take a break
Flowering in May and early June, the collection can be found in the walled Kitchen Garden. With their elegant form, clear colours and strong garden presence, these British-bred irises are a beautiful part of the early summer display.
Registered with Plant Heritage, the collection helps to safeguard the work of Bryan Dodsworth and provides a long-term home for his distinctive irises.
Bryan bred irises over a 50-year period from his garden at East Bridgford in Nottinghamshire. He produced more than 50,000 seedlings and registered fewer than 65 varieties, selecting only those with excellent form, strong structure, clear colour and resilience in British weather.
The National Plant Collection at Doddington currently includes 48 listed varieties, with final records still being completed.
Bryan Dodsworth (1920–2009) developed a lifelong interest in irises after regular visits to Kew Gardens, where he was drawn to their beauty, variety and colour range.
He went on to exhibit successfully at British Iris Society shows for more than 30 years and was awarded the prestigious Dykes Medal for iris hybridising 12 times.
After his death, Bryan’s son Simon worked to identify and safeguard the irises from the family garden. The collection was registered with Plant Heritage in 2016 as ‘Tall Bearded Irises Raised by Bryan Dodsworth’.
Simon later asked Doddington Hall to provide a permanent home for the National Plant Collection, creating a living record of his father’s achievements. The collection is cared for with support from the Gardens team and Antony Jarvis, whose family has cared for Doddington for generations and who has taken a long-standing interest in the Hall’s iris collections.
Bryan Dodsworth’s irises are known for their elegant shape, strong stems and clear, clean colours. Many are single-coloured, known as ‘selfs’, or shades of the same colour, known as ‘bi-tones’.
He also selected plants that could withstand wind and rain, making them well suited to British gardens.
Planted in blocks along the west wall of the walled Kitchen Garden, the new 60-yard iris border has been designed to show the breadth of the collection while allowing space to appreciate each variety from different angles.
The planting brings together cool whites and blues, soft pinks, lilacs and yellows, with stronger oranges, reds and magentas adding depth and contrast.
"Bearded iris flowers are held high in the air and their translucence makes them particularly beautiful in the late afternoon light. They provide a surprisingly long show when well-grown, producing the full number of flowers per stem, and out of season, the foliage makes for attractive groundcover."
The National Plant Collection at Doddington currently includes 48 listed varieties, with one or two more still to be confirmed.
Many of the varieties pictured below are available to purchase from the English Iris Company website. Following a recent nursery move, some stock levels are currently low and a number of varieties may be unavailable.
Over the next few years, the English Iris Company hopes to broaden the range available, including some varieties from the Doddington collection that are not currently listed for sale.
Irises from the National Plant Collection are not currently available to purchase onsite at Doddington. Please visit the English Iris Company website to buy a selection of irises for the opportunity to grow and enjoy some of these distinctive British-bred varieties at home.
For plant sales enquiries, please contact: info@englishiriscompany.com
The National Plant Collection of Tall Bearded Irises can be seen in the Kitchen Garden at Doddington Hall and usually flowers from May to early June. You can also enjoy Doddington’s long-established iris display in the West Garden during the flowering season.
Flowering times vary depending on the weather, so please check our social media channels for the latest updates before visiting.
The Gardens are open from spring to autumn, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am–4pm, with daily opening during the Sculpture Exhibition and in October. Admission applies and Gardens only tickets are available on arrival at the Gatehouse.
Plant Heritage is the charity behind the National Plant Collections, which help to conserve cultivated plants for future generations. The National Plant Collection at Doddington helps safeguard the work of Bryan Dodsworth and celebrates one of Britain’s most distinctive iris breeders.
For more details about Bryan Dodsworth, the history of the National Plant Collection and the new iris border at Doddington, read Simon Dodsworth’s articles on the English Iris Company website: