FOR THE HOME BEAUTIFUL 125 



THE IRIS FAMILY 



A MERE baby alongside the rose, the lily or the 

 peony, the iris has been in cultivation now for 

 only a matter of about three hundred years. This 

 notwithstanding that it grows wild in all parts of 

 the world. Known and commonly called the flag 

 in its wild state, this flower, the Iris, is also the 

 famed fleur-de-lis of France. 



Here is a flower that, in its modern types is 

 as showy and as beautiful as the orchid. Planted 

 in masses along the house foundations, beside 

 brook or pond, along driveways and walks or 

 grouped in an odd corner of the garden, they pre- 

 sent a remarkably graceful and beautiful display 

 during the blooming season, and the leaves are 

 beautiful at any time of the year. They are also 

 desirable for grouping in clumps to the fore of 

 plantings of massed shrubbery, and for use in the 

 hardy perennial border. 



In this article we shall mention several groups 

 or divisions of the Iris family, placing first the 

 best known type, now generally called the Liberty 

 Iris or Bearded Iris. Before the late great war 

 this class was generally termed the German Iris. 



The broad swordslike leaves of a bluish-green 

 make a good contrast in most any sort of plant- 



