Iris - The Plant with Many Faces

For many flower enthusiasts, it's second only to the rose in popularity. The iris is among the harbingers of spring, greeted with delight. Elegance and beauty combine in every single specimen. There are an incredible number of forms of this enchanting bloom. Not only is white represented, but also cream tones, moving from yellow to orange to brown, and from blue and purple shades to a magically dark violet that can shimmer like black velvet. As if that weren't enough, there are flecks of one kind on the petals, as if the noble plant adorned itself with gold leaf and silver dust. No wonder many breeders have tried to outdo each other in creating an unprecedented iris beauty.

This floral wonder has been known for centuries. For the Egyptians, the flower was a symbol of victory, the ancient Greeks took it with them on their conquests, and the kings of France made it their heraldic emblem. It repeatedly appears as a motif for magnificent paintings, such as by Monet, and on numerous art objects during the Art Nouveau period.

What luck that every garden owner today can bring this plant inspiration into their own green paradise. If that paradise is a bit small, you won't immediately create an entire iris bed. This is where good combinations come in. Dreamy compositions result with old rose varieties and peonies. Depending on the size and color arrangement, a magnificent perennial bed emerges when daylilies and daisies play together with two or three different colored iris plants. If you want to add accents to a cottage garden, plant the bright common poppy together with irises in blue to violet.

An iris corner can be created as a magnificent splash of color with simple means. You take your favorite iris color and foxglove from the same color family. To this, you add the distinctive, wavy lady's mantle with its subtle yellow bloom, as a leaf and color contrast. Now you can also choose a cushion-forming plant with small flowers, and the plant scenario for the months of May and June is perfect.

Have you reserved a small garden area where a special magic is spread? Perhaps there's a fountain, an old root, or a small tree with widely overhanging branches, under which a wooden bench stands. Now the iris comes into play. A magical combination is created with white and blue varieties, along with bellflowers, clematis, and hostas. A hollyhock also fits well. Delimit the whole with a small hornbeam hedge, and you've created a small magical world where you can forget the stress of everyday life.

The iris is a flower with a thousand faces, each of which seems to smile. With the abundance of choices, there's naturally something for the rock garden too. It doesn't have to tower over all other plant members. A dwarf iris, for example, combines wonderfully with phlox. Botanical carpets of aubrieta complete the picture.

You don't have to do without irises by the water either. They can easily alternate with accompanying plants on the bank of a pond or stream. Color-matching monkey flowers are just as welcome as reeds and bamboo.

All in all, it's hard to do without irises! Once you've brought this sensational flower from your garden and placed it in a vase, you'll appreciate it doubly and won't want to be without it anymore.