A Cool Plant!

Its Spring here in Melbourne and all the plants are starting to look beautifully up at the sunshine. As are the weeds too sadly ....but thats life! When you talk to a gardener about Spring, bulbs spring to mind often Daffodils and Jonquils but further into Spring the best bulb of all flowers, ( in my humble opinion!)

A gorgeous plant which i have in my garden which flowers really well at this time of year and seems to flower for ages, is the Bearded Iris or Iris Germanica here is the first for the year!

With its elegant blue green foliage and beautifully delicate blooms these plants are deceptively tough. My friend Yvette gave me some when we were studying about 4 years ago when we were in the middle of a severe drought and I have to say they have really done well all things cosidered. So much so that i went and bought some more. Its a real survivor, and comes in so many gorgeous colours, and now is also available in a dwarf form .

They keep on keeping on and I have actually  taken them out and divided them and they still happily prosper.  To survive in our garden is really no mean feat especially with two dogs and chickens scratching around. But the Irises are managing to do it. As the name would suggest they are an European bulb and so tolerate quite cold soil, but surprisingly this plant also tolerates our very hot summers so long as it gets some watering. It seems to die back a little around late summer Autumn when it's time to dig them up and divide them. Then put them back in some humus rich, well drained soil and up they'll come in the spring time once again.

 

 And please remember, comments inspire me so please feel free to ....

Deciding what to Plant for Spring.

Its like being in a chocolate shop or a toy store. There is soooooo much choice out there. But i must admit to being very partial to ranunculars. So have decided to settle for a mass of pink, burgundy and white ranunculars between us and our neighbours house and 100 red ones on the other neighbours side. This should bring some sunshine into our garden when the mornings are still a bit chilly.
Who would guess i love warm colours!! But how can i resist they are so soft and warm looking and make a lovely posey too. Great to bring inside.
I am also hoping to get some more bearded Iris this spring, currently I have burgundy and yellow but this spring i would like to bring in some pale yellow to blend in with the darker ones or perhaps some of these but i am not sure what the colour is called.
Daffodils are also lovely but i'm not really a yellow girl, i adore tulips and love the scent of jonquils but this year will stick with these two bulbs. When they flower then i will do another post about them.

Any comments are always welcome, so feel free.