Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Wednesday Vignette – Iris cristata

Look at those cute little blue flowers peeking up over the side of the stock tank...

They're Iris cristata and I never expected to see them.

Why? Because I bought the plants for their foliage, not giving a second thought to the promise of flowers. I wanted a soft grassy look under my Fatsia japonica 'Variegata' (Camouflage) and fell for the wide, floppy, apple-green foliage. That was midsummer last year, so of course I never saw any blooms.

What a happy surprise! Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum.

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

19 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Much better than discovering a plant is dying...

      Delete
  2. Great surprise and a nice added bonus!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kind of a "gift with purchase" - right?

      Delete
  3. Those are adorable, but that umbrella of new foliage of the Fatsia doing their crane Kung Fu pose is astounding. Love that variegation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! I was hoping someone would notice that and comment on it, although to me it looked a little more like Nosferatu and his creepy hands sneaking up on the unsuspecting iris. Maybe I just have a dark mind?

      Delete
  4. What a perfect place for these graceful, little beauties. And as a surprise--wow! Great companions to the Fatsia, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks PP, I can't remember what I went looking for the day I ended up with these...but I'm glad I didn't find it.

      Delete
  5. I love these little guys and am working on creating a blue river of them flowing down the Tea House slope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh! That will be lovely. And the foliage will help with the river effect.

      Delete
  6. They're pretty little things. It's too bad they want moist soil - we're dry, dry, dry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe you need to make a couple of bog tanks? Big containers without drainage (or with minimal drainage) that you can keep moist?

      Delete
  7. They are lovely! And, they look quite a bit like the Iris Confusa that is all over my yard this time of year. At first glance, I thought your Fatsia was a Begonia. I bought one at Hortlandia that has leaves that look A LOT like that. I hope it will stay alive until I can plant it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now you've got me curious about that Begonia...

      Delete
  8. I got some of these from the aforementioned Anna, but they went the way of some Hakanachloa macra I got from you. I think they both fell victim to an over-aggresive ground cover. Reading this, I'm even sadder than I was before.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love that iris, but all the times I've seen it for sale, I've passed it by. What is wrong with me? Probably too focused at the time on finding things for dry sun. I have some shade beds now that need filling in with smaller plants.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!