Another Spring Flower
The bulb boys are first in spring. Behind them, the rise of the rhizomes bringing on the bearded Iris. If you calculate correctly, you will have flowers blooming in the garden all season long from spring to frost. Most of our flowers from bulbs are already gone. What we have now are the Bearded Irises, Lilac, Clematis Montana and Columbines.
Princess Beatrice (Iris pallida), this lavender blue Iris came with the house, a lot of them. I had separated and replanted them after a few years, creating another row by the pool fence. That may have been a mistake. We have a tough time sitting on the patio or pool deck when they are in full bloom. Their fragrance is too strong. This year, luckily, the row by the garage walkway bloomed first. The ones by the pool fence are just budding.
I love their blade-like leaves, especially in the morning when they are graced with dew. The dewdrops gather like a string of diamonds along the edge of the leaves and glisten in the sunlight. They are also drought tolerant. The row next to the garage is partially under the roof so they hardly get any rain. I water them once in a while when it’s really hot and dry, and they are thriving. Most of them bloom once per season but I have one that re-blooms in the fall, Lenora Pearl. We had a freak snow storm in October last year but this re-bloomer weathered that too. My task now is to search for more varieties of the them.
Petals and Wings 