THE IRIS. 
69 
from, and the rest thrown aside. The points 
to look for as advantages are several : — 
Thickness of the outer petals. 
Breadth of the outer and inner petals. 
Colour, which must be unlike what we 
already possess. 
Size of flower, which in the Iris is im- 
portant. 
A strong stem, standing well out of the 
foliage, and displaying all the flower. 
Those selected for some of these qualities, 
— which, by comparison with the kind from 
which the seed was saved, should be better, or 
very different, to make them worth saving — 
may be taken up when the foliage has com- 
pletely died down, and laid by until planting 
Sir John Broughton Iris. 
time, when they should be planted six inches 
apart all over the bed, with labels to them, 
denoting their names, numbers, or distinguish- 
ing characters ; and the soil in which they are 
planted should be free from recent, or half- 
decomposed dung : none but such as is com- 
pletely rotted into mould should be used ; and 
if you can get plenty of leaf-mould to mix 
with the soil, or have any loam from rotted 
turfs, the Iris will do well in it without dung ; 
nevertheless, if the ground be poor, it will 
require leaf -mould, or well-rotted dung, to 
give strength to the plants, and size to the 
flowers. They should only be removed once 
in two years, unless there be any particular 
object to be gained by it : for they will increase 
their offsets better when not disturbed ; and 
among the choice flowers this is an object ; 
but, as the line ones worth saving are few in 
number compared with the rejected ones, it is 
necessary to remove them the year they bloom, 
to plant them alone, and at proper distances : 
after which every other summer is often 
enough to take them up, and replant them. 
The season they are not removed, some fresh 
earth should be sifted over them in September, 
and not a weed must be allowed to grow on 
the bed at any period. At the end of the 
second season, when they are to be taken up, 
they must be kept with their offsets separate 
from every other sort ; for, in all florists' 
flowers, mixtures are worth but little, com- 
pared with flowers kept to their distinct sorts 
and names. The bulbs of the Iris are hard 
and dry, and will lie by for some time, if kept 
cool and dry; but they ought to be in the ground 
again by the end of September, or the be- 
ginning of October, however much longer 
people maj r , with seeming impunity, keep 
them unplanted. The Spanish and Persian Iris 
will succeed under the same treatment ; but 
they are, by comparison, inferior as florist's 
flowers, and few who begin cultivating the 
larger sort pay any attention to either of the 
others ; nevertheless, they are exceedingly 
pretty border flowers; they are as hardy as 
could be wished, and multiply rapidly when 
only planted in the common open border, 
without any dressing, or preparation to the 
ground, whatever it may be. Their infe- 
riority consists in the narrowness of their 
petals, and the comparative dulness of their 
colour. All the herbaceous varieties grow 
like, weeds, and spread into large patches in 
an incredibly short time: of these there are 
many different colours and habits, but, for the 
most part, they are grown in wild masses, and 
very wide borders, where more regard is paid 
to the quantity than quality of the subjects. 
florists' varieties of bulbous iris. 
Agatha, white. 
Andromeda, white with red and violet spots. 
Anna Jane, white and rose. 
Aurora, blue and purple. 
Belmont, cherry and dark blue. 
Belle Agatha, white and rose. 
Belle Grise de lin, white with red and 
violet spots. 
Blanche feur, white. 
Brilliant, blue and purple. 
Cardinal's Hat, blue and purple. 
Charles the Twelfth, white with red and 
violet spots. 
Clio, white with red and violet spots. 
Diana, blue and purple. 
Don Quixote, cherry and dark blue. 
Domingo, cherry and dark blue. 
Duke of Tusrann, cherry and dark blue. 
Erasmus, cherry and dark blue. 
Favourite, cherry and dark blue. 
Henry the Fourth, blue and purple. 
Hercules, white. 
Hyperides, white with red and violet spots. 
Incomparable, white with red and violet 
spots. 
Invincible, white with red and violet spots. 
Invonuliis, blue anil purple. 
