Irises

I don't know where all these gorgeous irises come from and can't tell you one single name of them, but I am sure enjoying them. I thought I'd share them with you all. Rather than bogging down the GBBD with this pictures, I had this post already prepared and thought I'd post it the day after.

The yellow irises are my favorite. They are planted by some neighboring irises, and backed by a mock orange just beginning to come into bloom. It is splendid this year.

This yellow iris is a kind of muddy, subdued iris. Not sure about liking it so much. Geri and I traveled to Nashville to see a lovely iris gardener (Bernice) who was selling trays of irises leftover from the Iris Society sale. Bernice kindly labeled the 10 varieties or so, but I lost the info and even if I found the names, how can I ever match them to the plants? It is a really good thing gardens grow without needing to know their names.

This gigantic white iris may have been a pass-a-long from PPS two years ago. It is planted in my foundation bed. Last year I decided to go to all perennials here, with white being an anchor color. The irises look good nearly all year, with or without the flowers, and fit in well. These flowers are truly big.

These two irises are really a surprise! Where did I get the pink and bi-colored one????? Any of my friends recognize them? They can't be from Bernice because they are planted in other locations and in multiple locations.

This truly lovely red iris was on the property when we moved here. There were exactly five perennials here; sedums, irises, lily of the valleys, hostas, and daylillies. I love this stunner. Along with this red iris, found on the property were the purple irises.

This very dark, deep colored iris has to be one I purchased from Bernice. It is just now blooming after growing in the garden for two years. I find it funny how some irises can take over, and some are slower to spread. I don't know enough about irises to know why. It may have to do with hybridizing versus open pollinated.

Now I do know where I got these lilac irises. My neighbor shared some with me. They were planted in her yard many years ago by two or three past owners. I sure wish I knew this gardener as the effect of her hand is still visible after 17 years.

This is another dwarf iris. The ones I previously posted about were early bloomers. It came from another unknown source. It is sweet but I am having difficulties finding a spot for it.

These standard Tennessee irises were already here when we moved in. I did not know what they were and were impressed when they began growing from a few rhizomes in the middle of the lawn. I moved them to a garden and all offspring this color are descended from the few irises found here when we moved in.

No idea where this pale blueish/lilac came from.

These 'brown' irises were given to me by a daylily hybridizer on the north side of town. She said I could take all I wanted. They were not in bloom in July when I dug them. She told me they were purple and all I could envision was the Tennessee purple irises. I was not enthused but never refuse free plants. I was pleasantly-can I say extremely surprised when they turned out to be something different. The magenta bi-color is neat. They are faithful bloomers and a mainstay in the garden and have spread abundantly.

One last picture of a rogue iris. I spotted this one short iris and don't know why it is so short! It is of the same variety as the tall one right next to it. Has anyone ever seen this? Is it possible the stem was broken and it regenerated another one-a short one?

I am still in the process of collecting irises. My friend Geri dug me a huge bunch of her yellow and white irises. Another gardening friend (Lola E.) has promised me some white ones with vivid purple falls and edged all around with purple. I will never know their names, but I will remember where they come from and try to be better in the future with remembering where all my new plants come from. I so want to give the gardeners credit for gifting my garden with their splendor. The only irises I ever bought were the 10 starts from Bernice. Those costed a mere $5, a steal. All the rest were gifts or already here so I truly feel blessed by the gardening community.

Thanks all and if any of you recognize some of these irises or where I got them from-feel free to let me know what their names are so I can also know and properly thank you for my lovely display this year.

in the garden....