146 
GARDENING IN THE SOUTHWEST 
The Iris 
Library 
rather smaller. An early flowering group of smaller flowers are 
the hybrids of the Dutch Iris group which are the common Irises 
used by the florists for winter forcing. 
There are a good many other bulbous Irises of different types. 
Space does not permit me to mention many, but for those who 
have sheltered positions it might be well to try a few bulbs of 
Iris reticulata, because it blooms so early in the Spring, is such a 
beautiful flower, and is so wonderfully fragrant. Even as far north 
as Massachusetts, it often blooms before the first of April, being 
the first of all Irises to appear in open gardens. 
These are but a few of many types of Iris which might well 
be tried in various parts of the Southwest. I want to emphasize 
that, not being a native, I have no right and no desire to say which 
will or which will not succeed. I hope my article will make some 
gardeners wish to try a few of the various types, and I hope those 
who try them will make their experiments known through the 
various garden clubs and through the State or National Iris Society, 
so that the information can be passed along to other gardeners. I 
should like to call to the attention of garden groups the fact that 
the American Iris Society has recently established as a memorial 
to the great Iris pioneer, Mr. Bertram H. Farr, the Farr Me¬ 
morial Traveling Iris Library. Our members have collected and 
endowed this library and it is available for Horticultural Societies 
and Garden Clubs for the period of one month without any 
charge, except actual express charges for the shipping. Organiza¬ 
tions in the Southwest may apply to the Missouri Botanical Garden, 
St. Louis, Missouri, which is custodian of this library for the 
middle section of the country. 
Iris-growing is still in its pioneer stage everywhere in America. 
It is evident that there are no states in the Union where some 
types will not succeed admirably but many years of careful 
experimentation is needed before we know how many different 
kinds will succeed in each different climatic section of the country. 
John C. Wister, 
President of the American Iris Society . 
