130 MY GARDEN 



there are many lovely varieties. Their colours range 

 from white through blues and lavenders to darkest 

 plum and purple, while Xiphium has rather a differ- 

 ent colour scheme from white through the yellows, 

 browns, and purples to those wondrous lurid hues, 

 as of an electric storm, that we meet in the Xiphium 

 lusitanica called "Thunderbolt." There are many 

 very lovely garden forms of both the " English" and 

 " Spanish " iris, and such is their cheapness that 

 anybody can mass them without a pang in his purse. 

 They seed freely, and if you are a scientific gardener 

 and not pushed for time, you may grow them thus, 

 and perhaps be rewarded by raising a good new form 

 or two. 



Iris juncea flowers spasmodically with me, but its 

 brilliant yellow blossom in June is very welcome. 

 Another big iris belonging to the group is tingitana, 

 from Tangiers. This is a sun-lover, and likes a 

 roasting spot on the rockery. I find it a shy 

 bloomer, but such a lovely iris is worthy of patience. 

 Rather the same colour scheme as my favourite, 

 sindjarensis, marks it. Standards and style-branches 

 are a delicate lavender-blue, and the colour fades 

 on the falls to a paler tint ; a bold golden signal 

 spreads on the fall, and the pollen is also golden. 

 The style-arms are beautifully crested ; the standards 

 spring upright, and are slightly notched. 



Reticulata and its lovely varieties may be named 

 next ; but, despite the beauty of Histrio, histrioides, 

 and purpurea, there are no flowers in this group 

 more fascinating than the type. It is among horti- 



