Japanese Iris ‘Dinner Plate Harlequinesque’

Harlequinesque, from the Dinner Plate series of Japanese iris, opens enormous flat blooms marbled purple and white, each flower spreading like its namesake dish above 2-foot foliage in late spring. Few iris put on this much bloom per stem.

Japanese iris love moisture during the growing season, so plant it in rain gardens, low beds, or pond edges in sun to part sun and acidic soil. Deer and rabbits leave it alone. Divide crowded clumps in fall to keep the giant blooms coming.