A FEW WORDS ABOUT IRIS 
Dare to test this statement for yourself. John Wister once said, “If you pick 
an iris of blended coloring and hold it up in the evening twilight against the sky, 
you become a slave of the iris forever.” Pick a single stalk of Red Radiance or 
Rameses and really study and enjoy it for a moment and you will find that new 
and undreamed vistas of peace and beauty will open to you. 
The iris is the most original and distinct flower of the temperate zone. It is 
the flower of individuality. It increases readily and flowers generously and adapts 
itself to its surroundings. 
In the iris Hall of Fame are such truly magnificent flowers as Cook’s E. B. 
Williamson, Mitchell’s Naranja, Kirkland’s Junaluska, Grinter’s Ella Winchester, 
and many, many others. Thanks to skillful hybridizers the finest aristocrats of 
irisdom are available to everyone for less than the price of a new show or a good 
book. 
As a landscape flower, the iris is unsurpassed. It’s unlimited color range and 
the varying height to which the different bloom stalks grow, allow it to lend 
itself well to all garden and general landscaping arrangements. 
There is little danger of wrong color combinations in iris plantings, providing 
enough lighter iris, as yellow, white or ivory shades are included to give sufficient 
contrast to the darker and more brilliant shades. It is more important to plant 
with the matured height of the flower in mind and its setting or background, than 
to plant according to color scheme, unless an all blue or an all gold garden or the 
like is desired. Colors often arrange themselves better than hours devoted to 
this purpose can achieve. Green lawns, green trees, evergreen trees, a dark row 
of tree trunks, a dark wall or foundation makes a good foil for iris plantings. 
Mass planting of the same color make a fine showing. Fewer plants of many 
kinds placed in one bed are more dependent upon their background for proper 
display. The green foliage of some iris continue after the blooming season to 
furnish beauty to driveways, hill-side or erosion plantings. 
As a cut flower, the iris has also great possibilities. In arranging large jars 
full, use the full length stem and put one flower in at a time. Do not overcrowd 
as you will lose the charm and symmetry of each flower stalk. Bouquets should 
be made of one color or of flowers of the same intensity of color rather than of 
great contrast. Iris may be arranged for table use. Do not mutilate the stem, 
use rather table iris or short border type iris for this purpose. If these are too 
tall, remove a few buds and float them in a shallow bowl which has enough sur- 
face to display the bud or buds when they are open. Cut a few tips of leaves 
to complete this arrangement. No matter what arrangement you wish to use, 
always cut your flowers in the morning and allow to remain out of water for an 
hour or so before use. This makes them easier to handle, as they are less brittle. 
Always pick off curled buds, giving the fresh buds a better chance to open. In 
selecting flowers to cut, choose those with a generous supply of buds. 
Anything which grows is more beautiful to look at than anything which is 
built. Flowers, of all growing things in Nature, touch the heart most profoundly. 
Few realize the improvements made in iris growing in the last decade, both as 
to size and color. Present day iris really bear only a slight resemblance, by way 
of comparison, to the older types irises. Your valuable garden space should be 
saved for some of these newer, finer sorts. When you re-set your old iris, do 
not feel that you have done your neighbor a favor when you hand him iris such 
as were grown in your great grandfather’s time. Certain old varieties never lose 
their charm, but the truly magnificent improved iris of this day are superior in 
every way. 
Iris deserves more extensive cultivation. We need beauty in a wartorn and 
ugly world, we need flowers as well as food and we need flowers that take the 
minimum of cultivation and care. Flowers are scarce now for many reasons. 
Iris, ton, will be hard to obtain. Order a few of these fine flowers now if you 
want to avoid disappointment in securing some of the most attractive kinds 
that grow. 
