14 
CARL PURDY, UKIAH, CALIFORNIA 
The Irises 
JAPANESE IRIS 
Gloriously beautiful plants arc Japanese 
Irises. At their best, stems 4 feet tall 
rise from a mass of grassy leaves, and bear 
at their tops flowers as much as a foot 
across. The colors are delicate and the 
texture of the flowers is like silk. 
These are my varieties: Apollo, pure 
white with pink center; Blue Danube 
double, deep indigo-blue, center violet 
shading to yellow; Frate, double silvery 
white, veined and shaded with lilac, 
center deep lilac; Helen von Siebold, 
reddish purple with white veins and a 
yellow center; Oriole, double, rich plum- 
color shading deeper toward the center, 
and brightly" marked with yellow; Pyra- 
mid, also double, lilac-blue, center of each 
petal shaded white; Robert Craig, a 
delicate French gray with violet veins, 
most charming; Topaz, single, reddish 
amaranth throughout; T. S. Ware, 
reddish violet, veined white, and white 
('enters with some lemon markings; 
Victor, white, veined violet-purple, pure 
I have them in mixture at 20 cts. each, 
or $1.50 a dozen. Strong plants of named 
varieties at 25 cts. each, or $2 a dozen. 
Plants can be set out from August to 
Spanish Irises (see page 15) March. Where plenty of water is avail- 
able, September planting is the best. 
They do well on the edge of ponds, running streams or ditches, and will grow 
under several inches of water. Heavy feeding and plenty of water are necessary. 
On dry hills plant in rows 2> l A feet across and a foot apart in the row; the plants 
about 3 inches above the trough between the rows. Give a dressing of nitrate of soda 
and bone meal when planting. Mulch with manure in spring. The ground should be 
kept well cultivated, and do not allow it to become hard or baked. The plants will 
grow in almost any soil, if it is made fairly rich, and the roots supplied with moisture 
during the summer. A garden cannot have too many of these splendid flowers. 
GERMAN IRIS 
The German Iris is one of the very best flowers that the garden can hold. Every- 
body knows the older sorts under the name of Flag Lilies, or Fleur-de-lis, but few know 
the lovely new sorts, either in dwarf or tall. I have unnamed bulbs in white, blue or 
purple at 10 cts. each, $1 per dozen and $5 per too. Or I will put up sets of twenty- 
five of the finest sorts, one each, unnamed, for $3 (with names, $5 for the 25). 
Purdy's Blue is a light blue, very sweet-scented sort and a fine thing. Price 20 cents 
each. These Irises will grow in either dry or wet soils, sun or shade; yet, in rather good 
soils, with moderate moisture, they do their best. They should be reset about every 
third year, in August. Plant new bulbs before Christmas, at the latest. 
Irises of the Pallida class are very tall plants, with stems often 4 feet high, and 
among the best of these is Odoratissima, almost the same as Princess Beatrice, at 
25 1 ts. each. I have quite a number of this class in quantities too small to offer, and 
can make sets at 30 cts. each variety. 
MOURNING IRIS 
The Mourning Iris, as Iris Susiana is called, is a bulbous Iris with large, bluish 
flower veined with brown, and so odd as to attract attention wherever it is grown. 
The bulbs are handled dry, and must be planted before Christmas, if possible. I sell 
them at 20 cts. each, or $2 per dozen. 
