The Stunning Perennial You Should Plant In September For Colorful Spring Blooms

With winter rapidly approaching, it may feel like the right time to store your garden tools and supplies for the season. However, in doing so, you might miss out on a few eye-catching blooms for your spring garden. While there are many plants that can thrive in your spring garden when planted closer to when you expect to see them, others can survive a period of cold weather in preparation for colorful spring blooms — including this easy-to-grow perennial that can add color to your garden year after year.

An alternative to other popular types of irises, the Siberian iris (Iris sibirica) produces vibrant purple-blue flowers, although you can also choose from a variety of cultivars in other colors. While you can plant Siberian irises in the spring, fall can also be an optimal planting time to give these showy flowers a jumpstart into blooming. In all, with their eye-catching appearance, and their ability to attract pollinators, they can be a popular choice among gardeners.

However, before adding Siberian irises to your garden plan, there is one thing to keep in mind. This plant also sports a low level of toxicity upon ingestion, and contact with its sap can cause skin irritation. As a result, you may want to choose a different fall-sowing flower if you have curious children or pets that roam your garden.

Overall, Siberian irises are hardy with few significant plant problems to keep an eye on, aside from the occasional snail or slug. This makes them an easy plant for beginner gardeners to add to their garden, so long as they're knowledgeable on handling toxic plants.

One of the main things to keep in mind with these irises in their love of moisture. While they can grow with average amounts of watering, they do best when in soil that is evenly moist with little to no periods of drought. Otherwise, these plants aren't picky about soil, growing in most soil textures with good drainage and a pH ranging from acidic to neutral. As far as USDA hardiness zones go, you will get the best results with Siberian irises when planted in zones 3 through 8.

Aside from your location's hardiness zone, you'll also want to plan the perfect spot in your yard for your Siberian irises. Because they're perennials, they'll come back year after year with the right care, so you want to ensure they'll have access to their required nutrients. This includes sunlight — these plants do best in full sun or partial shade. If your iris plants aren't producing flowers, then a lack of sunlight may be the culprit. Siberian irises can also exhibit rapid growth, sometimes spreading beyond their original planting site, which is important to keep in mind when it comes to pruning and containment.