Irises are Garden Survivors

I love my irises. Even if I neglect them or put them in odd places they survive and even bloom. When I put them in flower beds and give them what they need, they reward me with more beauty than my heart can hold. Irises are garden survivors.

An iris is a bit mysterious. It hides part of its beauty in its heart, beneath large outer petals. So it is with this light purple iris currently in bloom. 

Here is a larger view showing all of the current flowers blooming on this iris now. Its neighbors are carnations in front, hyssop directly behind, tricolor sage, and clary sage. The sages are not yet in bloom.

When I first planted the bulbs for this batch of irises back in fall of 2013, I hadn't found places for all of them. I had a shallow cardboard box where I threw what I hadn't found room to plant yet, covered them with dirt and mulch, and left them. I did water them when they got leaves.

They bloomed this year. I think I forgot to take the photo while they were in bloom, but the photo below, which I took this week, proves that even with this neglect, they bloomed. They are surrounded by lamb's ears that spread from another corner. The remains of the irises flowers, now faded, are on the left by the wall.

The real miracle of iris survival is demonstrated on our Templeton property. In one corner of our fenced vegetable garden, we planted irises. They were of many colors. My favorites were the white ones, just budding, but the purple ones were in bloom when I took this photo. They did need dividing and weeding.

In October, 2014, my husband said we needed to replace the leach field for the septic tank when we got a new one. He told me that they would have to use part of the garden area. I had been out that afternoon, and when I came home, this is what I found. All that was left of the old fenced garden was the gate. The irises and raised beds, and everything else was gone. I felt I'd been robbed. 

But irises are survivors. When I got back to the property after the rain last week, the weed abatement people had not been there yet. The fence had been put back, and the weeds were so high I couldn't open the gate to take pictures of the irises that the earth mover had "transplanted along the far side of the fence where none had been before. I could take photos of these, which had survived in the original patch, even though they had been dug up and covered so I couldn't find them after the garden had been destroyed. 

If you love irises or know someone who does, one of these iris products from Zazzle might make a great gift for Mother's Day. Click here for an even wider selection of iris gifts. 

 White irises: Thank you for your thoughtfulness Card Mother's Day from Husband Card Light purple with pink irises t shirt Apron with White Irises

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This is my eighth post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is plants, since this is a gardening blog.  Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.

A is for Apple Blossoms
B is for Bottlebrush
C is for Carnations
D is for Daisy

E is for Elderberry
F is for Flowers
G is for Gazania
Hollyhocks are Edible