my belief that the real gardener is too busy wielding a hoe in 

 the garden to find time for wielding a pen in the study. So I 

 leave it to the iris ! 



— From Bulletin of the American Iris 

 Society, October, 1937. 



CULTURE OF BEARDED IRIS 



From the book "7r/5e5" by F. F. Rookwetx. published by the 

 Macmillan Company, New York. We sincerely recommend this 

 book, reasonable in price, right to the point. 



The amateur gardener interested in irises will have seen it 

 stated again and again that they are among the easiest of all 

 plants to grow. Even some books on the subject dismiss their 

 culture with but a paragraph or two. 



It is true that irises are exceptionally easy to grow if — but 

 the ''if" covers several points of such vital importance that it is 

 as easy to fail with irises if these requirements are not met as 

 it is easy to succeed with them when they are. 



Moreover, it is one thing merely to get irises to grow, but 

 quite another to get them to thrive so vigorously that they will 

 give freely and fully the marvelous beauty which over a long 

 period should be their contribution to the garden. Anyone who 

 plans to grow even a few irises should not be content to achieve 

 merely indifferent results, especially as real success is to be had 

 with little or no more labor by providing conditions which will 

 keep the plants really happy. 



Soils and Fertilizers 



Most irises will succeed well in any type of soil from almost 

 pure sand to stiff clay. I have grown the bearded and beardless 

 types in these two extremes and in every soil between them. 

 I have seen them growing in very light sandy loam and in really 

 heavy soil, both in the same garden. I have grown some species 

 of the bulbous iris in light sandy soil, as well as in fairly heavy 

 loam. 



Where one may choose, a medium heavy, fairly well-enriched 

 soil — in other words, ordinary good garden soil — is to be pre- 

 ferred. The advantage of a heavj^ soil is that it will maintain 

 the food supply necessary for continuous good bloom season 

 after season better than a really light soil. Its disadvantage is 

 that it may incline to be too wet, especiall}' in a rainy season. 

 Light sandy soil, on the other hand, has the advantage of 

 thorough drainage, but the disadvantage of quickly dissipating 

 the food supply. A well-drained porous medium loam well sup- 



