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Iris x pacifica 'Filoli'
$11.95 Very colorful in rich purple and lighter lilac. It is named for a famous garden and estate in Woodside, California (about 25 miles south of San Francisco). You might be wondering about the unusual name. To quote from its website (www.filoli.org), "Filoli was built for Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn, prominent San Franciscans whose chief source of wealth was the Empire Mine, a hard-rock gold mine in Grass Valley, California. . . . Mr. Bourn arrived at the unusual name Filoli by combining the first two letters from the key words of his credo: 'Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.'"This is a hybrid of irises that are native to the coast of North America along the Pacific Ocean. It thrives where winters are mild. So this is not a good choice for gardeners everywhere. A young plant should be watered regularly in summer for its first year, but after that will grow well without much attention. It blooms in midspring at a height of about 8 to 14 inches. Near the ocean it can take full sun but away from the coast filtered shade is recommended. Hardy to 0°F.
- common name — Pacific Coast Iris
- flowering season — midspring
- height — 8 to 14 inches
- light requirements — sun, afternoon shade where summers are especially hot
- soil requirements — average
- water requirements — average; in its native range it doesn't receive much summer rainfall
- how to propagate — dividing in fall, after fall rains have moistened the ground
- leaf type — upright narrow leaves that are evergreen
- ways to use it — either in a garden or naturalized in a wild landscape
- other points of interests — easiest to grow in a mild climate similar to the west coast of North America
- cold hardy to 0°F
