CHAPTER XIV 



The Iris Walk in May 



THE northern bank of the New River provides us with 

 a long grass path and one of the most sheltered walks in 

 the garden. For it is protected from the cold winds by 

 the row of fine old Yews I have chronicled in an earlier 

 chapter, and the southern side is bounded by the river, 

 and so is open to catch all the sunlight, and the first Daisy 

 of the season always appears close to the water's edge on 

 the slope of the bank. The long beds that flank this path 

 were at one time monopolised by a dreary collection of 

 Laurels, Laurustinus, and the other dull things that former 

 generations planted so largely and called shrubbery, but 

 they have all disappeared to make way for my principal 

 collection of Irises, especially those of the Bearded section. 

 This group suffers much at the hands of catalogue makers, 

 and members of it are often dubbed German Irises, though 

 very few of those included under the heading have any 

 affinity with /. germanica. I have seen and heard them 

 called Rhizotomous a travesty of rhizomatous and all 

 the while the pleasant title of Bearded Flags is good 

 English and faithfully descriptive. 



Three of these borders are very much overhung by 

 the old Yews, and of course the roots fill and drain them 

 very effectually, and though they lie so close to the river, 

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