Wednesday, September 8, 2010

September Iris

'Victoria Falls'

Many years ago was the first time I ever ordered iris from a catalog. I had a half an acre garden and was dreaming of planting hundreds of iris. Unfortunately the selection was overwhelming and I didn't know where to begin. So I started with the "A's". I order ten iris whose names began with "A".

'Beverly Sills'

When they arrived I planted them and made up neat little markers with my Brother P Touch to assure that I would never lose track of them. The following year I did the same with "B's".

'Frequent Violet'

That was as far as I got in the alphabet. By then I had dozens and dozens of all kinds of iris. Labels got hidden or lost, but I was thrilled with the amazing show they put on every year. Each was a surprise package every time it bloomed!

'Immortality'

If I was advising a gardener new to iris on what ones to choose, I would suggest starting with the rebloomers as a base, because they will bring you flowers throughout the year. Then you can pick out some of your favorite colors or especially fragrant ones to complete your collection. These are four of the iris that are blooming in my SJC garden right now.

5 comments:

~fer said...

Beautiful!
I love how you took the photo with some dew.

Carolyn ♥ said...

Lovely! Iris will only bloom in the Spring in my gardens.

The Redneck Rosarian said...

"Frequent Violet" is wonderful. Great post!

Kathleen said...

Great advice Sheila. I wish I had some rebloomers ~ I only have Iris in spring and they don't last long enough for me.
'Beverly Sills' is gorgeous. I think I've admired her here before?

Carolyn Parker said...

Thanks for the iris lesson-- rebloomers-- indeed yours are stunning!