for years and first found this iris in the old abandoned Cherokee Cemetery , near oroville, ca....Read More(Butte county ) As everybody knows, the iris hybrids, pretty as they are don't have the drought hardiness as this albicans. I'm happy with its stockiness, , floriferous qualities. I would recommend it to anyone. Would be especially great for the " white garden " as you get lots of white flowers on a compact plant.

This is a beautiful iris. I planted 3 in full sun in my zone 8b garden (HHI, SC). They did OK and bloomed without additional water, but t...Read Morehe flowers were rather short. Last year my husband installed an irrigation system, and this iris just took off. It is much taller. The attached are pictures of this iris blooming March 21st ! Unlike my white bearded 'immortality' iris, they are long blooming, even in the heat. They have 2 buds per stalk. They are lovely planted in a west-facing aspect. They are translucent and when lit from behind by the sun they absolutely glow. Definitely an under-used iris for the South. 'Southern Bulbs' sells them. I will be planting more!

I noticed the soil requirements indicate acidic soil is preferred;
iris albicans thrives in our very alkaline soil, whether in la...Read Morendscapes (it's very popular in xeriscapes) or unattended in old cemetaries.

It's the most robust iris I've ever seen;
I planted some last autumn in a sunny spot that hasn't been touched, except for the occasional lawnmower, for the last 55 years;
all of them survived, & 1 has a bloomstalk.

old fashioned simple 'white sweet iris', 'cemetery iris', or heirloom historic white single blooming iris, i have these growing along wit...Read Moreh some iris pallida 'violet-blue sweet iris' that smell like grape soda or laundry detergent. this white iris albicans[cemetary]variety, also has a bit of the silvery patina to the leaves like the violet-blue pallida iris variety does. It originally comes from yemen in the mountains of the arabian peninsula and is also grown in turkey, iran, egypt and eastern europe on the graves of fallen muslim soldiers and men,where it was planted by their mothers or widows. orthodox christian and jewish in eastern europe have since also become quite fond of it on grave sites for respect for deceased love ones, it was brought to the U.S almost 200 years ago where it thrives in many victorian gardens in the southestern US. It is always the Very First Iris to Bloom in my garden. Sometimes simple and old fashioned varieties are the most beautiful..peace. mike