454 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ground on a very short stalk and displays a large blue flower of amazing 

 brilliancy. The falls are spotted with deeper blue and have the gold 

 crest, but lack the creamy tint which adorns those of Iris Histrio 



ue). 



Iris Vartani flowers very early, and is a most refined -looking flower, 

 almost ethereal. Its colouring is a delicate lavender mixed with green 

 hues, and the form is graceful and slender (fig. 119). 



Iris Baker iana is a striking-looking flower ; not large, but the blue- 

 and -white colouring is brilliant, and there is a most distinctive patch of 

 velvety black at the tips of the falls (fig. 120). 



Iris Krelagei is a purplish-red form of Iris reticulata, but is less 

 beautiful than the type (fig. 121). 



A distinct and beautiful species is Iris Boissieri (fig. 122), which is to 

 be recommended because it flowers in June, when the others are over. It 

 does not appear above ground until February, and it grows a foot 

 high. The standards have dark veins on a purple ground, the styles are 

 pinkish-lilac, the broad drooping falls are blue, purple-veined, with a 

 large conspicuous central stripe of golden yellow, which has a hairy 

 surface. 



Iris DanfordicR is a charming little yellow flower, and as it blooms in 

 February it is most useful as a colour-contrast when grown with Iris 

 Histrio, Iris histrioides, and Iris Bakeriana. The golden falls have an 

 orange crest, and there are small brown spots on the claws ; the styles are 

 also golden, with a double line of green ; the standards are like tiny 

 threads, this plant being a connecting link between the Xiphion and the 

 Juno Irises which are now to be considered (fig. 123). 



Very few of the Juno group can be called really hardy, but there are 

 several lovely species among them, and Iris caucasica (fig. 121) is one 

 of the most elegant. The narrow recurved foliage is white-edged ; the 

 flower is a brilliant light golden -green, of a satiny translucent texture, 

 softly lustrous. There is a raised fleshy yellow crest on the broad falls ; 

 the falls have the shape characteristic of this group, namely a projecting 

 flap on each side, which curves up and clasps the styles ; the flowers are 

 borne in the axils of the upper leaves. This plant flowers at the end 

 of March and beginning of April. There are other species, as Iris alata, 

 a fine blue flower, very early ; Iris sindjarensis (fig. 125), with a succes- 

 sion of curious blue-and-white flowers growing out of leek-like foliage ; 

 and Iris persica (figs. 126, 127), with its varieties, the type being very 

 Lovely with its duck's-egg green, its gold stripe and black velvet tip. 

 They will flower the first year from imported bulbs, and possibly the 

 second year. They will indeed go on living year after year in our climate, 

 throwing up leaves each season, but scarcely ever flowering, showing that 

 they are not acclimatised. Therefore they cannot be recommended as 

 satisfactory for general culture unless fresh bulbs are obtained every year, 

 but the Iris-lover's ambition is very different from that. 



There are a few very small rhizomatous Irises which flower on the 

 rock-garden in late spring. Iris cristata and Iris lacustris are bright 

 blue; Iris renin dark blue; and Iris arenaria and Iris flavissima (fig. 

 L28) are yellow. They like an open level situation, with some degree 

 of moisture. 



