GARDEN. 
ORCHARD AND 
VOL. XI. 
DECEMBER. 1889. 
NO. 12 
Tlie Japan Iris. 
The variety of flowering herbaceous plants 
cultivated by the Japanese is not large. The 
species which they represent might be count- 
ed on the fingers of the two hands: but those 
which they have brought under culture 
have been developed to a degree of splendor 
unsurpassed by, or even far excelling, any- 
thing of the kind to be found elsewhere. 
Note, for instance, their Chrysanthemums, 
their Tree Pseonies, the Lotus, and the sub- 
ject of this sketch, the Iris, all of which are 
as near perfection as it would seem possible to 
bring them. The lovely Japan Lilies which ! 
are s o just- 
ly admired 
here are not so 
highly esteem- 
ed in their na- 
tive land as 
oma mental 
plants. They 
are cultivated 
to be sure, but 
chiefly a s a 
vegetable for 
their bulbs 
which form 
an important 
article of diet: 
to grow them 
for the sake 
of their flowers 
is of secondary 
importance. 
In certain 
districts they 
spangle the 
hillsides and 
make the at- 
mosphere hea- 
vy with their 
perfume to such a degree that to cultivate 
them as garden flowers would seem a redun- 
dancy. Not so with the Iris, the Chrysan- 
themum and the Paeony; they are products I 
of culture and as such are most tenderly 
cared for. 
The Japan Iris, Iris Kcempleri, is already 
pretty well known in this country. Having 
been introduced originally by Mr. Thomas 
Hogg a number of years ago many other im- 
portations have since been made from time 
to time, and fine collections are now by no 
means rare. In spite of this fact the writer 
of this brought home on his return from Ja- 
pan a short time ago a collection of more 
than fifty varieties of the finest to be found. 
The Japanese have so many varieties and 
they are collectively and individually so at- 
tractive that no one's affection can be proof 
against them when seen in all their glory. 
It is not generally known that the varie- 
ties of this species should be cultivated as 
water plants in order that they may devel- 
ope their finest qualities ; or at any rate they 
are rarely so grown. In their native coun- 
try they are invariably cultivated in water. 
Several other species are grown on dry land 
but Iris Kaempferi never, a fact which may 
account for the superiority of the Japanese 
varieties compared with those produced in 
this country. There is moreover a greater 
necessity for this style of culture here ow- 
ing to our dry atmosphere and drought 
which too often occurs about mid-summer. 
That nature did not intend them for dry 
land may be ascertained by anyone who will 
notice their behavior when thus situated 
under the fierce rays of our hot sun. It will 
be seen that they wilt and droop daily and 
are only partially restored by the cooler, 
dewy nights. This process necessarily checks 
The Japanese Iris (J. Kcempferi ) At Home. 
their growth and free blooming. Grown in 
water the plants are more vigorous, the sea- 
son of blcom extended and the flowers more 
numerous and larger. 
The accompanying illustration of a pond 
of Iris in Japan has been reproduced from a 
photograph, but unfortunately it is not as dis- 
tinct as could be desired. It shows how- 
ever, the fact that they are grown in a pond 
across which a raised walk leads to the 
dwellings in the back ground. Such a bed 
in full bloom is not surpassed by anything, 
not even by the Lotus. Nothing could be 
more charming. Collectively the bright 
mass of expanded bloom is a dazzling sight, 
and viewed individually the exquisite lines, 
tints and tracings on the petals, so faint and 
yet so clear, suggest a delicacy of organiza- 
tion that appeals to the tender feelings of 
one’s nature. 
Let lovers of the Iris, whenever possible, 
set their plants in shallow water, or at least 
in moist, low-lying soil. Many a marshy 
comer now inhabited by sedges and bull- 
frogs could thus be made most attractive 
spots. Once planted they are there for good. 
They require but little care. The water 
grasses should be pulled out and an occa- 
sional thinning of the plants is useful when 
they become too thick; but for the rest they 
take care of themselves. 
Water in some form, as a stream, pond 
or lakelet, is a very common, and we might 
say an indispensable, feature of Japanese 
gardens, and therefore offers facilities for 
the culture of the Iris that are not always 
attainable here. They plant them in shal- 
low water from two to eight inches deep, 
along the margin of the pond or stream, 
or when nowhere much deeper than that 
they may cover the whole area as is shown 
in the illustra- 
tion. 
No Japanese 
garden is com- 
plete without 
its pond and 
collection of 
the Irises. 
They are 
much more 
generally 
planted than 
the Lotus, as 
the latter re- 
quire more 
space and 
deeper water. 
And a beauti- 
ful sight it is 
to see these 
gay flowers 
fringe the bor- 
ders of a tiny 
lakelet, their 
butterfly pet- 
als spread to 
the sunlight 
and the pretty 
damsels of the household in their pictur- 
esque dresses leisurely admiring and com- 
paring them. 
There are several hundred varieties, and 
the colors pass through an infinite number 
of shades from pure white to deep blue and 
dark maroon. They also vary greatly in 
the size and shape of the petals, some hav- 
ing long narrow petals, others broad and 
rounded ones and still others delicately 
laciniated margins. The majority of the 
varieties are single but a few have the pet- 
als multiplied so as to be quite double. 
They vary also considerably in the time of 
blooming some being early others late, and 
a judiciously chosen collection may thus 
continue to furnish flowers all summer long. 
When the stamens are perfect the Iris is 
one of the most satisfactory flowers to cross- 
fertilize with a view to the production of 
new varieties. — C. C. Georgeson. 
