84 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



As a margin to the grouping we have the choice of several 

 species, each in variety, some of them commencing to bloom in 

 April, even before frost has entirely left us, as in Iris pumila. 

 This, as the name implies, is dwarf, attains a height of only eight 

 or ten inches, yet flowers with equal profusion to those that suc- 

 ceed it. In color its varieties are white, pale yellow, violet, 

 purple, and the most exquisite of all the sky blue form named 

 coerulea. 



Iris Olbiensis is the type of a similar dwarf group, its best 

 varieties being grandiflora^ deep violet purple; pallida, creamy 

 white, s»7^j>A»rea grandifiora, yeWow, and Socrates, rich purple. 

 Iris Chamaeiris is another dwarf group embracing nearly a dozen 

 varieties in shades of yellow, blue, and purple. These are all 

 plentiful and cheap and unquestionably hardy as they come from 

 the Crimean country. Next in succession come the tall bearded 

 flag irises. Of these there are hundreds of varieties in cultivation, 

 as variable as thej^ are pretty, so there is no dearth of choice. 

 They have been classified into grouj^s and of these the Germanica 

 group flowers first in May. The common blue needs no special 

 mention but besides it there is a white form and atropurpiirea, 

 deep purple, macrantha, a giant deep blue-flowered species and 

 Purple King. In June the whole family of bearded irises is 

 with us forming six distinct groups and every group replete with 

 handsome varieties. Taking first the Amoena section ; in this the 

 standards or upright petals are white, but the falls or drooping 

 petals vary from white to purple, according to kind. A selection 

 must begin with Victorine, an old but stiU one of the most chann- 

 ing varieties, Mrs. H. Darwin, and Thorbeck, with a dozen more 

 in existence to amplify the group if space permits. The Pallida 

 section offers some of extreme beauty, in fact it is doubtful if 

 among the hundreds of bearded irises there is one quite as beauti- 

 ful as 2><^dlida Dabnatica, its flowers of great size, of a deep clear 

 lavender color, and with a delicious perfume. It should be planted 

 in big bold masses. Celeste is a pretty azure blue, and Queen of 

 May is in a class by itself, so distinct from every other kind, with 

 flowers of a rosy-mauve color, jjrobably as near pink as is obtaina- 

 ble in this type of iris. This is a select tiio from a class of at 

 least two dozen. 



