HERBACEOUS GARDEN 
162 
flower, an enormous increase in the different 
varieties has taken place. Indeed, it is almost 
impossible to deal with lists of them in such a 
limited space as in this chapter. But if any 
good catalogue from a specialist in this plant 
(and there are several) be referred to, it will 
be seen that their name is legion, and that 
they flower in succession from November to 
July, beginning with stylosa and ending with 
some of the new hybrids in July. 
In December, reticulata commences to 
bloom ; in January and February, Alata and 
other bulbous iris. 
Iris reticulata in a light soil that has had 
plenty of enrichment, and wood ashes and 
charred refuse worked in, is very happy, and 
will blossom in sheets in February. A neigh- 
bour has just brought me in a large bunch of 
them, and tells me the picking of them has made 
no difference to the appearance of the border. 
They are of a deep violet, almost a dark blue, 
with quaint orange blotches, and a generally 
spiky effect when arranged in a large bowl. 
They spread rapidly when well established, 
and when brought into the house smell like 
violets, with a spicy touch as of a crushed 
geranium leaf, or of a fir tree, perhaps. 
In March and April we get the Pumila and 
