50 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



Their scent is delightful, and the colour is of various shades 

 of lilac, purple, or even white. In all cases there is a central 

 band of yellow or orange extending on to the blade. 



Many seedling varieties and local forms of this Iris are 

 known, and it is a curious fact that those forms that flower 

 earliest usually have foliage long enough to shelter the 

 flowers, while the late-flowering varieties throw up the 

 blooms above the foliage. 



Among the late-flowering forms there is a variety with 

 blooms of a dark reddish-purple called " speciosa," and 

 various dwarf forms from the shores and islands of the 

 Greek Archipelago. The easternmost form is again more 

 luxuriant and has much broader foliage than the Greek 

 plants. It comes from Lazistan, on the coast of the Black 

 Sea at the south-eastern corner, and is known either as 

 lazica or pontica. 



The flowering season of these various forms extends 

 from November until about the end of April, and the number 

 of flowers thrown up by a well-established clump in a warm, 

 sheltered position is quite amazing. If the roots are dis- 

 turbed at the proper season, either in April or early in 

 September, it seems to do no harm, but it is usually not 

 advisable to break up a clump too much. A wet clay soil 

 does not suit these Irises in England, even though in Greece 

 they prosper in the stiffest clay. The heat of our summers 

 is usually insufficient to penetrate far into the soil unless 

 this is light and porous, and heavy soils should therefore 

 be lightened by a liberal admixture of mortar rubble before 

 planting I. unguicularis. 



About the time that the last forms of this Iris go out 

 of flower, there appear the buds of a little-known species, 





