With the warm weather the tulips, pansies, dogwoods and azaleas have begun to fade as seen in the above picture taken at Duke Gardens in Durham.
Following the meticulous notes of Elizabeth Lawrence in A Southern Garden , beginning in April the bloom of the tall bearded iris lasts nearly two months and I have enjoyed seeing them in many public and private gardens in every size and color imaginable.
These are the irises that bloomed in my Chicago garden. The orange perfection on the upper left and the fragrant blue next to it were gifts from my daughter. 'Lorelei ' an old cultivar of deep purple and yellow was left by the former owner of my home and grew in my garden for 4 decades without any disease . Not only was it a beautiful color but its medium height and strong stems prevented it from flopping over in the wind.
Miz Elizabeth mentions a very early variety called I. pallida dalmatica that has long been in cultivation in the South and says that having one is something like belonging to the Colonial Dames. She also writes that its fragrance fills the borders and drifts into the house and that 'Princess Beatrice' is an outstanding cultivar.
I'm not aiming for membership in the Colonial Dames, but I've got my heart set on getting a Princess Beatrice for my next garden.
The irises in the triangle area have been putting on quite a show - someone passed along clumps to me last fall that turn out to be huge and deep purple - don't have a name, but such a treat.
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