Blackberry Lily Leaves
I’ve posted pictures of the flowers of the blackberry lily (it used to be called Belamcanda chinensis but in 2005 was renamed Iris domestica). This picture is of the leaves, which are very much like the leaves of the more familiar bearded iris. They are, if anything, even more compressed into a tight fan. I love the pattern of alternating leaves. We have a few of these now, in various places in the yard. We started with just one that we brought from our old house in a pot. Each year we scatter the seeds quite freely and a few have come up.
I recommend this plant if you want something a little different and that blooms a little later (early to mid July) than the other irises. The flowers are not large, only about and inch and a half or two inches across, but they are bright orange, speckled with red and are borne in happy profusion. The fruit are also attractive. The seeds are single seeded but they form in clusters, looking like huge blackberries, which is where the common name comes from.