Sometimes you see a plant so often, you take it for granted. Irises are common in older Texas Hill Country landscapes, but they tend to blend in if not blooming. This can cause people, myself included, to take them for granted. Yet irises have strong benefits for local landscapes. The German bearded iris is as drought tolerant as a native. It can fill in a location almost to the point that one could consider it a groundcover. It is not a whitetail deer’s first choice to eat and has few other pest problems. It is an ideal low maintenance plant.