THE IRIS 163 



much the better will be your results. The oncocyclus 

 group should have the ground simply hammered 

 round them if they are to succeed in any degree 

 at all. 



I am badly off for the two-flowered bearded race, 

 and, in addition to lutescens, possess only arenaria, 

 atroviolacea and flavissima. Perhaps it is as well that 

 I have no more, for none of these prosper with me 

 except the splendid scented atroviolacea, and the 

 pall of silence may envelop the rest. The entire 

 group must be tackled again in a humbler spirit. 



From these inexcusable failures I turn to another 

 great company of bearded irises, and with the Ger- 

 manicae strive to gain my self-respect. Of them I 

 have good store. The familiar germanica proper 

 may be first dismissed with a smile, and its richer 

 and grander variety, asiatica, with a blessing. This 

 latter plant is a noble, free-flowering iris, well worthy 

 of a good place. Perhaps the rarest in cultivation 

 is Bartoni, for which I have to thank Mr. Lynch of 

 Cambridge. It is a pale yellow, mottled with pale 

 purple, after the fashion of lutescens ; and a special 

 feature are the pure white triple stars of the style- 

 branches in the heart of the flower. This flag, which 

 comes from Kandahar, is beautiful and fragrant. 

 Iris flavescens of this group is a fine lemon or 

 butter colour, and a kindly, free - flowering plant. 

 Just a touch of brown about the claw of the fall 

 spoils the perfect purity of my plants, but this is 

 scarcely to be noticed. Flavescens and germanica 

 sometimes come together and make a grand contrast. 



