HYACINTHS AND IRIS 199 



although it is interesting for each grower to determine his own policy 

 in that line. The bulbs should be taken up after the foliage dies 

 down, the rubbish removed and the bulbs stored in a cool, dry place. 



Iris. The Iris family is now becoming more popular every year 

 and should receive more attention. From year to year new varieties 

 are introduced. The colors are very numerous. They are perfectly 

 hardy; they can be cultivated in shady places where other plants will 

 not thrive; and some of them will thrive in any kind of soil and with- 

 out much attention, although they will show you that they appreciate 

 it. The English, the Spanish, the German, the Japanese and the Cali- 

 fornia iris, all of them are well worth cultivating by any one who 

 will make a study of their several needs. 



The commonest is the German iris the "sweet flag" of our grand- 

 mothers. It does grandly in California if it is helped along through 

 the dry season, which is strange to it, for it is a humid-summer affair. 

 It makes winter growth in most parts of California and flowers cor- 

 respondingly early in the spring. Too much attention is evidently 

 given to the old suggestion that the German iris should rest in the 

 California summer, as it does in the eastern and European winter, and 

 plants are allowed to get into distress during the dry season on the 

 belief that it is good for them, which we are quite sure it is not. To 

 allow the leaves to burn dry and the surface, fleshy roots to bake, not 

 only gives the plants a perishing look but injures them also. This 

 group of varieties, which range from pure white to deep purple, should 

 have a little moisture in the dry season; the roots crowding upward 

 should be lightly covered with soil or mulch, and the plants should 

 be taken up and divided at long intervals at least. Old run-out clumps, 

 which have lost force enough to bloom, will be refreshed by division 

 and replanting and the roots will soon break into bloom in the new 

 places. 



Contrasting with the broad leaves characteristic of the above 

 group are the Spanish irises, so-called, which have narrow leaves, 

 almost grass-like in aspect and not abundant, and stems so thin that 

 one is apt to wonder where such grand clusters of flowers can come 

 from. These irises entirely disappear some time after bloom, break 

 through the ground early in the rainy season and bloom in the spring 

 gorgeously, the colors running through blues and yellows to clear 

 white, and there are mottlings and stripings which are very beautiful. 

 These varieties enjoy the full sun and dislike too heavy shade. 



The Japanese irises are perhaps the most difficult to grow of the 

 lot and morA are disappointed with them. They are, however, so fine 

 that no one should be content not to try them. The flowers are very 

 large and the colors are rich and various. Perhaps some failures of 

 this group have come through too great neglect after blooming, 



