Every Fall there is a chorus of weather prophets who pre¬ 
dict the winter will be mild because the rabbits do thus 
and SO; or severe^ because the squirrels do this and that. 
And were the former wrong ! Old man winter came on 
with a roar, and submitted the flowers to every variety of 
punishment; snow for months^ sheets of ice for weeks, and 
a lake of water more than a foot deep for two days. One 
could have rowed a boat around the path by the gazing 
globe and even to the water lily pool, where the poor 
gold fish had been frozen solid for almost two months. 
What did all this do to the Tall Bearded? Apparently 
nothing. Now it is almost April; the leaves are showing 
green, and I am sure not a single one has succumbed. A 
flower that will grow if swept over by fire in the spring, 
if kept out of the ground for weeks in the summer, or when 
subjected to the severest winter rigors,- as the iris will, tru¬ 
ly is.the one for the man who neglects. However, irises 
repay the true gardener many fold for all the extra loving 
care he will surely give. 
'The love for irises grows. Their most delicate colors or 
deeper tones, their dainty flowers or massive blooms, the 
blended tints or brilliant hues, upon close acquaintance 
surely must make one an iris enthusiast. Their beauty and 
genuine friendliness coupled with their extreme hardiness, 
make them unsurpassed for the home garden. Then the a- 
bility to have bloom almost continuously from early spring 
until late autumn, by planting the different varieties, also 
adds to their desirability.’ 
But of course you do,- that all rhizomes (bulbs) are not of 
the same size. The illustration on the following page has 
been so greatly reduced, that only by comparison with the 
twelve inch rule, can one realize that the distance from the 
bottom of the larger rhizome to the top of the leaves shown 
is nearly two feet. Bruno, the large one, was fed equal 
