160 MY GARDEN 



ditions, and from whose ranks I might draw subjects for 

 every sort of situation. 



I do not speak of the rare and difficult species and 

 varieties belonging to the Oncocyclus, Juno, and Regalia 

 groups, for these unfold their flowers only for those able 

 and willing to provide them with very special condi- 

 tions, but of the many fine Irises that may be found 

 under the heads, Pogoniris and Apogon, two at least of 

 the Evansias and some of the bulbous species, which will 

 bloom cheerfully under ordinary conditions in the open 

 garden. 



There are so many species in this great genus, and the 

 intermarriages have been so numerous and so confusing, 

 that classification has become difficult; yet very little 

 of this genealogy is necessary to us who simply wish to 

 realize in our gardens the highest decorative possibili- 

 ties of this splendid flower. 



For the purposes of the open garden the genus Iris 

 may be divided into four sections: Pogoniris or Bearded, 

 Apogon or Beardless, Evansia or Crested, and Bulbous. 

 The "beard" is a "collection of closely set hairs" on the 

 "falls" or drooping petals of the Iris flower. Irises 

 without this decoration are called beardless. The 

 "crest" is an "elevated line or ridges on the segment of 

 an Iris." 



The bearded section contains the best known and 

 most easily grown of the Irises. They possess a thick, 

 fleshy rootstock, creeping along the surface of the earth, 



