Plant in cool, moist soil in filtered shade inland, morning sun along the coast. It is cold hardy to about 20° F and can be moved indoors to protect from frost in cooler climates. Snails seem to like this plant, so protection is required to maintain the attractive foliage. It is a great plant that not only persists in the garden but increases to form large stands.

Iris 'Nada' was hybridized by renowned southern California nurseryman Jimmy (James N.) Giridlian at his Oakhurst Nursery who registered it with the American Iris Society in 1936, listing it as a cross between Iris japonica and Iris wattii and naming it after his wife, Nada Banks Howes Giridlian. In an announcement about the introduction of Iris 'Nada' Giridlian helped us all out by noting that his wife's name was pronounced "Nay-da", but ultimately most now unfortunately refer to it like the Spanish word for nothing, as "nada". It was given the American Iris Society Honorable Mention in 1939 and received their Award of Merit in 1941.

While it is sometimes labeled as a selection of Iris japonica, Giridlian wrote about the parentage in his 1949 article titled "Iris japonica and its Hybrids" in the American Iris Society Bulletin (N. 113) and there he listed the seed parent as "Iris watti (confusa)" indicating he thought of these two species names synonymous. More recently it has been stated that 'Nada' is actually the result of crossing Iris japonica with Iris confusa and it seems that this is the valid name of the pollen parent since it is not now considered a synonym of Iris wattii. Iris confusa is another of the so-called Crested Iris in the section called Lophiris within the beardless iris group (Limniris) that includes Iris cristata, Iris gracilipes, Iris japonica, Iris wattii, Iris tectorum. Like Iris watii, Iris confusa has the common name Bamboo Iris.

When the English Joseph Robert Sealy described Iris confusa in The Gardeners' Chronicle (N. 413 Dec. 1937) he compared it to Iris wattii, stating that "Its [I. confusa] habit is quite different from that of all the other species except I. wattii, but the latter differs so greatly in size and colour of its flowers, in its larger spathe-valves and bracts, and in its leaves on the inflorescence, that I. confusa can readily be distinguished from it". He also noted that he chose the specific epithet "confusa" because of the confusion surrounding plants identified as Iris wattii, Iris milesii and Iris japonica. The Latin specific epithet comes from the Latin 'confusus' meaning "uncertain", "easily mistaken" and "to mingle" and the name Iris confusa was only fully accepted in 2004. This species, sometimes called the Ducloux Iris was first grown by the English amateur botanist William Rickatson Dykes who received seed in 1911 from Pere Ducloux, a French missionary who had found specimens of the iris in Yunnan. Dykes compared the plants he grew in 1915 with specimens in the Kew Gardens Herbarium and noted the similarity to Iris wattii, but it remained unnamed until Sealy described it in 1937, a year after Giridlian had introduced his hybrid that presumably had this plant as the pollen parent.

That Iris 'Nada' has become a garden favorite can be attested by its mention in Victoria Padilla's book Southern California Gardens (1961) where she writes "One of his [Giridlian] earliest introductions was an iris cross that he called 'Nada' which, because of its evergreen foliage and dainty orchid like quality of its numerous flowers, has become one of the most popular iris of its kind in California and in the southern states." We have sold this plant ever since first receiving it in 1988 from Daryll Combs of Daryll's Exotic Plants in Carpinteria, California but we sold it from 1990 until 1996 as Iris japonica. Though this plant propagates well from division, we were never able to keep up with demand until contracting Shady Oaks Nursery in Waseca, Minnesota to multiply it for us in their micro propagation (tissue culture) laboratory in 2006 and since that time we have had this wonderful plant in abundance to sell. 

This information about Iris 'Nada' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.