Large Bearded Iris

 

This is the large bearded Iris, the most easily recognized.  She comes in many colors and variations.  Her upright pedals are called her standards.  Her draping pedals are her falls. 

The purple, shown blue here has become variegated or stripped with white.  Her true color is a sold purple.  Variegation is the result of a virus.  This particular virus has no damaging effects on the plant, save the alteration of some pigment cells.

I have seen this phenomenon in many different types of flowers, including the rose.  The whole plant can variegate or only one part.  This Iris is one of several in a large clump that have remained true to color.  I have had a hybrid tea rose, "Out of the Blue," variegate in such a way as to leave only half the bush retaining its unadulterated and rich bluish magenta.  I have also observed floribundas with one rose stripped among a cluster of roses seemingly immune to the virus.

Variegation can last indefinitely or be gone in the next season.  This tends to happen to darker color flowers in my experience.  The pale peach and cream colored Iris is pristine.  All in all, it is simply one of the Goddess’ little surprises.

The Goddess' Gift to Colorado

The elegant and stunning Columbine with the blue of the peaks, the pristine white of the snow and the yellow gold of the Planes is Colorado’s State Flower.  A magnificently hearty little perennial she scatters herself across the Great Rocky Mountains in the Goddess' sweet spring.  She can be grown in a garden with good drainage and a little shade from the high heat.  I have had mine last until mid-summer.  There are many colors, but the blue belongs to my home, Colorado.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lovely Viola

The season has been hard starting. The freeze took nearly all of my tulips, all of my daffodils; most of my crocus and my large purple alliums are small and sparse. However, the Goddess has seen fit to give me a stunning and magnificent show of viola. I have planted these for many years in many varieties. They cross pollinated to produce many shades and shapes. I give you then, the faces of the lovely viola.