Wonderful Iris relative from South America that we cherish for its daily large three petalled intricately marked blue flowers. Rising to 2′ tall, corrugated blue green leaves accompany the strong upright stem. Beginning in May a daily procession of flowers that open at sunrise and close and finish by 2 to 3 in the afternoon. Don’t remove the spent flower as curiously more (and more) flowers will appear from the same stem. Large seed pods will form. These may be snipped off to refocus on more blooming. Full sun and rich, well drained soil in a warm position with regular summer water. I add a handful of all organic fertilizer around the base just before blooming. This markedly increases vigor and even the size of the flowers. Freezes back almost to the ground below 20ºF. Moderate deer resistance.
Genus: Cypella
Cypella (Phalocallis) herbertii
Adorable little bulb that forms grassy colonies. Beginning in early summer and continuing to fall 10″ stems support amber orange intricate three petalled flowers. Each lasts just one day but new flowers appear seemingly from nowhere from the stems so do not remove- these stems can produce flowers for up to 6 weeks. Grassy medium green corrugated leaves accompany the flowers. Open sites with little competition from other plants. Sharp drainage in average to rich soil with regular summer irrigation. Full sun to light shade. Surprisingly cold hardy. Rock gardens, containers. Native to rocky plains in Argentina and Uruguay. It makes a great candidate for troughs and perennial containers where you can closely inspect the fascinating blooms. Mostly evergreen in our climate. Some deer resistance. Close iris relative.