Japanese Irises 
The best skill of the ingenious Japanese hybridists has 
been expended to bring this, their most splendid creation, 
to a high state of perfection. Today the great blossoms, 
which seem variously to be fashioned of delicate crepe, of 
lustrous satin, or rich velvet, exhibit an amazing range of 
hues, from gleaming white through tender grey to many 
tones of lavender and blue and violet, from mauve through 
rose and claret to regal crimson-purple, many of them 
flushed, dappled, veined or margined with contrasting 
colors, creating an infinite variety of effects and beauty 
that has no peer in the world of the garden. 
It has been said that to grow the Japanese Iris well and 
permanently, its head must be in the sunshine and its feet 
in the water. These conditions are easy enough to supply 
where there is an available stream or pond-margin, or an 
overflowing garden pool, but it must be remembered that 
however ideal the soil conditions, the need of this plant 
for sunshine is peremptory, and it will not flower where 
it is overhung by trees or shadowed by buildings. Plant 
it in the open in moist, heavy soil, keep grasses and weeds 
from invading the clumps, and there will be little trouble 
with this haughty beauty. In such positions it is most 
effective in great plantations away from other plants. Its 
splendor puts out the light of lesser flowers, and there are 
none to enter the field with it on equal terms. It is the 
last of the moisture-loving Irises to flower. 
Although the waterside provides the most natural en¬ 
vironment for these Irises they may, however, be very suc¬ 
cessfully grown in the garden if a little trouble be taken to 
insure their comfort. They require a depth of at least 
twelve inches of soil enriched with well rotted cow manure. 
In this a shallow basin should be hollowed out and the 
plant set in the center with an inch of soil over its collar 
and a light mulch of spent manure or leaves. Planted 
under such conditions and kept well watered, new shoots 
soon appear and a glorious flowering the following year is 
assured. In the spring the mulch may be removed, care 
being taken not to injure the tender young shoots, and 
water must be freely given in dry weather until after the 
flowers are past. 
Early August is the best time to plant Japanese Irises, 
or to lift and divide old clumps. It must be remembered 
that these proud flowers are even more intolerant than 
Irises in general of the encroachments of neighboring 
plants. They need air and sunshine, rich soil and water, 
and they repay us lavishly for all the consideration they 
receive. 
These Japanese varieties prefer richer, lighter, and 
moister soils than the Bearded Irises. The best flowers 
come from plants in an alluvial loam which might be 
flooded once or twice as the flower-stems push up in May 
and June. In such soil they will often reach a height of 
5 feet, with flowers 9 to 10 inches in diameter. In light 
soil they can be grown to perfection if the ground is kept 
hoed or mulched. 
View of our Prize Winning Japanese Iris Garden at 
the 1934 Newport, Rhode Island Summer Show. 
.Qxi-.; 
frr 
36 
