THE IRIS 159 



are few things that are impossible." There is thus 

 a field unconquered, and we may yet see an iris with 

 the grand fruit of our native and a great bloom as 

 well. Not that fcetidissima is ugly to the iris-loving 

 eye. The colours are quiet, but the bloom is very 

 shapely. A yellow variety occurs in Dorsetshire. 



I continue to experiment with the grand family of 

 laevigata, or Kaempferi, and am not yet absolutely 

 satisfied as to the best place for them. There are 

 dozens of desirable forms, and I wish I had an 

 acre of them. Good bog earth, but not absolute 

 marsh, may be the best treatment. On the other 

 hand, I understand that laevigata thrives nobly in 

 a foot of water. 



Iris aurea, for some obscure reason, is a shy 

 flowerer with me, but his kinsman, Monnieri, does 

 well, and opens grand bright yellow blooms in June. 

 The hybrid "Monspur" a child of Monnieri and 

 spuria I also have ; but the plants are young, and 

 I must look in other gardens for this showy iris 

 until next year. Spuria is not a beauty, but the 

 apogon, Delavayi, should win some enthusiasm, and 

 is still rare in cultivation. I have had the good luck 

 to flower it, treated like laevigata, and can report a 

 very beautiful, rich violet iris with the habit of sibi- 

 rica but a much larger bloom. The whole plant is 

 one colour, but on the lip of the fall occurs a spatter 

 of pure white running under the style-branches. 

 The fall is very long and gracefully shaped, the 

 standards are narrow and nearly upright. Delavayi 

 stands on a hollow three-foot stem, and comes from 



