• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • Gardening Basics
    • Home Garden Tips
    • Month-by-Month Gardening Tips
    • Seed Starting
    • Compost and Fertilizer
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Tools & Equipment
  • Raised Bed Gardens
  • Plants
    • Plant Profiles
    • Herbs
    • Fruit
    • Vegetables
    • Flowers
    • House Plants
    • Trees and Shrubs
  • Pests, Weed & Problems
    • Plant Diseases
    • Weeds & Invasive Plants
  • Birds and Wildlife
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books by Jeanne Grunert
    • Privacy Policy

The Iris that Inspired a Garden

May 14, 2013 by Jeanne

Iris “Immortality,” a gift from Patty

Thought I’d share with you my latest writing, an article called “The Iris that Inspired a Garden.”  Partially a photographic walk through my iris collection and partially a gentle how-to-grow iris story, it includes lots of pictures of this year’s iris collection.

Blooming right now is iris “Immortality,” a gift from my friend Patty; my father in law’s grape soda pop scented purple and white iris; a purple iris from a Pat, a fellow Master Gardener’s garden; and light purple and yellow iris from my friend Joan’s garden. There are also two iris I purchased, the burgundy colored one and Cherub’s Smile, but iris are very perennial flowers begging to be shared. Digging up an iris rhizome and passing it along to a friend is as natural around here as taking over a batch of cookies or a loaf of bread when you bake. It’s just something you do as a gardener.

I’ve begged a root from my friend Cynthia’s garden of a new iris that looked from her pictures like shimmering crimson silk, all rainbow swirls and colors.  Since iris are named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow, somehow adding a rainbow colored iris to my garden seems appropriate.

Please feel free to like, share, or Pin the link to  my article.

The Iris That Inspired a Garden

My in-laws iris that smells like grape pop.

 

Iris “Cherub’s Smile”

 

Filed Under: Growing Flowers

Previous Post: « How to Protect Plants from Frost
Next Post: How to Build a Climbing Rose Trellis »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. How to Grow and Care for Iris Plants | Home and Garden Joy says:
    August 12, 2014 at

    […] my own garden I now have eight iris varieties and am hoping to add more. My latest acquisition is set to bloom, but the flowers haven’t […]

  2. The Colors of Iris - Home and Garden Joy says:
    May 30, 2016 at

    […] colors of iris include every color of the rainbow…and colors so sweet, so pale, so rich, you’ll […]

  3. Iris Care - Home Garden Joy says:
    August 27, 2016 at

    […] The Iris that Inspired a Garden […]

Footer

A bench with a zinc pail filled with apples. On the bench, squash, apples, and gardening tools

September Gardening: Tasks & Tips

Fall is the time for mums, for pumpkins, and another round of pansies — for soft golden twilights and leaves crunching underfoot. September is the last month here in zones 6 and 7 when the garden is still lush and full. We’re harvesting the last of the tomatoes here at Seven Oaks, my farm near…

Read More

An assassin bug, blending into the roadway

Assassin Bugs – Scary Looking, But Beneficial Insects

We meet the strangest neighbors while walking the dog. This assassin bug was strolling across the pavement on a hot summer’s evening when we walked our dog. At first, I thought it was a wolf spider, but the leg arrangement, plus the narrower body, made me decide to snap a picture and use Google Lens…

Read More

A close up of American burnweed flowers about to bloom.

American Burnweed, the Weed That Signals Fall Is Here

I was walking my dog along the wood’s edge right near where we cleared land to build our greenhouse when I did a double take. There, like Jack’s magical beanstalk, had grown overnight this gem: American burnweed. Also known as fireweed or American burn weed, it grows rapidly – and I mean, rapidly. Like I…

Read More

Summer squash

What Can You Make with Summer Squash?

It’s that time of year when everyon asks, “What can I make with summer squash?”. The time when neighbors sneak bags of summer squash onto porches. When farmer’s markets are brimming with yellow and green squash, zucchini, and all manner of Cucurbitaceae, the plant family that gives, and gives, until it can’t give anymore. If…

Read More

  • About
  • Plant a Row for the Hungry
  • Awards
  • Privacy Policy

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Substack
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2026 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme