IRISES FOR THE ROCK-GARDEN AND THE WATERSIDE. 453 



finely divided, and soon the tiny green spears will pierce through. Then 

 the slug-guards of perforated zinc should immediately be placed around 

 the groups of bulbs. At this season, and during the winter, there are 

 few other young juicy shoots in existence, and the slugs and small snails 

 which are not hibernating find out the little Iris leaves at once. They 

 will quickly eat them down, and, later on, will disfigure if not quite 

 destroy the flowers. All other herbage in which slugs might harbour 

 should be kept away from the Iris groups, which are all the better for a 

 free space of air and light around them. Many are the disappointments 

 caused by the attacks of slugs ; for instance, I have known the whole 

 shoot and flower of Iris taurica to be eaten down to the base of the ovary 

 before the plant had shown above ground at all. It was only on digging 

 down to see why it did not come up that the damage was revealed, and 

 nothing but the maimed remnants of leaves grew up above the surface. 

 The eagerness of slugs to get at the Irises may be realised from the fact 

 that small ones are often captured trying to get through the meshes of 

 the zinc, some of them sticking half-way. The Bulbous Irises are quite 

 unaffected by frost, but in exposed situations a little dry bracken may 

 be placed around, not on, them ; and if there should be heavy rain or 

 snow while they are flowering, a bell-glass, or sheet of glass supported 

 above them, will preserve the flowers. 



Bulbous Irises thrive in a light sandy loam mixed with leaf-mould, 

 occasionally enriched with a slight dressing of some fertiliser where the 

 nature of the ground prevents the application of well-rotted manure. 

 They should never be moved until division is made necessary by great 

 increase in the bulbs, and the latter should be planted from four to six 

 inches deep. 



Description of Species. 



Some of the hardiest species will now be described. 



Iris reticulata is known to all gardening amateurs ; it is exceedingly 

 free-flowering, and increases rapidly. The rich purple colour of the 

 flower, the tones of which are accentuated by the conspicuous orange 

 crest on the falls, combined with its fragrance and many days' duration, 

 make it the most desirable species to have in every garden. It may not 

 be generally known that these Irises travel well by post. They should 

 always be gathered when in bud, and immediately wrapped tightly in 

 tissue paper, or they will open prematurely when brought into the warmth 

 of the house out of the frosty air. A little damp moss should be placed at 

 the ends of the stalks, and then leaves and flowers, after a few hours in 

 water, should be tightly packed in a strong box. The next morning, when 

 unpacked, they at once open out in beauty, and with care will last from a 

 week to ten days in water. These delightful flowers continually prove to 

 be a source of simple yet satisfying pleasure to dwellers in cities and to 

 invalids in the sickroom, who are debarred from the sight of the glowing 

 groups in the open air (fig. 115). 



Iris Histrio is for sheer beauty the queen of this group. It is a bright 

 lovely blue, with creamy falls covered with dark blue spots, the golden 

 crest marking the median line. It is hardy and prolific (figs. 116, 117)). 



Iris histrioides, which is nearly allied to the last, rises out of the frosty 



