56 
THE GARDEN :M A G A Z I N E 
September, 1916 
Japanese Iris blooms late, giving bloom freely in midsum- 
mer. Sweet Alyssum in foreground 
I. pseudacorus is another moisture lover, and 
has an alba form which, to my mind, is much 
lovelier than the deep yellow type. The 
Siberian Irises (which are, by the way, natives 
of Europe as well as Siberia), are a joy, and 
should be in every garden. 1 he pale blue, 
George \\ allace, is one of the most enchanting 
flowers I know; and sibirica acuta, a dwarfer 
one, blue veined with white, is distinct and 
lovely. The Orientalis forms. Blue King and 
Snow Queen, are truly royal in their beauty. 
I he sibiricas and orientalis have abundant and 
beautiful grass-like foliage; and when well 
established, are very generous with their 
flowers. Near a stream or pond they seem 
most at home, but care should be taken that 
the crowns are above the water-line. They 
may be grown as well in a sunny border, but 
should be watered in dry weather. 
If some one could develop a Spanish Iris 
(I. Xiphium) which had good, abundant fol- 
iage, he would indeed do the gardening world a 
service. In early spring when the first green 
appears, the novice is sure that onions were 
planted by mistake; but the flowers are so 
lovely and so useful for cutting that these 
orchid-like blossoms should not be condemned 
for their lack of foliage. I grow them m rows, 
in the picking garden, and omit them from the 
garden proper. I hey are of the easiest po.s- 
sible culture, and the bulbs are so inexpensive, 
that they should be grown by the thousands, 
even though they do have to be replanted 
every three or four years. La d endresse, is a 
lovely deep cream; Louise, white with lilac 
shading; Flora, a beautiful white; and Thun- 
derbolt, a most interesting beauty of bronzy 
brown. 
Of the English Irises (I. xiphioides) the pure 
white, Mont Blanc, is my favorite; it is the one 
so largely used in England for cut flowers, and 
deserves its such general use there. I he other 
varieties I have tried look too splotchy to 
please me. I he foliage of the English Iris is 
somewhat better than the Spanish, but has, 
too, a decided oniony look. .Another quality 
they have in common is their lack of increase, 
and dying out altogether after a few years. 
I he monspur Iris having similar, larger flowers 
are stronger growing plants too and bloom 
about the same time. 
Iris tectorum, the Japanese roof Iris, is 
delicate, hard to please, and does not seem to 
like us very well, but for romance sake “ if you 
don’t at first succeed, try, try, try again” to 
coax her to yield her heavenly blue flowers. 
1 he stately I. ochroleuca (spuria) grows 
some five feet high, has good foliage, and 
beautiful ivory-white flowers with an orange 
blotch at the base of the falls. It likes a moist, 
but not wet situation; as does the I. longipetala 
superba (spuria), with her exquisite porcelain 
blue flowers, the falls of which are exception- 
ally long and gold touched at the base. These 
two Irises adapt themselves most beautifully 
to waterside planting, but, as with the Si- 
berians, the crowns should be set above the 
water line. 
I. foetidissima or Gladwyn’s Iris, has to its 
credit, purple, beardless flowers, bright scarlet 
seed-pods — which are most attractive in win- 
ter^ — and evergreen foliage; a by no means 
scant list to recommend it. For situation, it 
requires a dry, sunny place; and it may well be 
planted near the house, since it is attractive in 
the winter as well as summer. 
1 he Japanese Iris (I. Kaempferi) is a whole 
subject in itself. If only the names of var- 
ieties could be definitely settled, and all com- 
mercial growers compelled to use them, what a 
joy life would be! L'nder present conditions, 
it IS best to buy a collection from some reliable 
grower, and be sure that they are carefully 
labelled; or, better still, go to the gardens of 
some nursery and take your own notes of 
colors and combinations. My favorite is a 
large flowered, three petaled white one, 
delicately suffused with sky blue at the base of 
the petals. In my first garden, I had a 
beautiful group of this cloud-and-sky Iris, but 
alas, in transplanting myself to a larger garden, 
I lost it. That was some years ago; and not 
until this spring have I been able to track a few 
of these heavenly flowers to their lair, and 
thence to my borders. There is, too, a most 
beautiful pure white variety, with just a touch 
of gold at the base of the petals: and one with 
mauve pencilings, which is very lovely; in fact, 
very few of the Japanese Irises are anything 
but lovely. 1 hese Irises like considerable 
moisture at budding and flowering time, and 
will repay soakings, with larger and finer 
textured flowers. In some gardens in Japan, a 
small stream is changed in its course, to flood 
the Iris fields at budding and flowering time. 
If, however, they are allowed to stand in water 
through the winter, the result is invariably 
fatal. 1 he roots increase in an open circle, 
and when this circle is completely filled, they 
may be separated, to give additional plants; 
if not, leave them undisturbed. 1 he last of 
August, or early September, is the best time 
for planting or separating, and if it cannot be 
attended to at this time, should be left until 
spring, as the winter heaving of newly set 
plants is often disastrous. It is possible to 
grow the Japanese Irises without much moi.s- 
ture, if the ground is kept thoroughly culti- 
vated, and is never allowed to bake into a 
solid crust. 
SPEAKING GENER.ALLV 
It is hard to come to any general conclusions, 
but it may be valuable to remember, that the 
great group of the Pogoniris (which includes 
the pumila, the intermediate, the germanicas, 
and all those ha\ ing a distinct beard at the 
base of the falls) likes a sunny, well drained 
situation. 1 he ground should be prepared by 
digging as deeply as you are willing —but at 
least 1 8 inches — adding some air-slaked lime 
and either bone meal or very well-rotted man- 
ure (but never fresh manure, which is death- 
dealing to the rhizomes). 1 hese Pogoniris like 
some moisture during the growing and flower- 
ing season, but after that the plants rest and 
ripen, by sun baking, for the following years’ 
bloom. Water, other than what the heavens 
send, should be withheld during this time, un- 
less there should be a continued draught, in 
which case a watering will be appreciated. 
Finely-ground bone meal stirred about the 
plants in the early spring will repay you with 
flowers of increased size. It is pleasant to feel 
that one’s plants are properly cared for, but for 
those who have but little time, it may be well 
to say, that most of the Pogoniris can live 
through an astonishing amount of neglect, 
practically naturalizing themselves. The only 
thing really fatal, is to be planted in a wet 
place. If the planting must be put off until 
spring, take heart, for I ha\ e often had spring 
planted Irises of this group bloom nicely the 
first year. 
The Apogon or beardless Irises, to which 
group belong the Siberian, orientalis, versi- 
color, pseudacorus, and Japanese, do not like 
lime in the preparation of the bed; well-rotted 
cow manure, or bone meal with the addition of 
some leafmold are the best foods for this 
tribe. I he Apogons like moisture, and unless 
planted near a stream or pond, should be gen- 
erously watered, especially at budding time; 
and the ground should be kept cultivated. As 
said before, unless the planting can be done 
early in the autumn, it had better be deferred 
until spring. 
I he hosts of green worms which sometimes 
attack the Japanese Ins leaves can be suc- 
cessfully destroyed with one or two sprayings 
of arsenate of lead. And the green aphis which 
is rather fond of the buds of this same Iris, 
succumbs to an application of any good nico- 
tine solution. 
The bulbous Iris must be planted in the 
autumn; the Spanish likes a warm, rich soil, 
but alas, disappears after a few years. The 
English Iris can stand a somewhat colder, 
wetter soil than the Spanish but seems really 
happy almost anywhere. 
If wanted for house decoration, Iri.ses should 
be cut when in full bud and allowed to open in 
the house; the flow’ers will be slightly deeper in 
tone, and quite perfect, since it is almost im- 
possible to gather any quantity of fully 
opened flowers without crushing some of the 
delicate petals. 
Iris Silver King (German), with Stachys lanata, edging a 
flagged walk 
