Iris Oregon Iris Tenax is a showy, hardy perennial native to west of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon. Oregon Iris seeds can be started indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost or directly outdoors in spring and fall. Also commonly called Tough Leaf Iris, this popular garden perennial produces blue, purple, lavender, creamy white to rarely white flowers and features foliage with grass-like leaves that are light-green, upright, and slightly reflexed, basal with a pink to straw base, tufted, and deciduous from branching rhizomes with fibrous roots, occurring in compact, dense clumps. Oregon Iris blooms throughout the middle of the spring season attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
Iris Oregon is often found growing in open, grassy meadows, along roadsides, in pastures, and in logged areas at low to mid elevations, and Oregon Iris makes a great ground cover for growing in sandy soils. It helps germination if the Iris Tenax seeds are soaked overnight in warm water before planting to soften the hard seed coat, and the seeds have to be planted not deeper than 1/8 of inch. It may take a couple of years for Oregon Iris to establish itself before it starts to bloom. In the Northwest, Oregon Iris seeds can be planted directly outdoors in fall for the best result. Tough Leaf Iris is a drought tolerant plant that grows best in moist soil but adapts easily to dry soil conditions. Oregon Iris is a superb cut flower.
