Iris Sibirica: forgotten, but not gone!

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When we have been gardening for many years, we buy plants, then move them; they live, they die, we move on to other plants and passions. So it was that “some time ago” I saw on Gardener’s World, Iris Sibirica; I bought and planted it, and when it first flowered, cut some blooms, put them in a copper vase, and did a painting of them.

Since that time, I have moved plants around, bought some of my neighbour’s orchard, to extend my small back garden, re-designed the whole garden, planting lots of roses, wine-grapes, and vegetables etc. Imagine my surprise last spring, when walking around my garden, I saw some familiar purple flowers, growing in a very dry
part of the garden, proudly peeping over some other plants. It was my long-lost Iris sibirica! It had made a quite large clump of crowns, and was in full bloom.

My first thought was, “haven’t seen you for some time”
I recall that it was the first year after planting, that it bloomed, and I did the painting; I must have moved it soon after that, and hadn’t seen it flower since.

I took the painting from the wall, to look at the date on the back; it was 1994. Wake up David, its later than you think!

I can only assume that it had just about kept alive in this very dry patch for 19 years, and that last year’s very wet summer and winter gave it enough moisture to produce some more flowers.

I have dug out this poor plant, and potted-up 9 new crowns, I shall replant them, and really must treat them better second time round!

As Oscar Wilde would say; “to loose one plant could be considered unfortunate, but to loose nine, sounds like carelessness”

• 4 Oct, 2013
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