11th June 2023

We have had 3 types of iris blooming in the garden the last week.

It started with these European yellow flag irises (Iris pseudacorus). We have these in the pond, and in previous years dragon fly larvae (surely one of the ugliest babies in the world? Thank god they’re not bigger!) have used their flowering stalks for metamorphosis from their aquatic to aerial phase.

The flag iris loves wet areas and is known to be a bit invasive in some water courses, but in our pond it’s perfect!

The second group: iris sibirica came out about 4 days ago. This clump has been here about 4 years and every year it gets bigger. Unfortunately they tend to grow outwards so the middle gets emptier, but helpfully one of our Welsh poppies has talen up residence there and it really works. One of those happy accidents that occur when you’re not tooo tidy in the garden.

I love that I can see them while washing up from the kitchen window. The light shining through the flag iris leaves is also incredible on these long summer evenings.

A little washed out because of the digital zoom, but you get the idea…

Our third iris is maybe a Turkish iris (iris orientalis) but I’m actually not sure. It’s the only one to have come up out of several bulbs that were planted last year as a tribute to a much loved (and sadly short-lived) russian white hamster. It’s lasted 3 or 4 days so far and is exquisite with pure white petals and a splash of yellow.

I hope it lasts and multiplies like it’s blue cousins.

We have been catching up on the RHS Chelsea show this week and there were some stunning irises on display there. I suspect that some new varieties may soon be appearing in our garden.

The range of colours is highly appropriate given that in Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods.