Diane Whitehead in British Columbia asked, >Is there some reason the Dutch iris wouldn't persist? Dutch irises are hybrids of various species from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. I have not found that they persist here in Oregon either. I can plant them in fall if the winter is a warm one, like last year, but they don't survive a cold winter. I believe they are often sold as spring-planted bulbs, too. This suggests that our Pacific Northwest winters are too cold for them. However, as Diane notes, they are cheap, so I usually buy some and gamble on a warm winter, because they fill in nicely between the daffodils and tulips. I have some of the wild species ancestral to the Dutch irises in my bulb frame, where they do well. I don't know if Iris latifolia, the so-called English iris, which is really from Spain, is involved in the ancestry of Dutch irises. I find it a good perennial here, flowering in late June. There are several named clones available. The color range is limited to white through violet. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon