THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



11 



ones being of equal size in many of its new 

 varieties, giving a strange regular symmetry 

 to the flower. The pernicious trick of 

 doubling and multiplying "petals" — a com- 

 mon vice of the up-to-date sport — quite de- 

 stroys the iris's natural grace of outline, which 

 is its chief characteristic and charm. Blotches 

 and patches of color like a circus pony's 

 sadly detract from its stately dignity. Surely 

 the range of pure colors, from silvery white, 

 through pale blue, lilac, plum, and purples, 

 with exquisite veinings and star-like centers 

 of 'contrasting shades or of gold, should 

 satisfy the most exacting eye. 



German irises differ from the Japanese 

 in having shorter, broader, blade-like leaves 

 and flowers not yet induced to lie flat, having 

 three strongly recurved and handsomely 

 marked "petals" or falls and three upright 

 standards. Both kinds have creeping stems, 

 and it is by division of these fleshy, thong- 

 like roots that the plants are most success- 

 fully propagated. Set out early in the au- 

 tumn, they should bloom the following May. 

 It takes at least three years to produce 

 flowers from seed — an interesting experi- 

 ment for the amateur hybridizer, but one 

 rarely tried except by commercial men. 

 While not so impressively magnificent as 

 the Japanese strain, the German irises are 

 nevertheless very beautiful; their coloring 

 including white, yellow, lilac, and purple — 

 either one of which every iris would be in a 

 state of nature — and, in addition, some queer 

 browns and rich velvety maroons combined 

 with yellows which are unusual and effective. 



We hear of the common blue flag. In 

 reality it is not a blue, but a purple. Yet 

 there is a little dwarf iris, a variety of the 

 Crimean Iris pumila and /. Persica, which 

 are true blue — that heavenly color all too 

 rare in our gardens. 



■No plants are of easier culture than the 

 German irises. They like a dry soil, rich 

 food, a sunny, open situation, and plenty of 

 room to spread, but they do not insist upon 

 any of these conditions. Neglect them, 



starve them, crowd- them among the shrub- 

 bery, stifle them in the herbaceous border, 

 bury them in the rock garden, still they will 

 bloom — sulkily, perhaps, but far more than 

 they really ought, considering. Give them 

 a rich dinner once a year, and let them 

 alone thereafter, they will repay you most 

 lavishly. Just as the gorgeous pageant of 

 Dutch bulbs — jonquils, narcissi, and tulips 

 — passes, the German irises begin their 

 royal show, several weeks before their Jap- 

 anese sisters unfurl their banners. Special 

 emphasis should be laid upon letting all 

 irises alone. They resent being fussed- 

 over. If it is necessary to divide a clump, 

 cut it in half with a sharp spade and fill in 

 the hole with old, well-rotted manure. Don't 

 disturb the - entire clump in" order to take 

 away part of it, and don't bury the rhizome 

 when you plant the root. 



On the streets of London and Paris and 

 in the market - places of western Europe 

 are sold bushels of the very beautiful Span- 

 ish irises, whose charms are not yet appre- 

 ciated here as they deserve to be. In loose, 

 friable garden soil, in a sheltered corner, 

 they yield a lovely crop of flowers to cut for 

 the house. More dainty than the larger 

 German and Japanese irises, they are airily 

 poised like butterflies on the tip of tall, 

 slender, swaying stems amid narrow, grass- 

 like" blades. Secure a ribbon of soft lead 

 from your plumber, place it in the bottom 

 of a bowl, pinch it about the iris stems, and 

 so arrange a few that they appear to be 

 growing out of the water. Pebbles con- 

 ceal the lead and help the illusion. From 

 the Japanese we are slowly learning not to 

 bunch a miscellaneous lot of cut flowers in 

 wads for our vases, but to give each flower 

 its natural, characteristic attitude and iso- 

 lation. 



English irises, another group of these 

 endlessly beautiful plants, grow from bulbs 

 like the Spanish strain, but in form and 

 poise the flowers more closely resemble the 

 Japanese. Coming toward the end of the 



3. German iris (Iris Germanic* and allied species). The most popular iris and the best for general conditions 



4. A German iris. Of the six showy parts, the three 

 outer, which are reflexed, correspond to the calyx; 

 the three inner or incurved ones to the petals 



iris season, which they prolong until the hot 

 weather, they are especially desirable for 

 those who tarry too long in the cities to en- 

 joy the spring flowers about their summer 

 cottages. Bulbous irises suffer from moist- 

 ure and bleak exposure. A dry soil, even 

 clear sand at the base of the bulbs, preserves 

 them from decay, and, while they must be 

 well nourished if they are not to fail utterly, 

 let no manure come in direct contact with 

 these. The rhizomatous irises are the gross 

 feeders. 



Certain irises there are that should be in 

 every garden. No one is too poor or too 

 inexperienced to have at least one fine 

 clump of Japanese or German irises; for 

 instance, the early grayish-white Florentine 

 "orris" (whose dried root furnishes the 

 sachet of commerce), with its large grayish- 

 white flowers, often six inches deep, the falls, 

 veined with yellow and green at the base 

 with an orange- yellow beard; or /. varie- 

 gata, with large, slightly scented flowers, 

 their standards bright yellow, their falls 

 claret-red heavily veined. The yellow flag 

 of England, /. pseiidacorus, is delightfully 

 decorative, and cheap enough to naturalize 

 in quantities with our own native species 

 where one is so fortunate as to own a stream. 

 In similar situations, or even in ditches, the 

 small but showy Siberian flag in blue, white 

 and purple varieties is a charmer. And now 

 that irises are being so successfully forced in 

 the greenhouses, there is not a month in the 

 year when we may not have them in our 

 homes. 



