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Irises for 



Everybody's Garden— By Mrs. w. r. wilder, ?5 



A "LITTLE MONOGRAPH" OF HARDY BORDER IRISES THAT WILL GROW UNDER ORDI- 

 NARY GARDEN CONDITIONS, GIVING THE LONGEST SEASON OF BLOOM AND EMBRACING 

 THE WHOLE RANGE OF THIS GLORIOUS FAMILY — SUGGESTED COMPANION PLANTS 



THE PERIOD covered by the 

 blossoming of the iris has ever 

 been one of keen enjoyment to 

 me. Since the time when all my 

 knowledge of this great family was vested 

 in the common purple iris of old gardens, 

 and the gay flag flowers of our low moist 

 meadows, theii spell has been upon me; and 

 it was a matter of much satisfaction when 

 I found that these two were but lowly mem- 

 bers of a great company that would gladly 

 bloom in my garden, would 

 fill it from April through 

 July with a lovely 

 unexacting throng, 

 from whose ranks I 

 might draw subjects 

 for almost every 

 situation. For those 

 with glass houses, 

 frames, and gar- 

 deners (or even for 

 him who desires, 

 or is willing to 

 supply very spec- 

 ial conditions for 

 his plants) there 

 are many rare 

 irises, capricious as any 

 orchid and as strangely 

 beautiful. But my ac- 

 quaintance with these 

 is still a matter of 

 future intention and the 

 present deals only with 

 those which grow cheer- 

 fully under ordinary conditions in the open 

 garden. 



There are so many species in this great 

 genus, and the inter-marriages have been 

 so many and so confusing, that the task of 

 classification has become difficult, but only a 

 little of their genealogy is necessary to us 

 who wish simply to realize, in our gardens, 

 the great decorative value of the many 

 available forms of this most alluring 

 flower. 



For the purpose of the open garden, the 

 genus iris may be roughly divided into four 

 sections; (i) Pogoniris or bearded; (2) 

 Apogon or beardless; (3) Evansia or crested 

 (are not bulbous roots) ; and (4) bulbous. 

 The "beard" is a collection of ciosely set 

 hairs on the falls, or drooping petals of the 

 iris flower. Irises without this "ruff" are 

 termed beardless. The " crest" is an eleva- 

 ted line of ridges on the segment. 



THE BEARDED IRISES 



The bearded section contains the best 

 known and most easily grown of the irises. 

 They possess a thick, fleshy root stock, 

 creeping along the surface of the earth and 

 delighting in the sunny open border. The 

 flowers are large and conspicuous, the 

 foliage strongs erect and sword like, 

 lasting long in perfection and giving to the 

 borders the firm vertical line which is 

 pleasing where so much is uncertain and 

 sprawling. 



Most important among them is the sec- 

 tion known as Germanica, a composite 

 group of allied forms blooming in May 

 and June; as pallida, squalens, amcena, 

 aphylla, Florentina and others, each of 

 which in turn has numerous garden hybrids. 



297 



The familiar blue-purple flag of old gardens 

 is typical of these "German irises," hardy, 

 patient, long suffering, thriving and bloom- 

 ing profusely under the most untoward 

 conditions. Curiously enough the true /. 

 Germanica is not of this group, and has no 

 hybrids. 



But while the German irises and others 

 of their type will give results under almost 

 any conditions, save dampness, they 

 grandly respond to the rich soil and open 

 sunny situation which they love. A fre- 

 quent cause of failure with them, is the 

 practice of ground covering, carried on in 

 most of our gardens — that is, the planting 

 of creeping things among the taller subjects. 

 The stout surface-creeping rhizome requires 

 to be well ripened by the sun and this of 

 course cannot take place when the root is 

 smothered by some determined little trailer. 

 The best forms of the so called type, 

 /. Germanica, other than the common purple 

 are Crimson King, strong, reddish purple; 

 Khar put, purple; Amas, light and dark 

 purple; Kochi, fine blue purple; Nepalensis, 

 the darkest purple. 



The other German irises are at their 

 best in early June. The following is a 

 representative list of varieties by sections: 



i". pallida: vars. Dalmatica — clear lav- 

 ender, 40 inches, one of the most beauti- 

 ful; Albert Victor -=- lavender blue, tall; 

 Mad. Pacquette — rosy claret, tall; Queen 

 of May — mauve, pink, 32 inches; Her 

 Majesty, two shades of mauve. 



/. variegata: vars. Innocenze — pure 

 white ; Canary Bird — buff and cream, 

 fragrant; Daris — yellow, lavender and 



