Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I'm Still an Iris Girl

They just bowl me over this time of year! Eleanor Roosevelt has to be my favorite (above, center). The falls (lower petals) are almost black. Gorgeous! On the left, Belvi Queen, which has been blooming on and off year round. On the right, Victoria Falls, so big and tall and ruffly and lovely and blue!

Above, Eternal Bliss with Autumn Circus in the background. The beards aren't looking as bright orange from this angle.


Autumn Circus in front, with such striking stripes. The white guy is English Cottage, a strongly scented variety. Then, Victoria Falls and Belvi Queen again.


Left: Persian Berry, away from the others in the back yard, but surrounded by about a trillion plain purple bearded irises. The Persian Berry stalks tower way above all the others. Right: A magnificent Belvi Queen.



Finally, Dixie Deb Louisiana iris blooming for the first time in our pond. The stalk shot up five feet (or a little over five feet) to elevate the flowers beyond the palm fronds. (I circled the first bloom, above-left.) This has been a cr-azy plant to watch grow all along. First, this massive hairy rhizome grew right out of the side of the pot and over the edge of the center-pond planting area. It grew longer and longer into the deeper water where the pond pump is and produced a big tangle of free-hanging roots before the leafing-out really began. The roots keep invading the pump's box filter. This winter (if you can really call it "winter" in SoCal), all the pictured fans got huge. Now, we have crazy-tiny but intensely bright flowers on that crazy-tall stalk. I love it!

2 comments:

  1. these are gorgeous! I love the circus striped one!. I have about 6 different variety myself out front in the flower beds, none have opened yet, but I think they will by the weekend. I have a good number of the deep rust ones like you have in the top photo, and some yellow and ruffly peach. I'll have to take some pictures of mine when they bloom too!

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