I bet you didn’t see this one coming. (Or, if you know me really well, maybe you did?)
Our first-ever Iris Presale is now live on our online market. We’re starting by sharing nine varieties that I’ve been growing in my own garden for the past several years, and I can’t wait for you to discover them. If I’ve already piqued your interest, you can follow the link below to browse our first-ever offerings.
A few other important things to know if you want to place an order.
Iris are available for shipping. You can also choose to pick up your order at Plant Pride on Saturday, July 19.
Orders are dug in mid July, when the plants are in their summer dormancy. If you place an order for shipping, it will ship the week after Plant Pride.
All orders will be bare-root plants and should be planted as soon as possible when you receive them. Planting and care instructions will be included with each order.
Quantities are very limited and we’re offering everything we have available for 2025.
These plants are home-grown from our own garden.
Maybe you’re flooded with questions like, “What is this Iris sale? Where did it even come from? What is an Iris?! Huh what?!” Well, I love that curiosity, and I’d love to take you on a journey.
Shall we embark?
I’ve been gardening my entire life. No kidding, “Iris” is actually the first word I learned to spell. I grew up growing them and loving them.
My collection way back then never exceeded more than half a dozen varieties, most inherited from family gardens, as many Iris often are.
I have a lot of nostalgia for their diva-level blooms, sweet and spicy fragrance, and incredible array of colors and patterns.
One of my earliest memories (a core memory, really) is of the Iris Border at Fernwood Botanical Garden in Niles, MI. They had an extensive collection at the time, and each year they did an Iris raffle as a fundraiser. One year my parents and I submitted an entry and - we won! (And I never win anything!)
We adopted a single rhizome from Fernwood, and it grew and multiplied at my parents for decades. I’ve nearly lost it several times for various reasons, and I love that it’s one of the first things I planted in our new South Bend garden back in early 2021, our first growing season since moving back home. (This one isn’t in this year’s presale yet, but it will be some day!)
Fast forward a few years, and I’m remembering when my parents took me to an Iris farm in Michigan one early summer weekend to walk the fields. I was totally enamored. I brought with me a magazine article that listed the “Top 30 Iris to Grow,” and I was on the hunt. In both the magazine article and that summer day, it was the field of Iris that captivated my heart and imagination. I was maybe 10-12 years old around this point?
A few years later, I had just started high school and my dad was running and owning a business specializing in recycling technology and equipment. The business had purchased four acres of land for a new machine shop and production building, but they only needed two acres right away. My dad helped me start a micro-nursery behind his shop, going so far as to ask the city to dump piles of leaves in the fall to use as mulch. Sixty dump trucks later, I was stocked for life.
At the time, all I knew I wanted to do was grow more plants and share them. I hadn’t thought about how or where to market them. I wasn’t thinking about tools and supplies and systems and scale and staffing. I wasn’t thinking about harvest, storage, and handling. I certainly wasn’t thinking about curation (I used to think every plant was good and every plant needed to be shared - not true).
I planted a few rows out in that field, but they were never dug and never shared. The site has now been re-consumed by a succession forest that’s older than I care to admit, but there were a few years where you could see rows of cheerful yellow Iris dancing among the tall weeds.
Iris were mostly out of my life for the next several years with one notable exception. Through my role as Director of the Allen Centennial Garden at UW-Madison, I connected with George Bacon, an Iris grower and owner of Breezeway Iris Farm, just outside Madison, Wisconsin where we lived before moving back home to South Bend. I was never able to make it to his field during bloom season, but I could feel the magic even when they weren’t in bloom. I was completely captivated, and that memory has stuck with me.
Shortly after we moved into our South Bend home, I set to work tearing up the yard and creating the garden. One of my first purchases that year was a small batch of Iris varieties from George.
They arrived later that summer and were hastily planted in the temporary space above. After two moves in the span of a few months, they hardly bloomed the next spring. Then came the 2023 growing season.
I was… not expecting to feel things, I think? When the Iris were in bloom, I practically lived outside. (I have a lot of photos on my camera roll to prove it.) I realized I was rediscovering my love for this plant, and something was brewing…
At one point, I remember thinking, “Gosh, I’d love to “retire” and become an eccentric Iris farmer, maybe by the time I’m 50?” That lasted for a few days until I realized… why wait?!
I spent the second half of 2023 diving back in, and I snuck in a late order from George that arrived that summer. I was also starting to find and follow other growers and enthusiasts. I was watching garden and farm tours on YouTube late at night. I set alarms and calendar reminders for when other farms were opening their online shops for the season. (Guys, this isn’t like me, I don’t know who this person is!) I also bought and read the pre-eminent guide to growing Iris, authored by my dear friend Kelly Norris (who also will be visiting us in South Bend this spring - stay tuned!)
In early 2024, I created my first Iris ID guide to help me keep track of what was growing. It was the most analog creative process, and my brain loved it. (“Do more of this,” it kept saying.)
Kiko and Monty helped, too. (A little)
By April of 2024, I had expanded the collection from 48 cultivars to 150+. They all arrived last summer and found a temporary home in our garden, the start of an evaluation and trial period.
Every one got a label (a must!) and just a few weeks ago, I updated the ID guide again (this time alphabetized!) with the new arrivals. The guide is meant to help in the case a label should go amiss.
What is this all growing to? What’s the ultimate goal?
One day, probably a few years from now, you can look forward to another note from me: this time, an invitation to visit the first year an Iris field is in full bloom inside a “vacant” city lot in a South Bend neighborhood. It’s taken four growing seasons to reach this point, and it will likely take a few more to make this next dream a reality. This is happening slowly, one season and rhizome at a time.
Ultimately, I think this continues to be about growing something beautiful with the intention of sharing it, and I’ve discovered there is immense power and potential in that mindset. I hope by sharing these plants today, in the depths and doldrums of grey and cold winter days, we can all have one more thing to look forward to.
I also think it’s a testament to doing big things one small step at a time. If you had told me way back in 2021 when I was frantically digging up our backyard that this is where it would end up (a city-based Bearded Iris farm), I probably would have said something like, “Well, that tracks.”
Change takes time. It takes effort (usually more than we expect), intention, and focus. I’ve been letting the plants lead me wherever this is going, and let me tell you - when you’ve been a leader for so long, there’s something refreshing and energizing about being led for a change.
One thing I know for sure is that I feel more like “an eccentric Iris farmer” than I ever have. So I’m just gonna keep following this path and this joy, wherever it takes me.
I’m starting with releasing nine varieties this year. I finally have enough to share. I’ve grown them long enough to know they’re solid, and I can’t wait to see them blooming in your gardens around South Bend (or beyond?!) in years to come. I may have a few more to release later this spring, but it’s likely this will be the bulk of our 2025 drop, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. (Until next year!)
Iris are some of the easiest and most rewarding outdoor plants to grow. They’re durable and reliable perennials that thrive on neglect and only get better with time. They’re a perfect plant for beginners. Give them plenty of sunshine, keep them away from standing water, and you’ll be rewarded with years of colorful, fragrant, prolific flowers on the cusp of summer.
Oh! Super important. The best time to dig and move Iris is during their summer dormancy period in July and August, so if you place a preorder today, the first day you’ll be able to pick it up is this year’s Plant Pride event, Saturday, July 19. This ensures the optimal health and success of the plants and is an industry standard.
And yes. Iris are eligible for shipping.
If you want to follow along on my growing journey and garden adventures, you can follow my personal Instagram account. Iris won’t be the last plant we share like this in the years ahead.
Happy gardening, plant lovers. Thanks for supporting us on this wild ride.
It takes a village, and I remain grateful you’re ours.
With Gratitude,
Ben Futa | Botany Founder & CEO
