20 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



together of the blue German Flag, and even when not in flower there is 

 some charm in the silvery-toned, sword-shaped leaves. Of this group 

 choose from amongst the following varieties : Black Prince, with 

 large, fragrant, and handsome flowers, with light purple standards and 

 darker falls, with yellow markings in the centre the contrast between 

 standard and fall is most marked ; Asiatica, a splendid kind, strong, with 

 spikes four feet high, and very large flowers, of which the standards are 

 blue and the falls darker ; Mme. Chereau, white, with soft bluish edges, 

 much grown for the markets ; Mrs. Darwin, standards snow white, falls 

 white with violet reticulation, very pretty colouring ; Pallida dalmatica, 

 a glorious Flag Iris, perhaps the most beautiful of all, with tall stems 

 of delicate blue sweetly-scented flowers, and broad, handsome foliage ; 

 Queen of May, pink and rose, a very quaint, pretty Iris ; and Victorine, 

 deep purple and white. The grey white Iris of Florence, or the Floren- 

 tine Iris, is, except the ordinary blue, the earliest of the race. It should 

 be grown in quite a simple group, perhaps on the lawn, or amongst dark- 

 leaved shrubs. Coming, as it does, with the Oriental Poppies in May, 

 it seems to be the herald of the large flowers of early summer. In the 

 border, if of sufficient size to accommodate many things in one family, 

 may be grown all the best of the flag-leaved Irises, beginning in May with 

 the old blue German. This is quickly followed by the Florentine Iris, 

 the pale yellow Flavescens, the magnificent pale blue Pallida dalmatica, 

 and the others of the Aphylla, Amcena, and Neglecta families, whose 

 flowers are for the most part of varied arrangements of purple, lilac, and 

 white, and numerous garden kinds, derived from variegata and squalens, 

 whose flowers are yellow and crimson and of harmonious minglings of 

 these with various tints of purple-bronze and smoke colour. The Flag 

 Irises succeed quite well in town gardens, and in almost any soil. 



Noble tall Irises besides these, but not so easily managed are : 

 7. aurea, a tall vigorous kind, with golden yellow flowers ; the six-feet 

 7. gigantea, ivory white and orange flowers of large size a stately plant ; 

 7. Monnieri, primrose yellow, reminding one of 7. aurea, late, and appre- 

 ciates moisture ; 7. missouriensis , soft blue, a very free-blooming pretty 

 species ; the common-English Flag of the water-side, and its fellow varie- 

 gated variety ; 7. spuria, deep blue, a tall, graceful kind ; the hybrid 

 yellow, 7. monspur ; 7. orientalis, blue and beautiful pencillings of colour, 

 a delightful Iris, very pure and charming for its blue shades ; and the 

 Siberian Iris (7. sibirica and alba), grassy plants, three feet high, with 

 an abundance of blue flowers, ivory white in the variety named alba. 

 I. fcetidissima, a native species, has coral seed-pods. 



There are other less important groups. 



Then there is a group known as the Cushion or Oncocyclus Irises, 

 which are not beginners' plants. They come from the East, and require 

 thoroughly ripening off in summer. Many very beautiful kinds belong 

 to this group, and some are strangely attractive, the big 7. susiana, 

 or Mourning Iris, as an example ; but those who wish to know more 

 about this fascinating section, with flowers frequently pencilled in a 

 delightful way and gauze-like in texture, should get Sir Michael Foster's 



