At Sunshine Iris Nursery we recognise vintage or historic irises as those that were bred 30 or more years ago. But why would you choose a vintage iris over a modern one? As a whole they perform better in areas of vigour, disease resistance, heat and cold tolerance and durability. That’s how they got to be historic – they stood the test of time.
It’s important to preserve our vintage irises. They become the parents of our modern irises, often bred with more modern irises to introduce the flamboyant attributes of today’s irises, such as an abundance of ruffles.
Vintage irises can also evoke an emotional response from us as we remember the irises in our parents’ and grandparents’ gardens. How lovely to grow something that has been around for over 30 years. Or in some cases over 400 years, like ‘Swerti’, first introduced in 1612 after being collected in the wild.
If you’d like to have some vintage irises in your garden, just type ‘vintage’ into the search bar on our website, and you’ll get lots to choose from. Help us preserve some of our history and enjoy the simple beauty of the vintage iris.