240 



The Garden Magazine, June, 1922 



bloom between the early dwarfs, and the later Germans. They 

 are large-flowered, sweet-scented mostly, of medium height, 

 quite hardy, and thoroughly charming. Gerda, cream yellow; 

 Halfdan, creamy white; and Queen Flavia, primrose yellow, 

 are all lovely; Ingeborg, one of the introductions, is a beautiful, 

 very large white flower. The Intermediates are vigorous, and 

 like a sunny, well drained position. 



Difficult, but Worth While for Early Bloom 



THE Mourning Iris, I. susiana, though not easy to grow, 

 is well worth the enthusiasm she demands and is the best 

 known member of the Oncocyclus group. Irises of this family 

 have very distinctive flowers, only one to the stalk, and are cu- 

 riously veined in sombre colors. For the Mourning Iris choose 

 a well protected spot, enrich the ground with bonemeal, and a 

 liberal supply of lime — either in the form of old mortar pounded 

 up, or lime which has been thoroughly air-slaked. Tamp 

 the finished bed as firmly as possible, and have the surface 

 raised for prompt and proper drainage. 



Plant the bulbs in autumn, just covering them with earth; 

 cover well with leaves and a board or two, and do not uncover 

 in the spring until all possible danger of frost is over. After 

 the all too short season of bloom, cover the bed with old glass- 

 sash or boards, as the roots must be kept perfectly dry during 

 the resting period. Some persons lift the bulbs immediately 

 after flowering, dry well and pack away until fall. If planted 

 to flower in front of the pale pink Darwin Tulip Margaret, 

 or the deep mauve Breeder Chester Jay Hunt, the combination 

 will be most satisfying, for I. susiana is of a shade known to 

 users of dress materials as taupe, a brownish gray with a pink 

 cast. The flower is very large, about twice that of the typical 

 German Iris, and is borne on an eighteen-inch stem. 



Iris verna (Apogon or Beardless), a tiny, violet colored, fra- 

 grant native of Ohio, is a too little known early bloomer; flower- 

 ing freely, spreading rapidly, and requiring half shade — a unique 

 quality among Irises. 



Another dwarf beauty is Iris cristata (Evansia or Crested) a 

 native of our Central States; usually found creeping quite ram- 

 pantly on damp gravel beside streams. The dainty amethyst- 

 blue flowers carried on three-inch stems (or more correctly on 

 three-inch perianth tubes) are charming in the rock garden. 



Divers Dependables of the Tall Bearded Group 



NEXT to wave its many colored flags in this procession is 

 the great group of Tall Bearded Iris, misnamed German, 

 since very few Irises are native to Germany, and those few are 

 not the parents of the great group commonly known by that 

 name. Among these, the first to bloom is the old reliable Pur- 

 ple King which is none the less desirable because persistent and 

 easy to please. The early grayish-white Florentina (formerly 

 known as Silver King) makes an effective companion planting. 



For convenience let us divide this group into its six sub- 

 sections: 



( i ) The pallida is, in my humble estimation, the most beauti- 

 ful of Bearded Irises; with handsome, long-stemmed, fragrant, 

 gray-blue to lavender flowers; and wide, glaucous foliage. 

 Pallida dalmatica is to be found in many gardens, but is often 

 confused with the Florentine Flag (Orris-root Iris) which, how- 

 ever, is less sturdy, lacks dignity, and has not the same glaucous 

 gray cast. The true dalmatica is fragrant and has beautiful, 

 clear, pale blue-lavender standards with a distinct sparkle in 

 full sunlight, and slightly darker falls. Juniata shows close re- 

 lationship to dalmatica, but is somewhat darker in tone, and 

 carries its flowers on longer stems. These two gray-blue laven- 

 ders planted with the pale primrose colored I. flavescens, de- 

 light the eye; particularly if some of the nameless hybrid 

 Aquilegias combining these two shades be added. I. pallida 

 dalmatica is also charming in combination with the pale pink 

 Weigela. Of the pinkish lavenders, or mauves in the pallidas, 

 there are four, making a graduated shading: first, the lovely 



Queen of May; then Her Majesty, slightly deeper; Trautlieb, a 

 white ground delicately veined with mauve; and Mme. Pac- 

 quette, a deep rosy purple. Varieties mentioned here and in 

 the subsequent sections are typical rather than selective; up- 

 to-date introductions are, of course, to be found in the catalogues 

 of the specialists. 



(2) The variegata is for those who fancy brilliant yellows more 

 than do I. Standards are invariably yellow, and falls veined 

 with brownish red, giving at a distance a solid effect. Aurea 

 is a vivid chrome of pure color without veinings. Maori King 

 is considered by many the most effective of the variegatas, 

 having velvety, brown-crimson falls, and bright yellow stan- 

 dards, which are most striking in appearance. Iris King is a 

 glorified form of Maori King, and Mme. Neubert is perhaps 

 the best all-yellow Iris we have. 



(3) Flowers of the amoena type are characterized by white 

 standards with falls of various colors. The falls of Mrs. H. 

 Darwin have a network of fine lavender lines at the base, and I 

 find it one of the most beautiful; Donna Maria is another lovely 

 white, tinged with lavender. 



(4) To the squalens belong all the Irises with ashen violet, 

 almost transparent standards, and bronze or coppery falls. In 

 the garden they look rather like some colored fabric which has 

 been left too long in strong sunlight; but used indoors against 

 neutral tinted walls, they are beautiful. The pale green of a 

 newly leaved Japanese Maple offers a fitting background, as 

 does Philadelphus. 



(5) The neglecta ranges (through various shades of lavender 

 and purple. Black Prince, a very dark velvety purple, has 

 beauty, but seems difficult to establish; Othello, a tall and lovely 

 flower, is marked by blue-lavender standards, and deep pur- 

 ple velvety falls. Indeed in this section pretty blooms are 

 legion ! 



(6) In the plicata or aphylla sub-section the flowers have 

 color applied to their white petals as if embroidered with the 

 " long-and-short stitch." Mme. Chereau is perhaps the best 

 known and best loved of this lot, with her beautiful, blue- 

 lavender, stitched edges. 



ALL these Tall Bearded Irises are hardy, almost to the point 

 L of being "fool proof," but they have a few distinct prefer- 

 ences. They all like a well drained, sunny home where the 

 rhizomes can bake thoroughly after the blooming season. In 

 planting, the rhizomes should be only just covered with earth. 

 Unless very well-rotted manure can be had, bonemeal is the 

 better fertilizer; in no case use fresh organic manure. Though 

 Irises in general prefer to be left undisturbed, they increase so 

 rapidly that if, after a year or two, you wish to use your increase 

 for new beds, do not hesitate to separate; and the ideal time 

 for this is just after flowering and on through August. 



Do not permit edging or carpeting plants to crowd into the 

 Iris clumps, or bloom will be poor the following year. The 

 leaves should not be touched until after they have turned brown 

 in autumn; then cut them away, for if left, they retain moisture 

 which tends to rot the roots and make a congenial resting place 

 for slugs. 



Irises look happiest if planted in longish, natural appearing 

 groups, with a delicate green or open background. I tried 

 German Iris alone, in a stone-edged, stone-walled border; with 

 the result that the poor dears looked like prisoners in a cell. 

 Miss Jekyll, in one of her charming books, suggests a planting 

 of Irises with Lupins, which arrangement should be pleasing 

 enough. 



I find that by planting English Irises between the earlier- 

 blooming ones, I have a nice succession crop of flowers from the 

 same space. Gladiolus also makes a good "filler." In one 

 garden I know, Poet's Narcissus gives early bloom between 

 German Irises, the leaves of which soon cover the ripening 

 Narcissus foliage. 



Before we pass on to theApogons or Beardless Irises, I want to 

 mention two other beautiful Pogoniris (Iris bearing a beard on 



