By way of introduction and explaination ~
I have loved irises since I was a small child growing up in Emporia Kansas. My great aunt Lena Jones Merwin was an old-fashioned lady, who taught me old-fashioned ideas and manners. Her home was full of old-fashioned things, and her yard full of heirloom irises, which she'd been collecting since the 1940's. I grew up with Wabash, Perfection, Thais, Indian Chief, Rameses, Missouri, Amigo, Praire Sunset, Ola Kala, Cherie, Joseph's Mantle (which she called Joseph's Coat), Pink Formal, and Native Dancer. I transplanted some of these old friends to my garden in Ottawa Kansas when we moved there in the early 70's, but saw very few blooms due to my rotten little brother, who delighted in whacking the heads off with a stick. Rotten. This was the closest I would come to realizing an heirloom iris bed for years.
May has always been a special month for me; it's when the irises bloom. Every year that connection with my aunt is renewed as I admire the sights and fragrances of the iris gardens I have found. I recall the magic of her back yard, overspread with walnut and elm trees, and carpeted not with grass but with iris leaves. I remember the rocky ground on that hillside, the quince at the back fence, the redbud tree near the south gate, and the wisteria which draped the back porch. The driveway which once ended in the basement was edged with ivy and violets. This was a imaginarium for a little girl.
Many many years later, when we had finally purchased our own home, my dream of an iris garden was a posibility. With a tiny baby in tow, we dug six rizomes from Long's Iris Gardens in Boulder Colorado. We kicked off the sod from a patch of clay that serves as soil in east of Denver, and had tried to make an iris bed. The uphill battle had begun.
The clayey soil was not well-drained, and the irises weren't
amused. We had enriched and disturbed the soil enough to encourage that
scourage of Denver gardners, Canadian thistle. Only one brave clump
bloomed that first year, Magician's Apprentice. We moved to a new home
the following spring, and brought the clumps - healthier, but still
reluctant to bloom - with us. 
We had chosen a corner of the front yard for our bed, an old bed of juniper and sedum that had gotten lost in an overgrowth of grass. This bed would be the most visible in our yard, as it was aligned perfectly at the visual end of the part of the street on which we live. It was gruelling work to extract the juniper, but once it was done, we planted in our little vagabonds. I had also discovered some tiny iris leaves on the edge of the back yard. It had obvioulsy been years and years since these poor things had last bloomed, but they had valiantly survived neglect and mowers. I was dubious as to their chances for survival, as they were tiny and anemic-looking.
Last year our iris garden produced it's first spectacular display, which was rudely interrupted by a hailstorm. I'm sure I looked totally rediculous standing out there in the storm, Evan's purple wading pool held over my head to protect the delicate blooms. I had to give it up too soon, and the remaining blooms were scarred and pock-marked. I was very, very sad.
I somewhat made up for the loss by picking up Rare Treat and Savannah Sunset that summer. Lacking room in the front corner bed, these two went into a patch near the gate to the back yard. They were in bloom planted in two-gallon pots when I bought them, and so I considered it a toss-up as to whether they would bloom this year.
The news is somewhat better this year. Last fall after Chris's grandmother died, we dug some of the old irises from her yard. I prepared a bed behind the fence for them, and planted about 14 or 18 rizomes. Most have survived, and against the odds - this almost never happens - one of them has put up a flower spike and bloomed. Rare Treat surprised us by promising a huge display this year; the clump is vigorous and huge. But we got only one spike out of it. Savannah Sunset seemed more typical for the first year, not a lot of development and no new rizomes. Surprisingly, a spike is present. We'll see what comes of it.
I was working in Kansas when the garden started to bloom and Chris kindly took some beautiful pictures for me, in case disaster again struck, or they bloomed out before I could make it home. I have to say that I was surprised by one of them - there's a baby-blue iris that I have not seen before and don't remember buying.
Arriving Memorial Day weekend, I was gratified to find them still in full bloom, and the morning of Evan's birthday was spent admiring, sniffing, and deadheading. Today. with thunderstorms threatening, I decided that it would again be prudent to take some pictures before the storms took their toll. Besides, the one rescued from Chris' grandma's house had finally opened.
Here are the pictures with descriptions of this year's display. I've used the names given to me by Long's Gardens, but since I wasn't careful enough to keep the names with the plants, the varieties are estimates.
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The tiny rescued risomes
from the back yard produced a multitude of small purple blooms
which dominated the garden early. I have yet to research the variety.
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Superstition (Schreiner, 1977) The color - dark purple/black is warmer than the picture would indicate. Front corner bed; at least two clumps. This is undoubtedly one of my favorites. |
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Sunpolka (Magee, 1991); source - Long's Gardens. Gold with white blaze. Front corner bed. |
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Unknown; one of the two from Long's that have not yet been identified. Clear white with creamy petal bases. (Satin Knight?) Front corner bed. |
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Magician's Apprentice (Maryott's
Gardens, 1988); source - Long's Gardens The color a dark red-purple - is warmer than the picture would indicate. Front corner bed. |
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Identified as Kiss of Gold (Plough, 1986) but certainly not; source - Long's Gardens. Front corner bed |
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Unknown; probably one of the two from Long's that have not yet been identified. These are a true baby blue with gold beards. Front corner bed. |
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Blended Frills (O. Brown, 1986)?; source - Long's Gardens. Front corner bed. Flopsy (Loomis, 1990) is in the background. I don't have any great pictures of Flopsy; the wind has blown them apart. |
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Rare Treat (Schreiner's, 1987); source - a Dillon's in Kansas. Back gate bed. Somewhat past prime. |
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This is the one from Chris' grandmother's house; small bronze bloom. I have yet to research the variety (Indian Chief {Ayres 1929}?). It currently resides behind the back fence. |
| Picture coming soon - hopefully. | Savannah Sunset (Schreiner's, 2000); source - a Dillon's in Kansas. Back gate bed. Hasn't bloomed as of 5/31/06 |