82 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



tions as to the various sorts of Irises that seem especially 

 adapted for use in the herbaceous border. 



In the first place, it is not easy to find many plants that 

 make a better permanent edging than some of the dwarf 

 early-flowering bearded Irises. For mere floriferousness, 

 the true /. pumila in its endless colour varieties can hardly 

 be surpassed. When in flower, the whole plant is not 

 more than 6 inches high, and the flowers ought to be so 

 closely packed as almost to obscure the leaves. It is usually 

 at its best by about the middle of April, and if there is any 

 drawback to the employment of this particular species as an 

 edging, it is that it loses its leaves almost entirely in late 

 autumn and winter. On the other hand, the extraordinary 

 range of colour to be found in the flowers is distinctly in 

 its favour. They may be white, pale blue, yellow, yellow 

 with a mahogany blotch, pale purple, or even a deep and 

 rich velvety black-purple. 



It is difficult to give any reason for the undoubted fact 

 that to some people a far greater appeal is made by wild 

 species than by mere florists' varieties, however huge and 

 gorgeous the latter may be. There appears to be some 

 indefinable quality in the flowers of the wild types, and 

 possibly also in those of first crosses between them, that is 

 altogether lost in plants whose parents and ancestors have 

 been hybrids for two or three generations. Those who 

 have this feeling will prefer the true I. pumila to the 

 mongrels that are usually grown under this name, and which 

 appear in endless numbers in every catalogue. Almost 

 without exception they are forms or varieties of /. chamcziris, 

 which is easily distinguished from the real pumila by the 

 shorter tube, the shorter, broader, and less scarious spathes, 



