Jl IV. 1 !) 1 i 



T II E GARDEN MAGAZIN E 



301 



If one has plenty of room, those rows 

 may be multiplied as borders. The single 

 colors massed in this way are enchanting. 



1 was once driving out into the country, 

 and came upon a rather neglected looking 

 old place, whose sole ornament was 

 two magnificent borders of a pale cream- 

 yellow iris, in full bloom, leading from 

 the entrance gate to the front door. It 

 had evidently had no particular care, but 

 the location — rather low and moist — 

 had suited it, and it had flourished 

 gorgeously. I have always remembered 

 its beauty. I after- 

 ward obtained a root 

 or two, and have 

 now a great quan- 

 tity of it in my own 

 garden. 



As the iris flowers 

 most luxuriantly, the 

 blossoms may be cut 

 quite freely, without 

 interfering with the 

 beautiful show, and 

 there is nothing 

 more effective for 

 house decoration 

 than a tall glass vase 

 holding a few choice 

 sprays, set among 

 their own green flags. 



The old-fashioned 

 purple Asiatica and 

 white Florentina 

 varieties, bloom first 

 of all, and to my 

 mind, no rarer ones 

 are more beautiful. 

 The white has very 

 large pearl-white, 

 showy flowers, with 

 the falling petals 

 slightly tinged with 

 lavender. It does 

 well in even poor 

 soil, so "fans" of 

 this may be set in 

 any corner among 



the perennials, colonizing them, as it were. 

 The two or three spikes of perfect bloom 

 which these single plants afford, are most 

 effective. 



Other varieties for the mixed row of 

 German iris are Madame Chereau, most 

 exquisite of these irises, pure white, with 

 edges of the falling leaves delicately pen- 

 cilled with sky blue; Queen of May, a 

 beautiful lavender pink; Pallida Dalma- 

 tica, also a lovely lavender; King Edward, 

 light blue; and the aforementioned /. flaves- 

 cens, a very free bloomer. 



To these plain colors should be added 

 some of the many orchid-like varieties of 

 striped and pencilled bronze, heliotrope, 

 browns and yellows to give variety and 

 contrast: Darius (canary yellow, the falling 

 petals white striped with crimson), L'Esper- 

 ance (bronze, falling petals yellow with 

 crimson veins), Innocenza (ivory white, 

 gold crest and maroon and white falls) are 

 all good. 



We also set single clumps of iris in our 



perennial border, to supply it with early 

 bloom: the pale blue ones, with the old- 

 fashioned yellow day lilies, are an en- 

 chanting combination; we also pick them 

 together for the house, and the tall glass 

 vase which holds them is kept filled 

 throughout the season. The buds of both 

 open in water, so we are economical, if 

 our supply is limited. 



All of these above mentioned varieties of 

 German iris should be set about four inches 

 deep, and protected in winter by a mulch. 



An interesting, although somewhat dis- 



ci's laevigata (or I. Kaempferi of the catalogues) is remarkable for the immense flat flowers in July 



couraging thing about the iris border, is 

 the harbor it affords for all sorts of floating 

 seeds and wandering roots. All kinds of 

 travelers are constantly appearing in my 

 borders — poppies, rudbeckias, New Eng- 

 land asters, etc. I always dislike to pull 

 them up — but it must be done, or in the 

 race for the survival of — not the fittest 

 — but the strongest, some rare iris may be 

 choked. The insidious witch grass also 

 "lies low" and sends up innocent looking 

 tiny blades, which if not watched for 

 with a lynx eye, will finally gain the 

 victory. We were obliged last year to 

 take up and reset a long border, through 

 carelessness in this respect. 



Like many of our garden and wild 

 flowers, the blossoms of the iris require 

 bees for cross-fertilization, and a part of 

 the charm of the beautiful rows or masses 

 of German iris is the variety of insect life 

 attracted by them. Busy honey bees buzz 

 in and out of the purple and golden doors; 

 heavy, clumsy bumble bees drone lazily 



about them, and dancing yellow and while 

 butterflies add to the charm. Humming 

 birds often visit them, and as twilight falls, 

 mysterious whirring humming moths dart 

 their long slender tongues into the sweet 

 honey, and all sorts of mysterious evening 

 marauders float about, absorbing the sweets 

 left by the more industrious insects of the 

 sun. 



Sometimes "sports" appear, as the 

 result of this cross-fertilization by the bees. 

 In a clump of white iris in our border, 

 appeared one spring a single spike of 

 snowy bloom striped 

 with broad bands 

 of purple. These 

 "sports" may be 

 moved and petted, 

 and different varie- 

 ties secured. I have 

 never tried to regu- 

 larly raise seedlings, 

 but I understand 

 that it is an interest- 

 ing experiment in 

 the home garden. 



Following the Ger- 

 man irises is Iris 

 orientalis, one of the 

 beardless kinds, in 

 habit of growth more 

 like our common 

 wild flag, except for 

 its greater luxuri- 

 ance. This flowers 

 late in June and in 

 July. It is about 

 eighteen inches high. 

 The blossoms, only 

 one or two on a 

 stalk, are compara- 

 tively small, with 

 slender drooping 

 petals and erect 

 standards. They are 

 deep blue in color, 

 and the buds are 

 pointed and reddish. 

 The flowers grow in 

 a luxuriant mass, surrounded by a great 

 number of long slender drooping green 

 leaves. It is very charming, either in 

 clumps or, if space can be afforded, in rows 

 or borders. 



Its flowering time is short, but it is 

 gorgeous during that short time. This 

 iris grows better and more luxuriantly 

 in deep, moist loam. I have in mind some 

 plants most carefully tended in a garden, 

 which never did well, and were finally 

 taken up, and carelessly set as an experi- 

 ment, outside the wall, by the roadside, 

 where the land dipped. They have flour- 

 ished gorgeously ever since! 



Next to appear in our train is the Si- 

 berian iris, also resembling one of our wild 

 less known species — the one with the 

 slender, grass-like stem and leaves: Iris 

 Virginica. It blooms in late June and 

 early July. The slender blossom-stalk 

 grows to a height of three or four feet 

 bearing three, four, or more flowers. The 

 leaves are narrow and grass-like, and the 



