78 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



Irises from California, which, if they were better known, 

 would certainly be found in nearly every rock garden, 

 except, perhaps, in those where the whole of the soil is 

 highly charged with calcareous matter. For lime-haters 

 they undoubtedly are, though in light, sandy soil they thrive 

 amazingly, and most of them have, moreover, the excellent 

 quality of remaining more or less evergreen throughout the 

 winter. No one who has seen the crimson-veined, ochre- 

 yellow flower of /. bracteata or the brilliant silver and claret 

 of /. tenax will willingly be without them. /. Douglasiana, 

 too, of which no two plants seem to produce flowers of 

 identically the same shade of colour, is scarcely too vigorous 

 for a large sunny corner. Not one of these Irises seems to 

 appear at shows in good form, because few nurserymen 

 grow them. As a matter of fact, transplanted roots are 

 seldom a success, and the best plan is to beg seeds from 

 gardening friends, who, if they grow these Irises at all, will 

 probably have plenty to spare, for all seed freely. Those 

 who are eager to have their plants sooner in flower than the 

 two years that seedlings demand, may try their luck with 

 pieces taken off, while growth is active, and if the root 

 fibres are preserved undamaged and not allowed to dry up 

 and wither, their efforts may meet with success. Some 

 gardeners seem to have the knack of being able to transplant 

 anything at any time. It can only be done when the 

 gardener has a kind of intuitive knowledge of the habits of 

 the plant, and prefers to act by the light of nature rather 

 than to follow out blindly and unintelligently the letter of 

 the instructions given by the owner of some other garden 

 where conditions are slightly different. 



Perhaps the most amazing of all rock-garden Irises is 



