PROPAGATION OF IRISES 91 



that mistakes in arrangement are far less likely to occur, 

 when the remains of the flowers can still be seen on the 

 plants, than when fallacious labels are the only guides 

 that remain. 



The propagation of Irises is effected either by division 

 of the rootstock or by means of seeds. The process of 

 raising Irises from seed is far easier and more certain than 

 is usually supposed. All that is necessary is to sow the 

 seeds in pots early in the autumn and to plunge the pots 

 outside in some cool position. Germination should ensue 

 in the following spring, and in May, June, and July, the 

 young plants may be planted out in the positions where 

 they are to flower. Given good soil, fair weather, and 

 some attention in the matter of weeding and cultivation 

 of the surface between the plants, the majority should 

 flower in the following spring. 



This does not apply to bulbous species, which should 

 be allowed to complete their growth for one or two years 

 in the seed pots. They take as much as four or five years 

 before they reach flowering size, but here again care and 

 good cultivation will reduce the period of waiting to three 

 years. 



Hybrid seed is much more apt to be irregular in 

 germinating than the seeds that result from the self- 

 fertilisation of a species, and, when only a few seedlings 

 appear in a pot, it may be necessary to go through the 

 tedious process of sifting the soil to separate the remaining 

 seeds, which may be re-sown at once. 



