Family Flowers

Many of my flowers that are blooming right now remind me of my mother and grandmothers... and many are actual transplants from their gardens! 

My mom had bleeding hearts when I was growing up and they will always remind me of home.
 

This white iris is from my mom's clump in our back yard at home, where I first fell in love with them! These take me right back to early summer in my teenage years.

This ruffly purple iris is a transplant from my gardening friend, Peggy, but they are almost identical to another one I have from my grandma's yard.

This picture does not do it justice, but these purple iris are so dark they're almost black. They are breathtaking when you inspect them in the sunlight.

These yellow and purple with yellow throats are also from my mom's yard, which she got from my grandma. I am so excited that they are all blooming this year, and that I can keep the legacy going.

This is such a beautiful time of year in the yard. I love being out at dusk and soaking in the smells and last few rays of sunshine.

Iris

The iris we planted two seasons ago are in full bloom right now. I didn't know what color they were since they had already bloomed when I dug them out of my friend's garden, but the yellow and orange are spectacular!

Ella discovered my favorite thing about iris, from when I was little myself... the fuzzy beard (hence the name bearded iris).  It's like a vibrant orange caterpillar!

Starts from Mom's Garden

We visited my mom over Memorial Day, and 'tis the season for iris! I love this time of year when the air is sweetly scented with Russian Olive blossoms and the iris and peonies are in their full glory. 

My mom has iris from my grandmothers on both sides. Now that I have a yard of my own hopefully I can keep this inheritance of beauty alive!

This variegated one is my favorite. It smells like grapes.

I took some of each color: white, periwinkle, dark purple, purple and yellow, purple and white, and two different shades of yellow.

I had a flash of genius and raided my mom's extensive collection of ribbon to tie around the rhizomes so I could remember what color they are when the blooms are done and gone.
  

For some tips on how to plant iris, check back here. 

I also took starts of some perennials and groundcovers. I love sweet woodruff (above) and have plenty of flower beds to let it spread in.

Another good spreader is dead nettle. I got some in yellow and pink. 

A little start of Mom's chives will be perfect in my herb garden. 

She also gave me a summer phlox (pink I think), sedum (far left), and a forget-me-not. Now I just need to find them a new home! 

Generous Gardeners

I love meeting other people who are gardeners at heart. I usually pick their brains, and they usually send me off with something from their own gardens to try. They are so generous!

One sweet lady was getting rid of a whole row of iris because she needed to simplify her vegetable garden.

I took as much as I could carry.

She even let the girls pick a flower of their own.

She's the one with a hothouse that starts her own tomatoes and peppers.

They will probably not bloom this year but I hope they will like their new spots!

 

Doris has lots of starts she wants to give me. This one is a sedum (stonecrop) groundcover.

And another friend gave me her leftover shallots to try! How fun!

Bearded Iris

My mom came to visit this weekend and brought a little gift from her yard. She has the most beautiful bearded iris... I remember loving them when I was little because they have little fuzzy beards that looked like colorful caterpillars. And when you examine the petals up close they have a opalescent sheen that sparkles in the sunlight.

Who would think that iris grow from this funny looking thing? It's called a rhizome, and for this little lesson I broke out my plant propagation book from school- 880 pages of mind numbing instructions on how to grow plants! So here is a basic description of what we're working with:

"A rhizome is a specialized stem structure in which the main axis of the plant grow horizontally, or just below the ground surface. The lateral stem is composed of nodes and internodes. Adventitious roots and lateral growing points develop in the vicinity of the node. Upright-growing, above-ground shoots and flowering stems (culms) are produced terminally. The rhizome is thick, fleshy, and shortened in relation to length. It appears as a many-branched clump made up of short, individual section. It is determinate; that is, each clump terminates in a flowering stalk, growth continuing only from lateral branches. Rhizomes grow by elongation of the growing points produced at the end of terminal and lateral branches. Length also increases by growth in the intercalary meristems in the lower part of the internodes."

Get all that? Told you it was mind-numbing! Basically, rhizomes are underground stems, and the off-shoots can be broken apart and re-planted. This is known as division. Let's move on to the practical part of our tutorial.

Step 1. Chose the location. Iris prefer a sunny, well-drained position in the landscape. They need at least a half day of sunlight.

Step 2. Prepare the soil. Soil should be cultivated 12 to 18 inches deep and amended with organic matter. The bed I chose was covered with that nasty weed barrier stuff, so I had to rip it all out and start from scratch. I turned the soil and added the last of my potting soil/organic matter and turned it in the best I could. Every little bit helps!


Step 3. Lay out plant material. The rhizomes should be spaced 12 to 18 inches apart.


Step 4. Plant! Dig a hole about 6 inches deep and wide enough to fit the roots of the rhizome. Build a small mound of soil in the middle, set the rhizome on top and spread the roots down around it. This assures that the roots are deep enough, while keeping the rhizome itself in reach of the sun's rays. They should not be planted too deep! The growing point (where the green begins) should be at surface level when planted. Firm the soil around the roots and water in.


Step 5. Long for beautiful blooms next June!

(Photo courtesy of plantanswers.com)

That's all for today's gardening adventure. It might be the last for this year... but I will try to keep things interesting with indoor projects! Oh, and I thought you might like to see my side-kicks! (pj's and all)