Iris ‘Lent Williamson’ flower (27/04/2011, London)
Position: Full sun
Flowering period: Late spring to early summer
Soil: Moist, well drained
Eventual Height: 120cm
Eventual Spread: 30cm
Hardiness: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a
Family: Iridaceae
Iris ‘Lent A. Williamson’ is an evergreen herbaceous perennial with a spreading habit. It grey/ green leaves are lance shaped with entire margins and erect. Its flowers are violet and purple with a yellow beard and up to 10cm across. Its roots are rhizomes which aids its spread.
Introduced in 1918, Iris ‘Lent A. Williamson’ was created by Mr. E. B. Williamson, a banker of Bluffton, Indiana, who having discovered a particularly nice bloom in among the Iris plants, decided to cross it nearly every other variety there. He created nearly 500 different crosses until he finally produced what we now know as Lent A. Williamson when one chance cross finally produced a seed pod.
The etymological root of the binomial name Iris is from the Greek meaning ‘rainbow’, probably in reference to the many colours of their flowers. ‘Lent A. Williamson’ was in honor of E. B. Williamson’s father.
Iris ‘Lent Williamson’ (27/04/2011, London)
The landscape architect may find Iris ‘Lent A. Williamson’ is useful as an effective ground cover that requires very little moisture.
Iris ‘Lent A. Williamson’ will tolerate acid, neutral or alkaline pH levels.
Ecologically, Iris ‘Lent A. Williamson’ will attract pollinating insects such as bees that will feed on its nectar.
Iris ‘Lent A. Williamson’ requires little to no care. Large clumps may be divided every three to four years.
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I have an iris from my grandmother that looks very ;much like this one; I was told its name was “Helen Callaway” by an iris maven. Are they identical? This certainly looks like my iris. We also have a smaller iris with yellow standards and browinish red falls; we in the family called it the “root beer” iris. Any ideas on what this could be?
Helen Levy
I have not heard of Iris ‘Helen Callaway’, I did a quick search on Google and con not find this cultivar. That is not to say it does not exist. Regarding your yellow, brown and red Iris, I would not like to comment as I am not an Iris expert, there are a lot of cultivars. Maybe approach a nursery which specializes in Irises, they may be able to help.