Iris Club of Southeast Michigan

01/08/2026

06/06/2021

For those who love irises, now is a great time to visit the Iris Club gardens at the Detroit Zoo. There are still lots of tall bearded irises in bloom. Additionally, there are Siberian irises blooming, too. While spuria irises are not yet flowering, there are lots of bloom stalks and some are starting to show color in the buds. So schedule a visit to the Detroit Zoo and be sure to check out the irises while you're there. Please let us know which irises are your favorites, too!

05/05/2021

It has been a trying time for all walks of life. It has been very difficult and, at times, impossible for our members to tend our gardens within the Detroit Zoo over the last year. This past weekend, our club members were fortunate to meet in our gardens for the first time in a very long time. (along with a wandering peacock)

We were thrilled to see 2 beardless iris in bloom! If you're able to visit the zoo soon, you might spot these diminutive beauties in the back of our garden, close to the wall behind the tree kangaroo habitat.

We are grateful to have access to this space again. Please know that when we were there, the grass between our beds had not been mowed yet, so please watch your step. With so much time between us and our garden it is in need of some tlc. That process has begun. We look forward to a good bloom season and hope that you will come find the garden as the iris continue to open!

The near white variety is 'Ice Whisper' (Perkins, 2013) and the violet is 'Edgar Anderson' (Pries, 2010).

08/26/2019

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the club's iris sale this past Saturday! It was fun chatting with gardeners who love irises just as much as we do. For those new to growing irises (or those wanting a refresher), please see the following web sites for information on growing irises:

http://www.irises.org/gardeners/cultural-information/

http://www.irises.org/gardeners/care-classification/care/

Irises are among the easiest of perennials to grow, and they give an abundance of beauty with minimum care. The iris has a thick fleshy root called a “rhizome” (pronounced rye-zome) about like a tough potato in texture. When you buy a new iris, you will probably receive a rhizome with clipped ro...

06/09/2019

For those interested, the irises at the Detroit Zoo are at peak. The beds maintained by the Iris Club of Southeast Michigan are located behind the *Tree Kangaroo Exhibit*. You will see many tall bearded irises in bloom along with Siberian irises.

05/04/2019

We had some extra volunteer help at this morning's Zoo Care Social. You never know who will show up when you garden in a zoo.

There's loads of lush new growth coming up. So far it's looking like a good year for our public garden.

08/06/2018

Regrettably, the Iris Club of Southeast Michigan will not be having an iris sale this year. Late last fall we were required to move our iris gardens to a new location within the Detroit Zoo. So we are giving the plants another year to recover and increase. Thank you to everyone who messaged to inquire. We expect our iris sale to return to the Royal Oak Farmer's Market in August 2019.

08/25/2017

Hope to see everyone at the Iris Club's Zoo Care Social! 😎

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08/24/2017

A blog about the iris world for all iris lovers.