IRIS BORDER GARDENS 



197 



pollination of the blossoms by means of bees and other 

 insects that alight upon the fall and crawl down beneath 

 the crest, to get the nectar secreted in the base of the 

 blossom. As they thus go downward their backs are rubbed 

 first against the curious flap of the stigma, leaving upon it any 

 pollen that may have 

 been placed there during 

 a previous visit to another 

 flower. This supply of 

 pollen is immediately re- 

 plenished from the sta- 

 men with which the back 

 of the bee next comes in 

 contact. 



Every important flow- 

 ering plant has certain 

 characteristics upon 

 which its claim to human 

 regard is based. Its 

 beauty may lie in the 

 grace of its foliage, the 

 form and color of its flowers, the attractiveness of its ripened 

 fruit, or in a combination of all these features. In the Jap- 

 anese Iris the lance-like lines of leaf and stem are very dec- 

 orative, but the blossom is the thing that catches and holds 

 the eye. In the horizontal platform of the expanded petals 

 nature has given us some of the most beautiful color tints to 

 be found in all the world. Cerulean blues, royal purples, 

 brilliant yellows, and glowing whites are the favorite colors 

 in these displays, colors which in one variety may stand 

 alone, while in another they may exist in wonderful com- 



Japanese Iris. 



