202 
IRIS XIPIIIOIDES. 
are not sufficiently established before the winter sets in ; those 
recommended should, however, be struck as quickly as possible, 
and after potting, should be placed in a sunny position out of 
doors as long as the weather will permit, in order to harden their 
tissue and prepare them for the severities of the coming season. 
Hortula^us. 
CULTURE OE IRIS XIPHIOIDES. 
4 - 
It is somewhat remarkable, amid the thirst for novelty which 
now prevails, that florists do not turn their attention to the easily- 
managed, showy, and variable English Iris; it is a class already 
of sufficient magnitude to afford a rich display, were some little 
pains taken to collect the varieties, and with attention there can 
be no doubt of a very great improvement being effected. It 
contains naturally more colours of a primitive kind than most 
other classes adopted as fancy flowers, the blending of which 
appears to be as easily effected as can be desired, and though the 
present outline of the flower is widely different from the regular 
figure to which the florist usually reduces his subjects, it has all 
the advantage of elegance unconstrained, and would come with 
a degree of freshness on the notice of the flower-loving public. 
All or nearly all the present varieties (certainly the best of them) 
are of German origin, and though called the English Iris, appear 
to have been hitherto sadly neglected in our country, and though 
an old flower, there are hundreds of even professional gardeners 
and florists who never saw the species except in its normal cha¬ 
racter, or may be in the shape of one or two of the earlier deep 
blue, narrow-petalled varieties, which, from their constitutional 
hardiness, have lived in the borders despite the annual extermi¬ 
nating efforts of the spade. 
Its appearance on a show table is certainly unsurpassed by that 
of any other family, and the relief with which the eye rests on their 
cool tints after gazing on the bright glaring colours which distin¬ 
guish the florist’s flowers of the same season must be felt to be 
fully appreciated. Red, white, and blue are the prevailing colours 
of the class: the last is most common and the first the most rare. 
