Flag

The more vigorous kinds are suited for planting among large shrubs, which ought to be wider apart than they generally are in shrubberies; and may be employed in groups near water, and also on mixed borders and beds. The flowering season of the Iris extends over the greater part of the year. The following selection of the more important kinds for our gardens is arranged in alphabetical order for convenience of reference:—

Flag Pictures

Acorus calamus L. calamus

Related Flowers

Scorpion Iris

Scorpion Iris (Iris Alata) - A beautiful bulbous kind with fine large blossoms, the ground color delicate lilac-blue, with showy blotches of bright yellow, copiously spotted with a darker hue. The foliage, which appears with the flowers, much resembles that of a Leek. It is easy to grow on a warm, dry, sunny border; planted in autumn in ordinary garden soil.

Asiatic Flag

Asiatic Flag (Iris Asiatica) - Allied to the German Iris, but the handsome flowers are much larger, the lip especially being very long and broad; its color is a very fine pale purplish-blue, the standards a little paler than the falls. A good border kind.

Iris Atro-Purpurea

Iris Atro-Purpurea - This Iris may be considered as coming within the iberica group, as the foliage is not unlike that kind, and the stem, though always of some length, never rises very high. The flower is somewhat small, and for the most part of deep purple coloring.

Golden Flag

Golden Flag (Iris Aurea) - A lovely tall plant, with yellow flowers of great beauty, hardy in the coldest soils. It does well among shrubs or in borders of the best perennials, and groups of it so placed are very handsome. It is one of the kinds that may be grouped with good effect near water, though it thrives in moist borders. Division and seed. Himalayas.

Iris Bakeriana

Iris Bakeriana - This is one of the most beautiful of the spring-flowering Irises. The flowers remind one of those of the netted Iris. The coloring varies, the yellow streak on the fall, which is conspicuous in some of the forms, being almost entirely absent in others; the size and number of the violet spots and the breadth of the rich violet edging, as well as the size and brilliancy of their tints, vary in individual flowers. Armenia.

Iris Barnumae

Iris Barnumae - This Iris, a native of the hills of Kurdistan, belongs to the iberica group. The flower is smaller than that of that Flag, and both falls and standards are vinous red-purple marked with darker veins, the standard being lighter in color than the fall, and its veins more conspicuous. There is a yellow variety described by Prof. Foster as "an exceedingly charming plant," and fragrant, the odour not being unlike the Lily-of-the-Valley.

Iris Biflora

Iris Biflora - A handsome Flag, 9 to 15 inches high, bearing large violet flowers on stout stems. Similar to it are I. subbiflora and I. nudicaulis, which is one of the best of the dwarf Flags, from 4 to 10 inches high; its flowers large, of a rich violet-blue, four to seven on a stem in early summer.

Iris Cristata

Iris Cristata - warf-crested Iris) is a charming dwarf Flag, flowering in spring and also in autumn, delicate blue and richly marked. A fragile plant, 4 to 6 inches high, with broad leaves, it throws out long slender rhizomes, wholly above ground, and thrives in sandy earth, in borders, or on the rock garden.

Florentine Flag

Florentine Flag (Iris Florentina) - Its large delicate flowers are nearly 6 inches deep, faintly tinged with blue, the falls veined with yellow, and green at the base, with an orange-yellow beard, whilst the broad leaves are rich dark green. A native of S. Europe, flowering during May and June. The variety albicans is almost pure white.

Gladwin

Gladwin (Iris Foetidissima) - A British plant, 1 1/2 to 2 feet high, with bluish flowers. There is a variety with variegated leaves. The common green form is worth growing in rough grassy places for its brilliant coralred seeds.

Iris Gatesi

Iris Gatesi - A handsome Flag from Armenia, and very near to susiana, but the rhizome is more compact, and the foliage smaller, shorter, and narrower. The stem is taller, 1 1/2 feet or even 2 feet, and the flower, when well grown, larger. The prevailing color of the specimens so far cultivated is, when seen at a distance, a soft delicate grey, brought about by very thin clear veins and minute dots or points of purple on a creamy-white ground.

Common German Flag

Common German Flag (Iris Germanica) - The best-known Flag and one of the few plants that succeed well in London. I. nepalensis is a charming form from India, with flowers from 5 to 6 inches long, the standards rich dark violet-purple, the falls intense violet, striped white and purple at the base, with yellow and reddish markings. It flowers during May and June, and may be increased quickly. The German Flags flourish in ordinary garden, dry gravelly soil, or sandy banks. A good selection of varieties of the German Iris, all good garden flowers, would be composed of Atro-purpurea, Aurea, Bridesmaid, Calypso, Celeste, Gracchus, Mme. Chereau, Mrs H. Darwin, Queen of May, Rigolette, Victorine, and George Thorbeck.