About The English Iris Company

Our Iris Offer
Discover our range of Exclusive British Bearded Irises.

Our Irises
We are an Independent British Iris Specialist, we grow and breed all our iris plants in UK. As a result you can be confident that our Exclusive British Bearded Irises suit the British weather.

Our History

Bryan Dodsworth

My father spends nearly fifty years developing an extraordinary collection of Exclusive British Bearded Irises. Between 1975 -2002 he exhibits at British Iris society Shows. His achievements are recognised with the award of twelve British Dykes Medals (the Premier Award for Iris Hybridisers).

Barry Emmerson
Former British Iris Society President and leading British Iris Hybridiser works my father for nearly twenty years. He continues to provide invaluable advice. This collaboration results in the formation of the English Iris Company in 2013.

Simon Dodsworth
Continues to grow his father's irises and moves the Collection from the Nottinghamshire garden to Norfolk. He runs the English Iris Company and starts his own hybridising programme. These Exclusive British Bearded Irises are exhibited for the first time time at RHS Shows (Chelsea in 2015, Chatsworth in 2017 and Hampton Court in 2018).

National Collection

2016 Plant Heritage grant our irises the status of a  National Collection: ‘Tall Bearded Irises Raised by Bryan Dodsworth'. The Collection contains over thirty registered varieties.

Collections at High Profile Gardens

Collections of these Exclusive British Bearded Irises can be viewed at Doddington near Lincoln, Newnham College in Cambridge and at The Old Vicarage Garden in East Ruston, Norfolk. We continue to evaluate other high possible high profile garden sites with public access.

Our aim is to find suitable sites across the UK and ensure that my father's amazing iris legacy survives to be enjoyed by future generations.

Advice/Support
We work with customers in the UK and abroad to provide advice on planting schemes for these Exclusive British Bearded Irises.

Further Information

See for yourself in our gallery.

For more information about my father and his irises please see the following:

• BBC TV Gardeners' World Broadcast 2016
• BBC TV Gardeners' World Broadcast 1989
• Bryan Dodsworth's Irises at Doddington
• Interview with Simon Dodsworth on Radio Lincolnshire

Read a brief history of British irises and their hybridisers.

BRYAN DODSWORTH

My father, Bryan Dodsworth, is the most successful twentieth century British Hybridiser of British Bearded Irises. He is the creator of the ‘Quintessential Modern British Iris’. His iris flowers have clear clean colours carried on an elegant and perfectly branched stem. They are well-proportioned and lightly ruffled, yet strong enough to withstand the Nottinghamshire wind and rains.

These Exclusive British Bearded Irises are the perfect garden plant. They are tough, versatile and suit different planting schemes and styles.

BARRY EMMERSON

Barry is a former President of the British Iris Society. He worked closely with Bryan Dodsworth for nearly twenty years and is the bridge between the golden era of British Hybridising and the future.

He embraces modern colour patterns from the USA with Bryan Dodsworth’s perfect stem shape to produce a Modern Classic British Iris.

SIMON DODSWORTH

Simon, Bryan’s son, continues to work with Barry Emmerson.  They set up The English Iris Company in 2013 to promote British Irises.

He runs the business, exhibits at RHS Shows is continuing his father's breeding programme.