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The Under-Appreciated Louisiana Iris

Dan Gill
/
LSU AgCenter

If you're interested in planting wildflowers in your garden, one of the best plants to put in the garden this time of the year is the native Louisiana iris.

Hybrids of this native species bloom in a rainbow of color with large, showy flowers on their long stems. While their beauty and reliability in the garden have made Louisiana irises increasingly popular around the world, they still have some obscurity in their own native Louisiana.

Though a number of iris species are native to Louisiana, only five of these species are known as "Louisiana iris." And only in south Louisiana do all five species occur together. The five species are closely related and will interbreed with each other.