Continuing our walk around the garden I will also show you some close-ups of some of the Irises. A word about names. I only know the names of about a third of the Irises I have in the garden. I bought some named varieties from Cayeux, and some named varieties were given or sold to me by friends (a problem here is that they had named some of their stock themselves for ease of knowing what was where in the garden but of course I don’t remember which are true names and which are their invention. Several I’ve purchased from Italian nurseries call them ‘Pink’ or tall blue so not very helpful. So I will only give names to those I am 100% sure of. Sorry if this isn’t very helpful, but just enjoy them!
Iris germanica ‘Chelsea Blue’ or possibly Chelsea Bleu!!!
Iris germanica
Iris germanica
Alliums threaded through the evergreen shrub border
Alliums threaded through the evergreen shrub border
Iris germanica with a happy pollinator
Iris germanica very pretty markings
Dianthus
French Lavender
Iris germanica ‘Jane Phillips
Iris germanica
Iris germanica
through the arches
Evergreen shrub border
The slope
Iris germanica
There are so many wonderful bearded Irises and they all grow well in my soil. I value them not just for their stunning flowers but for their sword-shaped foliage which looks good all summer and even into winter.
Do you grow Iris germanica. Is there one you particularly love?
Lovely – and good to see the slope again too! 🙂
The slope looks quite different as I’ve been mulching and adding more shrubs (from cuttings) so there aren’t so many Californian poppies.
‘Chelsea Blue’ (or bleu) is a stunner! Makes me wonder why I have no Irises except for a clump of Siberians that are completely neglected.
You are able to grow many plants, Irises are one of the only plants to actively love the conditions so for that reason I have a lot of different varieties, there are couple more still to flower.
I adore the yellow one especially as I rarely see yellow iris that are so lovely….and I agree the foliage is spectacular after the plants flower. I need to divide mine still and move the beauty around.
This was wonderful to see so much more of your beautiful gardens Christina! The evergreen shrubs and slope are a particular favorite.
I need to write a post at least every month with more long views. The garden is much more about the overall look than any particular planting
Hi Christina, What a lovely tour! The garden looks very large and I think of all the work that must go into it! Your first picture has really beautiful Irises. I love bearded Irises and couldn’t tell you the name of any of mine .At one time, I was determined to use the botanical names of all my plants and lost interest very quickly….It just wasn’t as much fun looking them up as actual gardening. I have a deep purple Iris that is my favorite….
Hi Sally. I do believe that Latin names are important but with names of tulips, irises and dare I say it even roses, I think there are so many hybrids that look almost identical that really I really think it doesn’t matter. I was so sure that some of the names my friends gave me were correct that I wrote posts naming them as such only to later discover that my posts were the only source of the name!!! I do agree that enjoying a garden is more important then anyting.
You have some lovely Iris cultivars, Christina. I love the ruffly pink/lavender one especially. I grow a few, none of which I can readily identify, but my two favorites are a ruffled white and one that I call ‘root beer’ for its caramel color. They’ll bloom next month.
I have one, that I didn’t show today that I call toffee caramel. It might even be the same as yours!
Stunning. It all looks fantastic. I love these irises but like you most of mine don’t have names as many of them are passed on from friends or bought from Cayeux many years ago. I do have named Cedric Morris ones though and I have been breeding from them so I hope to have some interesting new ones in a couple of years.
I grew some seeds last year, so it will be interesting to see if they produce anything interesting. The parent was perfumed so maybe the offspring will be scented too.
It’s always exciting growing your own irises, they are all different.
Almost every seed germinated, I’m not sure where I will grow them on.
How exciting.
I adore irises: their petals are so dainty and gorgeous colours and yet they are tough and uncomplaining plants that require little effort. And I’m loving seeing views of your garden.
Glad you’re enjoying these walks around the garden. I always like to see some long views as well as some close ups of plant combinations.
These are just stunning, Christina. I just inherited one yellow iris, but I have a couple on my wish-list to try. Maybe I might just order them now…
If you have free draining soil they are the BEST plant. There are so many to choose from. I have quite a large collection now but I often see another one I would love to have.
Christina that wonderful blog for lovers of Iris like me. The photos are magnificent. I love all the Irises. Each one is beautiful for its colors and its different marks. There are not two identical Irises. They are wonderful. The Alliums are beautiful through the edge of the evergreen shrubs. The French Lavandulas I like a lot like the Dianthus. The slope is divine. Thank you for visiting your beautiful Christina garden. Greetings from Margarita.
Do you grow Irises at your country house Margarita, I’m sure they would grow well there.
Yes, Christina, I have many Dutch Irises. The next ones that I want to plant are Germanic Iris. Greetings from Margarita.
I’m sure both kinds of Iris grow well for you.
Some lovely close ups, Christina – Chelsea Blue looks especially striking
It is Cathy. The colours are very pure and saturated.