The English Iris has a charming grace of flower with slender foliage, and is well worth re- 
planting as needed 
Intermixed with the Germans, the English Irises, blooming later, provide for a succession 
of bloom 
Irises for a Succession of Bloom LAWSON MELISH, Ohio 
CONSTANT FLOWERING FROM MARCH TO MID-JULY NEXT YEAR FROM ROOTS PLANTED AT THIS SEASON 
L et me admit at the very beginning 
that I cannot preserve a semblance 
of neutrality when any member of 
the great Iris family is mentioned. 
If, through some stern decree, I might have but 
one flower in my garden, that one would be an 
Iris; and as I have a penchant for fairy tales, it 
would be the delicate blue roof Ins of Japan, 
I. tectorum. Just how this came to be the roof 
Iris is an enchanting tale, even though it may 
be a bit of fancy, rather than fact. 
Many years ago, when Japan was in the grip 
of a consuming famine, the Emperor com- 
manded his subjects to dig from the gardens all 
flowering things, and to plant grain. I he dear 
Little women were in despair; because it was 
from roots of the tectorum Iris that they made 
their face powder — and even a famine does not 
conquer vanity. One resourceful little thing 
moved her Irises from the garden, to the 
thatch on her roof; others were quick to follow 
suit, and so it became what it is, and can to 
this day be seen, happily waving its lovely blue 
flag from many bits of thatch! 
For practical convenience, I consider the 
Irises in succession of blooming, rather than in 
their more technical classification. It is pos- 
sible to have, here in Ohio, a constant succes- 
sion of bloom from March until about the 
second week in July, by planting some of the 
later-blooming Japanese Irises in the partial 
shade. 
THE EARLIEST TO BLOOM 
d he vecv first to bloom is the dwarf I. reti- 
culata; I have flowered it at Snowdrop time, in 
well prepared soil; enriched with humus {never 
use organic manure); protected from the north 
winds, and covered to the depth of six inches 
with leaves through the winter. It is a tiny, 
dainty thing, deep blue purple, and in form 
somewhat like the Spanish Iris, bi?t much 
smaller; and like most very early bloomers, 
short stemmed. If so desired, it may be 
moved when in flower, provided the plants are 
kept moist while out of the ground. This first 
of Irises is shy and capricious, and needs loving 
attention. 
Next in the procession are the pumila var- 
ieties, which look quite like German Irises in 
miniature. First, comes the deep purple, of 
which most gardens possess at least a few; the 
sky-blue, pumila coerulea, is much lov'elier; as 
is the new hybrid, Schneecuppe, a large- 
flowered white variety. 1 he pumilas are quite 
hardy, and prefer a sunny, dry portion of the 
garden for their home. I cannot like the 
dwarf Irises used as edgers for the taller var- 
ieties; in that role they look to me “out of 
drawing,” as the artists would say. The effect 
is so much haiipier if they are used in flat 
drifts near rocks, or edging borders in which 
the taller Irises are not to be used. 
The .Alpine and Crimean hybrids follow the 
pumilas closely; their flowers are both larger 
and longer stemmed. Stewart is a delicate 
primrose; and I he Bride, of course, pure white; 
Fairy combines pale and deep blue; and Grac- 
ilis is a sweet scented beauty, silver gray and 
lavender. 1 hese hybrids like the same home 
conditions as the pumilas. 
Ihe Intermediate Irises are the result of 
crosses between the tall bearded (German) 
Irises and the various Crimean hybrids. They 
are large flowered, sweet scented mostly, of 
medium height, and bloom between the early 
dwarfs, and the later Germans. They are 
quite hardy, and thoroughly charming. 
Gerda, cream yellow; Halfdan, creamy white; 
and Queen Flavia, primrose yellow, are all 
lovely; Ingeborg, one of the recent intro- 
ductions, is a beautiful, very large white 
flower. The Intermediates are vigorous, and 
like a sunnj- well drained position. 
■A DIFFICULT LOT, BUT WORTH WHILE 
The illusive “Mourning Iris,” I. susiana, 
than which nothing is more enchanting, is well 
worth the enthusiasm she demands. It is the 
best known member of the Onocyclus group, 
speaking technically, which has very distinc- 
tive flowers and is not easy to grow. Irises of 
this group have only one flower to the stalk and 
are curiously veined in somber colors. Choose 
for the Mourning Iris a very well protected 
spot; enrich the ground with bone meal, and a 
liberal supply of lime — either in the form of old 
mortar pounded up, or lime which has been 
thoroughly air-slaked, d amp the finished bed 
as firmly as possible, and have the surface 
raised, to drain properly and promptly. In 
the autumn, plant the bulbs, just covering 
them with earth; and pray that you may have 
success. Cover well with leaves, and a board 
or two, and do not uncover in the spring until 
all possible danger of frost is over. After their 
all too short season of bloom, cover the bed 
with old glass-sash or boards, to protect the 
plants from rain, as the roots must be kept 
perfectly dry during the resting period. Some 
persons lift the bulbs of I. susiana immediately 
after flowering, dry them well and pack away 
until autumn. If planted to flower in front of 
the pale pink Darwin Tulip, Margaret, or the 
deep mauve breeder, Chester Jay Hunt, the 
combination will be most satisfying. Dykes 
in his great work, “Irises,” describes I. susiana 
as looking like a piece of wet newspaper, on 
which the ink had run. I respect, most pro- 
foundly, his cultural opinions and classifica- 
tions, but cannot admire his taste. I. susiana 
is of a shade known to users of dress materials 
as taupe, a brownish gray with a pink cast. 
1 he flower is very large, about two sizes larger 
than the typical German Iris, and is borne on 
an eighteen inch stem. 
Iris verna (.Apogon or beardless), a tiny, 
\ iolet colored, sweet scented native of Ohio, is 
too little known; it is free blooming, spreads 
rapidly, and requires half shade — a unique 
quality among Irises. 
Iris cristata (Evansia or crested) is another 
dwarf beauty; a native of our Central States; 
and is usually found creeping quite rampantlv 
on damp gravel beside streams. The ame- 
thyst blue flowers are carried on three inch 
stems, or I should more correctly say on three 
inch perianth tubes, since in reality they have 
no stems proper. These dainty flowers are 
charming subjects for the rock garden. 
THE GRE.AT GROUP OF “ GERMANS” 
The so-called I. Germanica (Pogoniris or 
bearded) is the next to wave its many colored 
flags in this procession, d'he name, “Ger- 
man,” as applied to this group is really a mis- 
nomer, since very few Irises are native to 
Germany, and those few are not the parents of 
the great group we know by that name. In 1 
this section, the first to bloom is the old re- ; 
liable deep purple, which is none the less de- i 
sirable because it is persistent and easy to | 
please. I he grayish white. Silver King, is j 
early too, and a companion planting of these 
two early kinds, results in enhancing the 
beauties of both varieties. 
For convenience of description I shall divide 
the Germanica group into its six sub-sections, 
(i) The Pallidas are in my humble estima- 
tion the most beautiful of the bearded Irises; 
with their handsome, long stemmed, sweet 
scented, grayish blue to lavender flowers; and 
beautiful wide glaucous foliage. Pallida dal- 
matica is to be found in many gardens, but is 
often confused with the Florentine Flag (Orris 
root Iris) which, however, is less sturdy and 
lacking in “ dignity.” Moreover the foliage has 
not the same glaucous gray cast. The true 
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