In Grandma's Garden: Old-Fashioned Iris

Recently, after a great evening of a movie and dinner in a hip area of Dallas, I mentioned to my partner that "we ought to do this more often." He looked at me incredulously and then smiled and said, "What are you talking about? We're just grandma gardeners?" I had to laugh.

He's right in a way. We have created such a great home here in the suburbs. Food and wine. A cocktail or three. Dogs and cats. (And doves, but that's another story.) Not to mention the birds and butterflies that are attracted to our great landscape. And that landscape IS one that is influenced by our grandmothers and our mothers and all the other "old-fashioned" folks in our lives. We tend to plant things that have been around a while. An alley full of wildflowers. Roses. Daylilies. Ferns. And his favorite. Bearded iris.

Iris are one of the easiest perennials to grow. They are unobtrusive most of the year with strap-like green foliage that freezes back in the winter, but in March and April, they send up stalks with beautiful flowers that range from yellow to orange and lavender to the deepest purple. With a snowy white one thrown in for good measure.

They grow from rhizomes, ugly bulbous things that you plant just barely into the soil. Those mini sweet potatoes send their roots down and their foliage and flowers up. They don't need much fertilizer, just a sprinkling of bone meal in early spring and late fall. (As a matter of fact, using a nitrogen-based fertilizer can cause the rhizomes to rot--one of the few calamities that can kill these antique plants.) And you don't want to over water either, making them an environmentally-friendly addition to your garden.

It's past prime bloom time already here in north Texas, but you can Google your local iris society and find out when they're having their iris show. Should be in the next couple of weeks. Usually, they're accompanied by a sale where the local growers share their leftovers at very reasonable prices. You certainly don't have to go whole-hog and plant a huge bed with scores of varieties like we have. But I encourage you to pick up a couple and plant them in a sunny spot. You can practically forget about them, and they'll still reward you with their dependable spring show.