Thursday, 24 January 2019

Hordes of Siberians and Algerians in the Garden


Iris unguicularis. Photographed by Susan from Loire Valley Time Travel. https://tourtheloire.com

Not a comment on the refugee crisis, but refering to the irises in the back garden. 

Iris unguicularis. Photographed by Susan from Loire Valley Time Travel. https://tourtheloire.com

Throughout December and January the Algerian Iris Iris unguicularis have flowered their little socks off. They must have enjoyed the long warm summer and dry conditions and built up lots of reserves in order to have a bumper year. The cold gets to them now and again and the flowers wither, but they certainly earn their keep.

Siberian Iris.
Iris sibirica. Photographed by Susan from Loire Valley Time Travel. https://tourtheloire.com

Back in May the Pseudo-Steves (my colony of Siberian Iris Iris sibirica) also had a bumper year, with many more flowers than previous years. I never got round to blogging about them, and as usual, the camera doesn't capture their true shade of deep velvety blue (you can see the tip of a bud above which gives you a good idea of what the petals actually look like in real life).

The Pseudo-Steves in full glory.
Iris sibirica. Photographed by Susan from Loire Valley Time Travel. https://tourtheloire.com

A little something to cheer us up in the gloom and chill.


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4 comments:

chm said...

Irises, wherever they are from are, by far, my favorite flowers. The display of yours is superb; glad it was a bumper year.

Carolyn said...

Siberian irises are my favorite flower, so tall and elegant. I was surprised to see them in January and envied you your climate. Then I read that these bloomed at the normal time, so my envy level went back down to its usual level.

Jean said...

We love irises, possibly because of the time of year that they are in flower. They remind me of summer.

Susan said...

I suspect there is an iris species for all seasons, but whether they would all grow in one garden I don't know.

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