Tall Bearded Iris

Below are some of the iris that have bloomed in our yard so far this spring.

Invitation

Iris 101:  The upper petals are called standards; the lower petals are falls.  The fuzzy portion underneath the standards and on top of the falls is the beard.  Invitation is pale apricot with a tangerine beard.

I don't know the name of this beauty.   One of my uncles who has been dead for many,  many years gave it to my mother a long time ago.  I just call it the Neil Cranford, which was my uncle's name.  It reminds me of a big scoop of orange sherbet.

This is an old-fashioned purple iris, a prolific bloomer.  We've probably had at least 50 blooms so far.  The wire you see at the top of the photograph is an electric fence because on that side of the fence is a meadow and the cows will push up against the fence and try to eat the plants that are planted near it.

Role Model

Four years ago when I started making plans to move back to Texas, I dug up all my iris in my garden in Phoenix and mailed them all to my mom.  Role Model was always one of my favorites and I was so pleased when it bloomed this year.

Another lovely which made the transition from Desert Southwest to the humid almost subtropics of East Texas.  I don't remember the name of it though and haven't been able to find it as yet on the Internet.

The fairest of the fair is this gorgeous French blue specimen which my mother purchased a few years back.  She doesn't remember the name of it but it just may be a variety called Monet's Blue.  So far it's my favorite.

Note to Mari:  This is the white fence I told you that has been calling to me to please come give it a bath!