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 There are irises that will be in flower at most times of the year, from mid-autumn through the gloom of winter into early spring and then the burst of summer. Those that brave the inclement weather hug the ground; the rest stand proud. Their scents beguile with plums and primroses and greengages, or offend with the smell of raw meat from crushed leaves. Their colours are those used by watercolourists, the essence of liquid light. There is an iris for every condition, dry or wet, sunny or shaded, arid or fertile. The evergreen leaves that are sometimes variegated are half their charm.
In mythology, the radiant maiden Iris was the swift messenger of the Greek gods whose path was the way of the rainbow. As a genus of plants, however, she is exceptionally diverse. Indeed, there are 300 of them. The Iris Register, begun in 1930 to record all new varieties bred annually, currently lists more than 62,000.
 For simplicity, however, we need only consider teo categories, the rhizomatous and the bulbous. To explore further would tire the concentration and needlessly exhaust the patience. After all, the main difference between the bearded and the beardless is, yes, the presence of or lack of a beard - a small area of hairs on the tongue of the falls, which are the flower petals that droop around the central upstanding standard petals.
Let us begin at that indecisive cusp of the year as autumn slips warily into the ice of winter, when the remnants of an Indian summer arouse with its warmth the small bulbs of Iris reticulata histroides 'Major'. They flower even before Christmas, their low Queen Mother blue blooms lasting many weeks. As they fade, they are replaced by Iris danfordiea with its honey scented acid yellow flowers.
 At the same time, Iris unguilaris, a native of Algeria, will flower, its lilac shaded loveliness smelling of primroses. This eight inch high iris loves to be among grit, the sharper the better. It is most at home against a west or south facing wall. The flowers are an amazing three inches wide. Grit protects it from the slugs attracted to its unopened flower. There is a variety, amusingly called 'Walter Butt', that is silvery lavender in colour.
Spring lengthens its days and the soil murmurs into warmth. The Iris family stir. Iris bucharica, a native of Turkestan, is one of the earliest and easiest of the June irises the English gardener can grow. It dislikes a wet summer, when its bulb may rot, especially on clay based soils. But, if happy, it will perform with cream white to yellow falls that are sweetly scented. |
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