Product Overview
Iris virginica 'Contraband Girl' (Southern Blue Flag Iris selection)
Contraband Girl is a large, robust Southern Blue Flag Iris, growing large even for a Southern Blue Flag. The attractive spring flowers are violet blue. An excellent choice for naturalizing along stream beds, natural pond shorelines, and marshy areas. Native to the SE United States, Southern Blue Flag Iris is very easy to grow, winters over easily and performs well in moist soil to standing water. Tony Avent of Plant Delights thinks Contraband Girl is probably a tetraploid (extra chromosomes), which in plants tends to create a more robust, larger and thicker plant. Great for larger water features!
Hardiness Zone: 5-10
Planting Container: We recommend a 10" x 6" fabric pot to grow a regular sized plant, or a 12.5" x 7" or 15" x 6" fabric pot to grow a specimen sized plant. Click on any fabric pot link to read about why fabric pots work better than hard plastic pots!
Light Requirements: full sun to part shade
Height: 30-48" - Spread: 12-24"
Water Depth: Moist to water depth of 6" (Maximum water depth is for mature plants)
FERTILIZING: For best health and growth, we recommend fertilizing regularly (unless using the plants in a plant filtration system!). Use Pondtabbs 20 count, 60 count, or 300 count for fast release, or Aquascape 6 count or 12 count capsules for slow release (once a year) fertilizing. Aquascape is preferred for low maintenance, but Pondtabbs are useful in Spring when Aquascape is slow to start in low temperatures. Pondtabbs are also useful for a quick extra nutrient push for extra bloom, and for mid-summer fertilizing of a new plant (we don't recommend using slow release fertilizer in mid-summer or later in cold climates, as plants should run out of fertilizer at the end of the year to encourage dormancy in cold climates).
Plants are shipped bare root or in starter pots, and will require planting upon arrival. For in depth planting and care instructions visit our Planting and Care Instructions for Shallow Water and Bog Plants.
For information on using plants for pond filtration, please read our blog on this topic!
