184 



GARDEN FLOWERS. 



GERMAN IRIS. 



(|RIS GEHMANICA.) 



inclined to think the double flower essentially a monstrosity. 



Strong plants of hollyhocks will only bloom the second 

 year after planting. 



The irises are perhaps the most 

 beautiful of the flowers of summer. Of 

 those that flower in summer the German 

 iris should be named first, being first 

 in order of bloom. The ordinary form 

 has violet-blue, very large flowers, but 

 by hybridization fine varieties with a 

 great range of beautiful combinations 

 of color have been secured. The blue 

 changes into purple and bronze and 

 rose and yellow and white. Some of 

 these varieties grow three feet high 



and have flowers four inches across. The gem of all the 



irises, however, is Iris Kcempferi from Japan, growing 



three to four feet high. The flower 



is like some great orchid of the quaint- 

 est form and differs from any of the 



ordinary kinds of iris, being specially 



broad and flat. These flowers are 



both single and double and display 



the greatest variety of color from the 



purest white to the darkest shades of 



royal purple, through pinks and blues, 



with gold and other markings. The 



introduction of many of the finest 



of these kinds from Japan we owe to Mr. Thomas Hogg. 

 Of no less value than the summer-blooming irises are the 



LILIUM AURATUM. 



