September, 19 14 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



53 



Madame Chereau 

 edged blu; 



white, 



b r o n z e - c o 1 o r e d 

 irises are the most 

 difficult to handle 

 in combination, 

 but since they all 

 appear best in 

 strong sunlight we 

 have that saving 

 factor in working 

 out our color 

 scheme. Then, 

 too, gradations can 

 be played within 

 the groups leading 

 them over to the 

 safer colors. 



Aside from these 



matters of garden effect, the big Ger- 

 man iris family offers a wealth of in- 

 dividuality to the garden lover who knows 



his plants very intimately and makes the 



most of their personalities in his garden. 



There is, of course, a wide play of color. 



To the Pallida group we turn for pale blues 



and blue lavenders, and of late for fine 



pinks and clarets. The flowers are, almost 



without exception, unveined selfs of very 



delicate texture. The blood of Cypriana, 



a near relative, appears in 



the veined falls of some of 



the hybrids. Pallida Dalma- 



tica is the favorite pale blue ; 



Celeste, Juanita, and Albert 



Victor are good; Queen of 



May, Rose Unique, Her 



Majesty, Trautlieb, Lohen- 

 grin, Mrs. Allen Gray, Sur- 

 prise are all good pinks and 



near pinks, Mad. Paquitte 



is an excellent claret and 



Edouard Michell is a wonder- 

 ful new hybrid showing the 



waved margin characteristic 



of Mad. Chereau rather than 



of the Pallida type. Earliest 



of all the groups is the old 



germanica group together 



with Iris Florentina. Here 



Kochi (syn. atropurpurea) , 



Purple King, and spectabilis 



are excellent dark red purple 



selfs. Amas (syn. macran- 



tha), Kharput, and Siwas 



are splendid two-colored 



varieties. Among the 



Neglecta varieties we have 



the fine new Perfection, light 



and dark blue purple with 



showy orange beard; Miss 



Maggie, silvery lavender and 



rose; Wagner, lavender and 



lavender violet, small and 



dwarf but valuable for late 



bloom; Sappho, Cythere, 



Frederick and many others. 



In the Amcena section, we 



have the beautiful Victorine 



and Thorbeck, with white 



standards and deep purple 



falls ; the exquisite Comte de 



St. Claire, Mrs. H. Darwin; 



and the new Rhein Nixie. Best 



of all in the Plicata section, 



is the old and well known Mad. Chereau 

 and Bridesmaid. The Squalens group gives 

 us Jacquesiana (syn. Conscience) and Dr. 

 Bernice, similar flowers with old gold 

 standards flushed with crimson and dull 

 crimson falls; A. F. Barron with queer 

 bronze standards and dark falls, and 

 Miralba which nearly approaches old rose. 

 For pure yellows we turn to the Variegata 

 section which gives us aurea and Mrs. 

 Neubronner, together with the late white 

 Innocenza. Here too, are the old favorites 

 Honorable (syn. San Souci), Gracchus, 

 Darius and Maori King; and besides the 

 old, a group of splendid new hybrids. Per- 

 haps best of all is Iris King, a cross between 

 pallida Dalmatica and Maori King, with 

 large flowers, rich yellow standards and 

 crimson falls, bordered yellow. Here too, 

 comes Mithras, similar but without the 

 yellow border on the falls. Nibelungen 

 repeats the same scheme with a dull olive 

 caste over the standards. Pfanenange is 

 reported similar with more purple in the 

 falls. It has not flowered with us as yet. 

 These last two please our fancy but they 

 are unpleasant to many because they are 

 not brilliant and sparkling in color. And 



Victoria veined falls with 

 self standards 



Good sized individual clumps of one variety make striking effects in the flower garden 

 pallida, var. Dalmatica at the Country Life Press Gardens 



as always, personal 

 taste must be the 

 ultimate judge in 

 matters of this 

 sort. 



Then aside from 

 the strict ger- 

 manica groups of 

 the nurserymen 

 come some valu- 

 able related species 

 with their varie- 

 ties. Flavescens 

 is an indispensable 

 sulphur self; Flor- 

 entina and its var- 

 ieties give won- 

 derful gray and lavender whites; albi- 

 cans Princess of Wales is a fine dwarf 

 white; lurida a showy red copper. Then 

 too, are the closely related Intermediates 

 aiid Crimeans which prepare the way 

 for the great Germans which follow. 

 Of the Intermediates, Walhalla and Inge- 

 borg are favorites. And among the pumilas 

 and Crimeans the clear colors are best for 

 garden effect although the queer green 

 yellows are charming in themselves and 

 well worthy of a place for 

 themselves. 



But from all of this, it is 

 more than evident that what 

 will please one will not please 

 another. For me, there has 

 been the great collection of a 

 friend where I might study 

 and question to my heart's 

 content. We do not agree, 

 this friend and I, on many 

 things, and some third per- 

 son might object to our 

 choices in any case. So for 

 each one it is well to visit 

 some large iris collection in 

 bloom whether in the garden 

 of a friend or at some of the 

 nurseries, of which there 

 are several in this country 

 which have exceptionally fine 

 collections, and then choose 

 those plants which most suit 

 his fancy. 



The planting time for the 

 German iris is either fall or 

 spring, or the plant may be 

 lifted and divided just after 

 they have finished flowering ; 

 indeed that is the ideal time 

 for propagation. Trans- 

 planting in early fall — Sep- 

 tember and October — offers 

 many practical advantages 

 too, because following so 

 closely on the summer's 

 pageant of color the garden's 

 effectiveness is still well in 

 mind and plantings can be 

 carried out with a fuller 

 realization of what the final 

 results will be next year. 

 Indeed the iris, like the peony, 

 is better seen to at this time 



Iris 



of year than in spring. 



