Iris 'Black Gamecock' (Louisiana Iris)

Iris 'Black Gamecock' is a showy, hybrid cultivar of Louisiana iris, an upright perennial wildflower native to wet and boggy areas across the southeastern United States. The 'Black Gamecock' cultivar is noted for its incredibly striking lightly fragrant blooms in shades of black-purple with yellow accents, throughout the spring and early summer. Large flowers, up to 4-6" in diameter, are produced singly among bunches of upright, grassy foliage up to 2-3' tall and wide. Deep purple blooms are also attractive to a variety of pollinators, including hummingbirds, and will add a ton of ornamental and ecological appeal, even in northern gardens, since the 'Black Gamecock' hybrid is also among the cord-hardiest Louisiana irises on the market.

Iris 'Black Gamecock' performs great in typical garden locations when provided with consistent moisture and full sun to partial shade, but will also thrive in saturated areas like creek and pond edges, wet meadows, and even when plants are fully submerged. In addition to inundation, 'Black Gamecock' iris is also tolerant of brackish water and clay soils, and these irises act as valuable food sources to pollinators, hummingbirds, and even aquatic rodents, who eat the plant's starch-rich roots; although plant parts are edible, they are usually avoided by deer.