Feel the heat
Dreaming of gorgeous garden changes to make a start on this month? If so, then be sure to include irises, and lots of them, in your planting plans.
Botanists believe that there are somewhere between 260 and 300 different species of irises scattered all around the word: We are blessed with a few indigenous species, mainly in the north, of our own too and what stunning beauties they are!
Irises are botanically named after an ancient Greek goddess Iris, which means rainbow in Greek and, true to the name, irises are found in all the colours of the rainbow and many, many more.
True to their name, irises come in all the colours of the rainbow
These unmistakable, spring flowers fall into two main categories: bulbous and rhizomous.
Bulbous irises are largely plants of dryish landscapes such as rocky mountainsides, arid grasslands and desert verges in which their hardy bulbs thrive and multiply surprisingly with little moisture. Ranging in height from miniatures of as little as two to three inches up to a stately three feet or so, bulbous iris are incredibly easy to grow and will thrive and multiply for years to come in rockeries.
Here in Pakistan, the most common bulbous irises in the market are the lovely Dutch irises in cobalt blues, bright yellow and brilliant white — watch out for those arriving (imported from Holland) in garden supply stores fairly soon. Come spring, these popular cut flowers are reasonably long-lasting in water if their original 18-inch long stems are trimmed back at the base about an inch every other day. With regular change of water plus an aspirin for good measure, these can be encouraged to light up your home for as long as two weeks at a time.
Growing them is simple: either plant the bulbs a couple of inches — no deeper — down in well-prepared, freely draining, soil in full sun or in dappled shade or in pots/containers of reasonable compost with some river sand mixed in (75 percent compost/25percent river sand). Pots/containers should be lightly watered once in a while if in a protected space such as a sheltered veranda but if open to the weather, they can, as with those being grown directly in ground, be left to their own — and climatic — devices unless the winter/spring is exceptionally dry. Whatever else you do, do not over-water them or the bulbs will rot.
If bulbs aren’t quite your ‘thing’ then rhizomous irises are the ones for you and, in many respects, can be easier to cultivate and faster to multiply than their bulbous cousins in our increasingly fickle climate.