Icons of the early summer garden, bearded iris are easy to grow and richly diverse. Give them full sun and average to well-drained soil and they’ll reward you for close to forever. We’ll send you 3 of our favorite heirlooms, all different, labeled, freshly dug, and great for zones 4-8aSouth/9WestCoast.

For 2, 3, or more of each, order additional samplers.

“‘I smell ripe grapes!’ cried a freckle-faced boy” in Ella McKinney’s 1927 Iris in the Little Garden — but it was actually this richly fragrant iris he smelled. It’s richly colored, too, a pure, deep, glowing rose that drew me like a beacon when I first saw it at our local Farmers Market many years ago. Just 24-26 inches tall, zones 3-8aS/10WC, from our Ann Arbor micro-farms. Chart to compare.

Short, early, and REBLOOMING, ‘Eleanor’ flowers at the very dawn of iris season and then again in the fall in warmer gardens. It’s an intensely deep reddish-purple with a fascinating iridescent sheen. Named for the First Lady who became one of the most admired people of the 20th century, this special iris deserves your vote! Just 20 inches tall, zones 3-8aS/10WC, Ann Arbor. Chart to compare.

Lauren Springer in Passionate Gardening tells of collecting a bit of this incredibly tough, moonlight yellow iris from “two shimmering clumps” at an abandoned homesite in Wyoming, way out in the middle of nowhere. “Perhaps someday,” she muses, “it will be all that remains of my house and garden.” (See a triumphant swath of it gone wild in Kansas.) Lemon fragrance, 30”, zones 3-8aS/10WC, Ann Arbor. Chart to compare.

If I could grow only one iris, this might be it. Its color is a pale, luminous pewter — unique and ravishing. Its falls are long, like the ears of a basset hound. Its blooms kick off iris season. And its history is deep. Although modern scholars say it’s not the I. florentina or “white iris” of ancient times — now I. albicans — since at least the 1500s its rhizomes have been dried and sold as orris-root, a prized ingredient in herbal medicines and perfumery. Zones 3-8aS/10WC, from Ann Arbor. Chart to compare.

This iconic flower could be called the original bearded iris. Fragrant and tough, it was grown in ancient Rome, carried east on the Silk Road, and by 1629 was so widely planted in England that Parkinson called it “the common purple flower-de-luce.” It’s also the iris immortalized by Van Gogh in his masterpiece Irises which sold in 1987 for a record-setting $54 million. 30-36”, zones 3-8aS/10WC, from Ann Arbor. Chart to compare.

There’s a lot more to this iris than a great name. It’s Canadian-bred, so you know it’s tough, its stems are tall and sturdy, and its profuse, handsome flowers seem to reflect the summer sky. Winner of the Dykes Medal, it was “unquestionably the finest of all blue iris” for decades (Wayside, 1954). With a fragrance that’s been compared to magnolias, 36-40”, zones 3-8aS/10WC, from Ann Arbor. Chart to compare.

This pixie queen is an “exquisite shade of lilac-pink, almost old rose” (The Garden Magazine, 1917), but what really sets it apart is the rich tapestry of deeper rose that ornaments its falls. Plant it where you can enjoy that exquisite detailing up close, or pick lots of bouquets! Fragrant, 24-26”, zones 3-8aS/10WC, from Ann Arbor. Chart to compare.

This tough little charmer, carried across the country by the pioneers, flourishes today in thousands of old gardens, cemeteries, and abandoned homesites from Bangor to Santa Barbara. Although our photo may make it look brassy or plain, in the garden here its small, cheery flowers of chestnut and gold have won it many fans. Some experts claim that, due to a mix-up 150 years ago, its real name is ‘San Souci’, but we’re unconvinced — and whatever you call it, this is a richly historic and rewarding iris. 20-24 inches, zones 3-8aS/10WC, from our Ann Arbor micro-farms. Chart to compare.