"toxic" is a somewhat "relative" term......borers eat the leaves and rhizomes....grasshoppers eat the leaves....bees eat the nectar and the pollen......in 'olden days", different parts of the iris were used as medicines or cosmetics. I'm sure if the bees can make honey from the nectar, man can make 'booze" from it, as well. I'm sure the petals would make wine. Since I'm not a wine drinker....that would seem a real waste of a bloom, to me
. I think that deer find the foliage "un-savory" to their taste, but I don't think it would 'hurt' them.
