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 The Fantastic Iris
By Mary A. Flowers Who would have thought that centuries ago when the powerful Medici's of Florence, Italy took the stylized version of an iris as a symbol of their family, it would have started a love affair, a love affair with a flower, that is? Around the world irises have always grown wild along creeks and in sunny meadows, bursting forth with beautiful blooms to signal the spring season. These hardy wild irises usually grow as small compact plants with small arrow-shaped blooms, much like the Louisiana iris that can be seen growing wild in Louisiana and East Texas. The Medici family used this stylized iris form on their family flag. The bloom was white and the field red. After a royal marriage aligning them with France, the Medici family reversed the colors to a red bloom on a white field. This set off a hybridization frenzy that continues to this day; the quest for the perfect red. Thankfully for us iris lovers, that has yet to be achieved. What has happened is a plethora of colors and shapes. The familiar iris shape is still intact, but somewhere along the line a bearded iris came about. Bearded irises are much more complex in shape, and sometimes color, and show the insides of the bloom to maximum advantage. Irises are perennials and grow from either rhizomes or bulbs and are extremely hardy. When not in bloom, the pointed upright leaves form a nice background for summer blooms and annuals. Experts will tell you the optimum time to dig up iris rhizomes for separating is late July. However, many people simply ignore this, especially in Texas where it is so hot, and dig them up in the fall when they have stopped blooming, cut off the leaves two inches above the rhizomes, separate them, redo their beds, and replant the rhizomes. The iris is a very forgiving plant.
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