" It's too stunning to be a wildflower....."
These were my words when I first noticed these irises in bloom in the mid seventies. One stalk had emerged from a mass of tall weeds in the shady area of our backyard near the old swimming pool filter . The iris seemed to be in its glory despite barely being able to be seen amongst the weeds. Although I had absolutely no interest in gardening , I knew that this was far too beautiful to be a common wildflower . My sister claimed that these irises bloomed year after year but I never noticed them again as I was too involved in my seemingly unending battle with puberty.
I did come back in search of these irises two years ago only to find them terribly neglected and hanging on for dear life with just a few roots sticking into the clay. The rhizomes were highly shriveled but still surviving somehow , perhaps they were waiting for me to rescue them. With my Mother's permission I dug them and brought them home , about 25 rhizomes in all. This became my first project and a fabulous introduction to the wonderful world of irises. One year after transplanting and some specialized care yielded an explosion of stalks and exquisite blooms . I am now over loaded with Mother's irises , over 100 very large , rapidly increasing rhizomes.. From this point I was hooked and look forward to seeing all of the cultivars in bloom that I purchased last summer.
Bloom was every bit as beautiful as I remembered
them to be , even better. I found it really strange when a
neighbor came over one day and mentioned that she thought they looked
like wild flowers......