Why We Garden

Yes, there are the practical reasons--fresh food, and exactly the varieties we want. And the environmental reasons, like providing habitat for pollinators and other local wildlife. 

And I definitely get excited at the year's first butterfly, bumblebee, and hummingbird, and am always happy to see birds darting from plant to plant and providing a soundtrack to my puttering.

But sometimes, like now, the truth is that the pleasure of seeing so much floral exuberance is my main reason for this activity. Iris season is just--so.

It is not possible to pick a favorite, with so many luscious, easy-to-grow lovelies out there, but this outrageous pink, acquired from a local plant sale, is up there on the list.

This pale blue, donated to the same sale by the same plant-collecting friend, is also stunning.

And then there are the other types, like this Siberian iris.

In addition to being drop-dead gorgeous and difficult if not impossible to kill, irises play surprisingly well with others (despite their occasional thuggish tendencies). This heirloom iris blooming in front of Physocarpus "Diablo" is one of my favorite late-spring combinations.

This bicolor blooming near allium "Purple Sensation" and hosta "Guacamole" also makes me happy.

Irises, I recently learned, have been cultivated for literally thousands of years, with the straight species Iris pallida still available today. Mine came from a clump of my mother's, who inherited it when she and my father retired to a cottage built in the 1930's. This ancient bloom smells like grape Kool-Aid (so one must wonder if the people who create processed food copied the fragrance from the flower).

Different weeks bring different extravagances in the garden, but right now, I am celebrating irises.