Plant geek: irises

This week my husband told me that the bog irises were blooming. This news warmed by heart for a couple of reasons. First, a relative non-farm, non-plant guy came into my life and he has evolved into this machine that is fanatical about our yard. He can name almost all of the plants in our yard and was even mowing the yard at 6 a.m. the other day. (Let's be clear, our nearest neighbors are a distance away and are also fanatical about their yards...they would totally get that he was worried about the weather forecast and his schedule matching.)

The second reason that I love this news is that bog irises - really, irises period - are some of my favorite spring flowers. I have also heard them called Louisiana irises. They are smaller than a typical iris and they do really well in the space where our air condition condensation is kicked out of the house. A perfect solution for this part of the flower bed.

These are so dainty! I love how the foliage and the flowers are tall and elegant.

Up close, they are just as beautiful. Of course, I am a sucker for purple flowers.

These lovelies are the classic old-fashioned iris. I love the color - so subtle and feminine.
We also have some of these purple edged variety. So pretty! I am sure all of the fancy varieties were divisions from our neighbor.
This row of irises is a high point south of the garage until the hollyhocks behind them stretch up higher and bloom. I love seeing yellow and the different shades of purple together.

This time of year is wonderful - we can have fresh flowers in the house everyday! Each spring, I could also write a love letter to the tulip, hyacinth, crocus, peony and lilac. I love spring flowers!