IRIS: Form and Color

Due to the small rhizome it has grown from, the stalk is small but the flower is livin' large!

Iris--Garden Surprise

Last fall, I divided my iris plants.  From a few:  many.  As I divided the plants, I had new rhizomes of many sizes.  You can see the sword-like leaves of the irises have developed beautifully.  I did not expect to see any flowers this year.  This morning during garden inspection (!), I looked down at the iris garden to discover one of the smallest plants had produced a flower.  Once it opens, I will share the photo with you.

Divided We Stand

My irises hadn't been divided for a few years.  Recently I took a few hours to divide my purple bearded irises.  The space I allocated to the replanting quickly filled up with the rhizomes.  After several weeks in the ground, I can see new green growth is starting.

Irises Blooming in March

Yesterday afternoon was a garden day for me. I had to turn my compost and I had a lot of weeding to do. So when I tripped out the door at noon I was delighted to see the iris blooming.

This iris is offspring to tubers given to me when I was attending Master Gardener classes back in the early 90s. Someone in the class had separated her irises and brought in tubers to share with anyone who was interested. I took three tubers and they have been very productive members of the garden. I separated them a few years ago and shared them with two friends.

When we did the garden update last year, I grabbed a few tubers out of the garden and tossed them in a container with potting soil. They stayed there all summer until the work was done. Then I planted them back in the soil. Tah-Dah. This spring they are back at work creating flowers which would make Monet proud.