Iris reticulata Pixie

Iris reticulata 'Pixie' is a cultivar of iris awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit for its aesthetic qualities and reliability. It offers flowers of a beautiful blue-violet colour, both vibrant and rich, with lips spotted with white and golden yellow. Its grey-green foliage generally reaches the same level as the flower but lengthens after flowering up to 40 cm. The delicately scented flowers appear in February-March, and the hardy and robust plant appreciates well-drained soils and sunlight.

Iris reticulata is a perennial plant of the iridaceae family, native to the mountains of the Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. This iris is very hardy ( to -34°C) and easy to grow in well-drained soil. 'Pixie' is a hybrid resulting from a sowing of the 'Harmony' variety. The plant develops from a storage organ, which is an elongated bulb 2 to 3 cm tall, covered with a white skin. It blooms from the end of February, or in March depending on the climate, before the appearance of foliage, which makes it valuable in the garden. The 7 cm wide flowers are carried by stems about 12 cm tall. They are large compared to the size of the plant and seem to emerge directly from the ground. They are formed by 3 upright inner tepals dominating 3 more horizontal outer tepals. They are slightly scented. The foliage develops when the flowers fade, forming a tuft of narrow, stiff, and pointed leaves, up to 20 cm tall. It is at this time that the bulb divides into several bulblets, allowing the plant to colonise its environment.

Iris reticulata 'Pixie' adapts well to cultivation in pots, sunny flower beds, or rock gardens. This plant's main requirements are well-drained soil and exposure to sunlight. It harmonises well with other small spring bulbs such as snowdrops, chionodoxas, crocuses, or early and botanical tulips. It also looks beautiful in front of Stern hellebores that appreciate the sun, and it is recommended to plant it in groups of 15 bulbs alongside Pulsatilla patens, for example. This plant is also well-suited for cultivation in an alpine trough, where it can coexist with species such as Dodecatheon, Globularia cordifolia, or Saxifraga 'Pixie'.