This site is dedicated to the iris and its band of admirers.
The iris flower is unique in that it is both asymmetrical (the petals arranged in multiples of three) but beautifully balanced in an architectural three dimensions. Unlike many flowers, the iris flower is designed to be viewed, and to look attractive, from all sides. Daisies for example are designed to be looked down on (pun intended). Seriously though, daisies need to appear attractive to insects flying overhead. It is no wonder that flower arrangers and ikebana proponents love irises so much.
The iris is named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow because there are just so many colour variations available. The majority of the wild species, however, are in shades of deep blue or purple, the most royal of colours. This is no accident. Most irises flower in winter or spring when skies are often grey and the blue wavelengths of light are best able to penetrate the layers of cloud. As the sun sets and the sky turns to indigo, go out into your garden and watch your blue iris, they will begin to almost glow with a light all of their own.
It would be nice to think that all this is purely for our benefit but it was all aimed at attracting insects needed to pollinate the flowers and has been perfected over thousands of years. The iris that grow in the desert where it may rain only for one short period in a whole year often have the resources to produce only the one flower for the entire year so that the one flower has to be exceptional. The flowers of the desert iris have the drawing power to attract insect pollinators (which are themselves scarce in a desert environment) over large distances. These great desert iris, up to 20 cm across, have a wow factor (when you see one you go, "wow") that few other flowers can match. Irisarians around the world dedicate their lives into trying to develop these desert iris into plants that we can all grow.
Irises are northern hemisphere plants extending from the jungles of the Himalayas to the deserts of Iraq, across the coasts and mountains of Europe, from the pine and birch forests in northern America to the banks of the Mississippi in the south. For the collector there is the opportunity for a lifetime of collecting and learning, nearly four hundred species and an endless variety of forms and cultivars. Although most of the species are winter and spring flowering many garden forms are being developed that with regular feeding and watering will continue to flower through summer and autumn. In New Zealand we can have irises in flower nearly all year round. Our climate is also mild enough that we can have the bamboo like "orchid iris" from the Himalayan jungles flowering alongside water iris from Japan, non bearded iris from Alaska, bearded iris from central Europe and bulbous iris from the Mediterranean, making for an endless variety in shape, colour and form through the seasons.
As gardeners everywhere know, it is the constant learning and continual looking forward with expectation to the next seedling emerging and the next flower opening that keeps us young at heart. (To continually reflect on the past is to grow old before our time.) The New Zealand Iris Society is made of gardeners who love to share this attitude to life and the beauty of these flowers. The flowers are shared via the plants themselves or their seeds. The iris society has groups in most parts of New Zealand whose members come together to share experiences, to learn, to see the flowers that other members have managed to grow, and to gain plants for themselves to enjoy.
If you would like to learn about these fabulous plants and have access to less common varieties via rhizomes, bulbs, seeds, bulletins, newsletters, photos, robins and books, simply send $30 (overseas NZ$40) to the Membership Secretary:
Alison Simpson, Limavady, 9C RD. Oamaru, North Otago
