PBSWiki - Juno Irises

The Junos make up the largest group of bulbous irises with something around 60 species. Officially the subgenus 'Scorpiris' they form a natural group characterized by their bulbs which are somewhat fleshy and have from a few to several thick , also fleshy storage roots. The leaves are opposite in a flat array, technically distichous; but once seen, easily recalled. The flowers too share some general characters such as small standards. Normally erect in most iris, here they are frequently nearly absent or small and pendant. Iris cycloglossa is a widely grown exception.

The overall form of most junos is very distinct. The commonest larger Junos, such as Iris bucharica and Iris magnifica, often resemble small corn plants. Except for a single Mediterranean species, most occur from the middle east to Central Asia, but none quite get to China. Some species are hardy and easy to cultivate as far north as Canada, while others are very tender even in English gardens. All are dormant in summer, and produce foliage either in mid-winter or early spring.

Culture is variable, but good drainage and summer dormancy are common requirements. Some species demand copious water in spring, others far less. Check specific care for each species. This information provided by James Waddick.

Iris aucheri This species from Northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, western Iran and Jordan is one of the earliest to show foliage, but latest to bloom. It is almost icy blue in its typical form, but can be white to blue with a yellow ridge on the falls. The flowers have a violet-like scent. It is easy, hardy, and vigorous, preferring sun and well drained soil. Photos by John Lonsdale.

Iris bucharica is found in Northeastern Afghanistan, Tadjikistan, and Uzbekistan where it grows on stony and grassy slopes. It is one of the most frequently cultivated Junos with large glossy green leaves. The flowers are creamy white with a yellow blade. There is also a plain yellow form known in gardens as Iris orchioides which is really this species. It is one of the easier species to grow in a sunny well-drained border. Photos by John Lonsdale.

I. bucharica 'Duschanbe'

Iris caucasica grows on mountain slopes in Turkey and the Caucasus. Leaves are gray green and flowers yellowish green with a yellow ridge on the falls. Photos by John Lonsdale.

Iris cycloglossa is a species from Western Afghanistan that somewhat resemble a dutch iris and is a rich blue-violet. It comes from areas subject to winter-spring floods so tolerates a lot of water and generally moister growing conditions that many other junos. It's one of the very last junos to bloom, and it's a beauty with a very different look. It's an "easy doer" when grown in sandy soil, and blooms in June instead of April-May like most junos. The flowers are outlandishly large, and luxuriantly floppy for the size of the plant, providing an unusual flouncy rabbit-ear look . Photos by Mark McDonough and Bill Dijk.

Iris galatica is from cooler higher altitiudes in central to north Turkey. It is variable in color from reddish-violet to greenish yellow, or silvery purple. Photo by John Lonsdale.

Iris graeberiana from Central Asia is blue tinted violet or lavender and strongly veined around the crest. It is an easy vigorous juno that only gets to 6 to 8 inches tall. Here it is blooming on April 5, 2006 in the USDA zone 7 garden of Jim McKenney.

Iris graeberiana 'White Fall' (Juno) purchased two years earlier as a single rhizome from the Dutch grower Antoine Hoog, shown flowering in a bulb frame in Oregon in late March. Photo by Jane McGary

There is a violet-blue form of I. graeberiana found in the Tien Shan Mountains that is known under the name Iris zenaidae. It has flowers spotted violet on the haft of the falls. Photo by John Lonsdale.

Iris inconspicua from the Tien Shan Mountains in Central Asia is a very short plant (2" = 5 cm) that is pale lilac, spotted green with a white crest.

Iris inconspicua × Iris kuschakewiczii Photos by John Lonsdale.

Iris kuschakewiczii from the northern foothills of the Tien Shan Mountains in Central Asia. This is one of the smaller Juno irises; the specimen shown is about 4 inches/10 cm tall including the flower. This plant was grown from a very small bulb/rhizome given me by Harvey Wrightman two years before the photo was taken. It is in a bulb frame, kept dry in summer. Photo by Jane McGary.

Iris magnifica This impressive Juno from Central Asia can reach to two feet (30-60 cm.) in height. Normally the lilac flowers can protrude from the top ten leaf axils and put on quite a show. This species is one of the easier ones to grow in the open garden in a well drained sunny position. Photos by John Lonsdale.

Iris narbutii from Central Asia is a short plant of. 4-6" (10- 15 cm) with yellow styles and yellow and violet falls. The standards are deflexed and bright purple. Photos by John Lonsdale of a hybrid and a cultivar.

I. narbutii 'Kara Kaga'

Iris orchioides from the Tien Shan in Central Asia where it grows in harsh rocky places. It has pale yellow tinted pale purple flowers with a yellow raised and toothed crest. Photo by John Lonsdale.

Iris palaestina is from the Eastern Mediterranean (Israel, Lebanon coast, Jordan, southern Syria). It is a short species with green flowers. Photo by John Lonsdale.

Iris planifolia is the only European Juno. It is found on rocky hillsides and banks in Portugal, Spain, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete and North Africa. It flowers early ( in winter) and needs good ventilation to prevent disease. Grown and photographed by Rob Hamilton.

Iris rosenbachiana is from Central Asia. Flowers are a deep rich purple with a bright orange crest. Photos by John Lonsdale and Jim McKenney who writes: Here it is blooming in my USDA zone 7 garden of in late March, 2006. John Wister, in his 1948 book Bulbs for Home Gardens wrote "The first of this group (juno irises) to bloom is I. rosenbachiana, coming as early as February in Washington (D.C.)."

Iris rosenbachiana 'Harangon'

Iris rosenbachiana 'Varzob'

Iris 'Sindpers' is a Juno hybrid. It was once believed to be a cross of I. sindjarensis x I. persica, and was later reported to be I. aucheri x I. persica. Whatever its parentage, it is a very beautiful, floriferous plant, shown here flowering in an unheated bulb frame in late February. It is kept dry in summer, when it is dormant. Photo by Jane McGary.

Iris stenophylla grows on rocky hillsides in southern Turkey at fairly high altitudes. Flowers are violet to lilac blue with a yellow crest surrounded by a white, violet spotted zone. Photos by Jane McGary and (the second) from Rob Hamilton of a form with pale blue flowers and dark spotting on the falls once but no longer considered to be a valid subspecies (allisonii), flowering mid winter.

Iris vicaria is from the Pamir-Altai Mtns of Central Asia. It is a medium to tall plant with flowers that are pale bluish violet, veined darker with a yellow or whitish crest and a yellow blotch. Photos by John Lonsdale.

Iris warleyensis is a Juno from Central Asia. The pictured plant and several others of this species were grown from seed collected by Josef Halda in the mid-1990s and supplied without species identification. This is one of the most colorful Junos. Flowering in a bulb frame in Oregon in March, kept dry in summer and covered against rain. Photo by Jane McGary

Iris wilmottiana is from Central Asia and is a short robust plant with glossy leaves and pale lavender-blue flowers with a large white area on the falls and violet-blue blotches and lines.

Iris wilmottiana alba - One of the first of the Juno iris to bloom and one of my very favorites is Iris wilmottiana alba, with pristine white flowers over densely tufted "corn-stalk-like" dark green foliage, the leaf margins with a fine whitish ciliate edge. Photo by Mark McDonough.

Iris zaprjagajewii from Central Asia is a short plant of 4-6" (10-15 cm) with pure white flowers and some light bluish or lilac staining and a yellow crest. Photo by John Lonsdale.

Iris zenaidae is listed with I. graeberiana.

Return to the PBS wiki Photographs And Information page