Iris4u - A Family Operated Business State-side and in Europe

Iris4u  is a family-operated iris garden in Denver, Colorado. Iris Bob, as he is affectionately nicknamed, grows and sells Tall Bearded Iris varieties in the heart of the Mile High City.  A simple request from a former landscaping customer for a pink iris was the catalyst that started Bob's transformation into “Iris Bob”. In 1998, he began hybridizing and introduced his first cultivars in 2005.

For the past 30+ years, Iris4u Garden has grown hundreds of named iris varieties from a multitude of different hybridizers.  In 2021, the garden and online shop downsized to now only offer VAN LIERE Tall Bearded creations. 

The garden was established at its current location in 1994 and was about 1 ¾ acres in its original state. Since then, the garden has undergone quite a few changes. With the addition of adjoining properties, it is now close to 3 acres in size, which makes the garden all the more unique - especially at the height of our bloom season.  Iris4u Greenhouse opened in Hamburg Germany in 2009, making this family of iris growers truly international. 

As an established hybridizer for Tall Bearded Iris, Bob has approximately 10,000 seedlings under evaluation at any given time from previous years to current seedlings still in pots waiting to germinate. There are always plenty of seedlings being evaluated, selected, and reselected and cultivars being rejected and thrown onto the compost pile. The selection process involves a lot of planting, replanting, and culling to find the few varieties with that special quality or look, which exemplifies Iris4u’s motto: “Growing and Hybridizing Tall Bearded Iris for Beauty, Performance and your Pleasure.”