A DECORATIVE IRIS 85 



The broad glaucous foliage of /. pallida, especially 

 of the Dalmatian forms, is an ornament in any border 

 long after the flowers are over ; or, if a thick mass of fine 

 deep green leaves is wanted, a place near the front might 

 be found for 7. gmminea. The flowers are never con- 

 spicuous, hiding themselves among the leaves, but their 

 scent is delicious, although here again care must be 

 exercised in obtaining the plants, for some are scentless, 

 while in others of the same batch of seedlings the fragrance 

 is most marked. 



Few Irises are more decorative or more worthy of a 

 place in any border than the best forms of 7. sibirica. 

 Once more, the form or variety is all-important, and, 

 once again, few catalogues can be relied upon. It is 

 perhaps only those who have raised 7. sibirica from seed 

 who can realise the endless variations that can be obtained. 

 The probability is that there are a certain set of factors 

 or unit characters that can be united in various combinations 

 according to Mendelian principles, but these factors have 

 not as yet been worked out for any Iris. At present, 

 all that can be said is that the Western forms of 7. sibirica 

 are much more decorative than the Eastern 7. orientalis, 

 which was described more than a century ago by Thunberg. 

 The latter is apt to hide its often magnificent flowers 

 among the foliage, but the best of the European forms 

 throw up a whole sheaf of slender stems, each surmounted 

 by about six flowers, opening in succession, and either 

 blue or white. 7. sibirica likes a soil that is rich in 

 humus, and prefers to be left undisturbed provided that 

 there is no lack of nourishment for its roots. This may 

 be provided by an annual winter mulch of leaf-mould 



