The Chilled Wine Siberian Iris, otherwise known as the Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ or Common Rush, Soft Rush, Corkscrew Rush, Pin Rush, Sugar Grass, Bog Rush, Mat Rush, is a somewhat well known ornamental grass plant native to the Northeast, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Pacific Northwest, and the Southwest of the United States.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this ornamental grass will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its gray-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Chilled Wine Siberian Iris Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris are the following:
- Water: The Chilled Wine Siberian Iris prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris in soil with poorly draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of loam and clay.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris belongs to the Juncaceae family, the genus Juncus and the species Effusus, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’.
As with other Juncus’s, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Chilled Wine Siberian Iris is a plant native to the W. South America, North America and Eurasia. This is why the Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ is used to growing in specific regions such as the states in Northeast, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Pacific Northwest, and the Southwest of the United States.
You might be wondering why your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 6 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ can grow up to 2′ – 4′ (60cm – 120cm) in 2′ – 4′ (60cm – 120cm) and 2′ – 4′ (60cm – 120cm) in 2′ – 4′ (60cm – 120cm).
These dimensions make the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris a relatively medium ornamental grass compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 24″ – 48″ (60cm – 120cm) free so the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average to high needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris in soil with poorly draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris prefers to have soil with moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of loam and clay.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to acid soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this ornamental grass will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
In particular, this ornamental grass is well known for its flowers for cutting and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Chilled Wine Siberian Iris produces some beautiful purple, or brown/copper and gold/yellow flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris have a beautiful gray-green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Chilled Wine Siberian Iris is well known for its tolerance to wet soil, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Iris Sibirica ‘Chilled Wine’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Chilled Wine Siberian Iris? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, and in prairie and meadow styles.
In particular, the Chilled Wine Siberian Iris’s best location within your garden is in patio and containers, and in ponds and streams, others use it for landscaping in a water garden, very wet areas, container, border, cutting garden, mass planting, or a woodland garden.
Conclusion
And we’ve come to an end. Fortunately, that’s everything you need to know about your Chilled Wine Siberian Iris to keep it safe and sound in your garden or home. Enjoy planting!
