THE LOUISIANA WILD IRIS 
CHARLES VICTOR KRAFT 
If a lazy lover of plants asked 
us to name a flower as_ es- 
quisitely delicate as an orchid, 
as beautiful as a rose, and yet 
one which withstands extremes 
of heat and cold, which flour- 
ishes in high or low land, or in 
water, and one which is not mo- 
lested by insects or disease, we 
would not have to smile and 
shake our heads in despair. We 
would not even have to stop and 
think. The answer would be in 
the Louisiana Wild Iris. It alone 
fills all these requirements. 
I became flower minded about 
forty years ago. It was in New 
Orleans that my attention was 
first attracted by the great va- 
riety of colors in the blooms 
of the Louisiana wild iris found 
growing and blooming in the 
gutters along unimproved streets 
and in swampy places in the 
suburbs of this interesting 
southern city. 
Road _ building in southern 
Louisiana and throughout this 
delta section, the improvement 
of our streets, and the digging 
of great canals for the drainage 
of our land, were the principal 
factors destroying these wonder- 
fully interesting plants that 
grew despite any other obstacle. 
Alleys and undrained gutters 
strewn with tin cans and other 
rubbish lost their ugliness in the 
early spring as these beautiful 
irises, capped with colorful 
blooms, shot their graceful 
spikes through the debris. 
Because these plants were so 
numerous and _ so_ accessable, 
they were not generally planted 
in the lovely gardens of old New 
Orleans. But, conditions have 
changed; the march of progress 
has~threatened “their *perpetua- 
tion and in doing so has increas- 
ed their popularity. 
It has been suggested by 
botanists and _ floraculturists 
that some one in the immediate 
vicinity of New Orleans devote 
his time and grounds to saving 
as many of the different va- 
rieties as possible. We have 
accepted this suggestion and 
are now engaged in gathering, 
selecting, and propagating these 
wonderful plants. 
Those who are interested in 
the habits and requirements of 
our native iris, may be better 
served by anticipating their 
questions. 
Iris may be taken from their 
origional location any time of 
the year, but the best time!'is 
in July or August when-they-are 
dormant. If they are transplant- 
ed after September, they will 
