Thank you, Ozark Hillbilly, for the much-needed mood (and screen) brighteners!
My favorite flowers.
Except for peonies and crocuses and bluebells and columbine and spring beauties and ladyslippers and and and….
Every color except true red (and I’ve seen some magenta iris that came very close).
Some varieties can be fussy (I’ve had no luck with the Japanese iris varieties, probably because I’m not careful about watering). But many lovely species, once established, are overwintered-in-a-grow-bag, under-a-shade-tree, dumped-on-the-compost-pile unkillable!
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What’s going on in your garden (memories / planning / indoor), this week?
Baud
Pretty!
mrmoshpotato
Crocuses!
Spanky
We’ve got about 2″ of daffodil tips showing along the south side of the house. They’re always the early risers.
Nelle
A poem I wrote a few decades ago. My mother was a gentle and most kind woman of belief, the most unhypocritical Christian I’ve met. Not a Christianist at all.
The Fugue of Irises
Before the baritone intonation of theology, the suit and tie
promenade to the pulpit, the trodding back and forth
for the offering of money earned by our fathers,
my mother brought irises to God.
Before the bulletins were folded and handed out
by boutonniered ushers, my mother would walk up
the aisle of the blond sanctuary, scarcely shifting
the silence of the week, her view of the altar blurred
by the stalks and blossoms she carried.
I leaned to count and sort in her garden,
mesmerized by the fugue of irises, the purple
and white, the purple and yellow, the purple alone,
the Dutch, the Japanese, the ruffled, the plain,
each catching colors and playing them back
in a different key, the perfume almost audible.
When the house rang empty to cries of “Mom! Mother!”
I could find her there in the garden, sweating
in the Kansas sun. And at peace.
As the kitchen filled with Sunday morning sun,
she stood at the counter with vase and scissors,
seeking the right harmony. Then she, her daughters,
her husband, and her irises formed a sort of Mennonite
procession to church (which is to say we did not acknowledge
the ceremony of our ceremonies).
My mother sighed when she stepped back from the altar,
a sigh I used to think meant completion. But it was the breath
of God through her, it was the echo of creation saying,
“It is good, it is very good,” the wedding of beauty to belief.
The words of the prayers and the preachers
have sifted themselves into a backdrop of childhood,
yet distinct on the altar is the curl and drop of petal,
the fragrance propelled by the multitude of fanning bulletins
on steamy summer mornings.
raven
Awesome dude!
debbie
Stunning! A real highlight of spring. A neighbor has some that are dusty rose; another has orange ones. ?
MagdaInBlack
My mother planted Siberian Iris around the drippy garden faucet, where they were very happy.
Can’t say it often enough, I love iris. Thank you for these.
WereBear
@Nelle: Lovely!
It’s a beautiful expression of the joy they bring us.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Nelle: That is as gorgeous as an iris
OzarkHillbilly
@Nelle: Beautiful. Thank you.
satby
@ OH: I love iris too! Hoping my new south facing flower beds put on a nice display this spring with tulips first, followed by the iris. I wish iris rhizomes were less expensive though. We should do a swap when they need to be separated ?
Charluckles
I love everything about the iris, but my favorite part might be how easy they are to share. I’ve infected more than one person with green thumb merely by leaving a box of rhizome splits by the curb.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I’ve got a couple of inherited beds that are just choked with rhizomes. Every year I say I’m gonna thin them out and every year I put it off til “next week.” And don’t send me any round tuits, I’ve already got a half dozen of them.
Nelle
@OzarkHillbilly: One year, my mother sawed off a number of small dowel rods, put them in a box with a label, and gift wrapped them for my dad for Christmas. He opened it, read the label, and laughed and laughed. The label read, “Tuits.”
Immanentize
OH! It’s snowing here, already have 3″ piled up. Quiet and oh so wintery.
But you have chased my BLECH away. Thank you.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: You’re practically begging me to come help, aren’t you? ?
satby
@Immanentize: That peaceful calm of an early snowfall on a weekend is so lovely isn’t it?
mrmoshpotato
@satby: The
calm before thestorm during the storm.OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I’m beyond help. Just ask my wife.
KSinMA
@Nelle: Beautiful poem!
Gvg
Where do ya’ll buy your iris? They are iffy this far south but I have read the rebloomers are sometimes able to thrive. I want to try a few.
Immanentize
@satby: It is. Cat tucked in. Coffee strong…. The quiet is so nice. Even the trucks passing by a few blocks away are muffled.
OzarkHillbilly
In gardening news, I’ll be starting my 2nd batch of seeds today. The first batch did well, but I lost all the nasturtiums. I didn’t pull the cover off soon enough and the humidity did not serve them well. Oh well. Try try again.
Looking at these pics has me eyeing iris breeder websites. I haven’t lifted a card from my wallet and I’ve already spent at a couple hundred dollars. By the time I order in April I’ll have winnowed it down to an amount I can handle.
I have to take a load of recyclables into STL next week, which means I will be returning with at least 2 yards of compost. I’m not at all sure my shoulder is up to the task of spreading it, but the nice thing about compost is that it doesn’t go bad.
debbie
@Immanentize:
That quiet was the best part of a snowstorm in NYC.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gvg:
Iris Meisters
Chapman Iris
eta: Also, the Historic Iris Preservation Society is a good resource. They have more breeders listed there.
SiubhanDuinne
@Nelle:
I was scrolling down the thread so I could write “Absolutely gorgeous!” about Ozark’s irises. Then I saw your poem and decided I needed to use my “Absolutely gorgeous!” for that.
Ozark will have to make do with “Magnificent!”
Nelle
My reblooming iris were a surprise as i picked up some rhizomes that were thrown out and on a debris pile.
I love stories attached to plants (well, and birds and teapots…..you get the idea). I was walking on a path in a gulley behind our neighborhood in New Zealand when a woman came walking toward me with a bucket of iris plants. I admired them; she pulled one out, and gave it to me. It was a gorgeous magenta, rust, and gold that just glowed when lit with sunlight. Every year, it reminded me of the kindness of strangers.
I’ve left behind such lovely colors in our moves. I want to get some moody pale blue dwarf ones, like i had at one place we lived.
Nelle
Thank you all for the kind comments anout the poem.
SkyBluePink
Iris are some of my all time favorite flowers- I even named a wonderful gray cat Iris. Beautiful pics!
Lovely poem, Nelle
MomSense
Gorgeous!
MomSense
@Nelle:
??
jnfr
My amaryllis has put up a second flower stalk, even taller than the first one, and it’s starting to open a second set of flowers. I didn’t know they did that, but then this is my first amaryllis.
It’s all snow outside so nothing growing yet. I got an Aerogarden recently and it came with pre-seeded herb pods. The basil is already sprouted and growing so I can pretend it’s already spring.
Gorgeous irises! Thanks so much for the pictures.
BruceFromOhio
Lovely pics! The first one with deep purple and the splash of yellow is classic iris. We split up some of the older chunkier ones to move to new garden spaces last fall, will be a couple months before we see what happens with them. Everything is currently napping quietly under a foot of snow and ice.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Iris Meisters has a nice selection and very good prices, so thanks for that link! So does Chapman’s. I’ve gotten most of mine from Schreiners; when they’re put on clearance is usually when I can afford a few. But the catalog is almost worth keeping as a coffee table book it’s so beautiful!
Kalakal
Down here in Florida I really miss spring bulbs. I’d love to walk in a bluebell wood. Some Iris do well down here, Flag, Walking for two, but bearded Irises just don’t work. Thanks for the pics
oldgold
There was a time when I actually gardened in a productive and timely manner- circa Ike’s second term.
During that time my Great-Grandmother passed. She had a magnificent bed of blue bearded iris. At the direction and very watchful eye of my Grandmother, I spaded these blue bearded iris out and using my Grandfather’s rickety old wheelbarrow transferred them a considerable distance for replanting. The entire operation took several days.
I was not paid for my labor. I complained to my Mom that this was not “fair.” She said it was fair “because your Grandmother asked you to do it.“ I was not convinced.
Now, these blue bearded iris reside in my garden, West of Eden, and each spring I enjoy these unshaven marvels. My Mom was right, it was fair.
OzarkHillbilly
It certainly is.
satby
@oldgold: What a wonderful story!
Denali
Thank you for the beautiful taste of Spring! And the poem was an additional delight!
O. Felix Culpa
@Nelle:
Beautiful poem and perfectly fits OH’s radiant flowers. I particularly love this line:
Miss Bianca
@Nelle: I like it! Poem plus pretty flower photos making me happy this morning. Thank you!
@Immanentize: Hey, you’re back!
eachother
The beauty of the iris hurts my pupils.
wombat probability cloud
Thank you for the iris pictures and the reminder that spring is coming. Here in the Michigan UP it was -14F this morning, clear blue sky, chilly Redpolls on the feeders. Our new rescue dog (a six y.o. newfie in a border collie body), who came up from Texas about a week ago, is frolicking ecstatically outside in the snow. Good times.
J R in WV
I have a big patch of bright yellow iris… I call them swamp iris because they thrive in a wet springy place above the driveway. They bloom fast from one end of the long patch to the other in just a week or so, and do well in spite of the deer eating them to the ground at least once a year. They also get into the bed to sleep and press them into the ground, but so far no harm done. The blooms last one long summer day and fade over night.
I also like spider-wort, amazing how they close up at the end of the day, and open back up when the sun hits them. Ours are all purple with gold stamen, I think they come in a variety of colors. Gone wild like all our beds.
Nancy
So lovely.
Thank you for these. As I watch the snow fall out the window, I’m glad to think of blossoms and spring and maybe more iris somewhere in the yard.
Just beautiful.
Mike in Oly
Huzzah! Irises!! My favorite flower and gardening passion. I have around 150 varieties in my collection of oldies, a third of them are from a single hybridizer – Dr. Rudolph Kleinsorge – who worked out of Silverton, OR, from 1929-1962.
@Gvg: If you are in the south go with a southern grower and ask them about irises hybridized in the South. You’ll have better luck with them. Chuck Chapman is in Canada and hybridizes for very cold hardy varieties. Not going to be a great resource for you. Maybe Winterberry in VA? I am sure Ginny Spoon there could set you up with success.
Wherever you are, it is always best to look for growers and suppliers in your own area for varieties that will do good in your climate.
For others, if you aren’t looking for the latest and greatest (usually very spendy) try Bluebird Iris Haven in CA. Mary has a fantastic collection of over 3000 historic irises (more than 30 years old) at very affordable prices. I am growing many of hers. Want the newest and best? Try Schreiner’s and Mid-America in Salem OR. A little more expensive but incredible colors and patterns in all shapes and sizes.
Spartan green
@satby: I was hoping you’d come by with that link. I could not remember how to spell it for the life of me. Thanks.
normal liberal
Can anyone identify the specific iris in the first photo? It’s so beautiful, I would like to add it to the iris varieties I have. Nothing in my flower beds will surface for awhile yet – it’s 16F here in central Illinois, with a forecast low of 8F tonight, plus it’s snowing.
Madeleine
@Nelle: Thank you for posting your lovely poem.
OH: Such beautiful irises! They bring to mind the irises at the Missouri Botanical Garden, which you must know. Miss them.
Sing truth to power
Have you tried Siberians? I have a few Japanese that have just barely hung on, and a boatload of Siberians. The Siberians have spread and self-seeded all-around my borders. I recommend Siberians. I give them no care at all, and they bloom like crazy.
Sing truth to power
Have you tried Siberians? I have a few Japanese that have just barely hung on, and a boatload of Siberians. The Siberians have spread and self-seeded all-around my borders. I recommend Siberians. I give them no care at all. And they bloom like crazy.