'Lorelei ' and 'Orange Perfection '
A newly divided clump of 'Lorelei ' in my renovated bed
Close up of 'Lorelei '
"She" has been gracing my Spring garden for the past forty years but I never knew her name until one of the Spring Fling visitors told me that my iris was an heirloom .
Her name is 'Lorelei ' , circa 1909 . A neighbor gave me a few rhizomes and as the clumps spread I divided and planted them all around the garden.
I've seen many varieties of iris but none that I like so well as my 'Lorelei'. She's the queen of my Spring garden . This year she is joined by 'Orange perfection ' and an amazingly fragrant light blue variety my daughter Cathy gave me, name unknown . I'm on a mission to find out its name because it has the most intense perfume I've ever smelled .
'Lorelei', I like the sound of that name, it fits such a beautiful iris. I smelled that light blue one, too, and agree it is very intense. I hope you do find out what it is called so we might all look for it to plant in our own gardens.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. I wish I would have paid more attention to the blooms at Sweet Home & Garden when I was there.
ReplyDeleteAnd like I said, if you want those irises from across the street, you know who to call. :0)
MrBrownThumb @ Chicago Garden
OOOhhhh.... love them. I bought a box of "mixed iris" at the garden club sale for $5.00, and have about 12 new starts. Can't wait to see what they are. Even if they are the common ones, I love them. I also added 3 fancy ones, a magenta, a coppery brown and a white that are "rebloomers"....we'll see. I love them too and have them mixed into almost every border. ~Brooke
ReplyDeletehttp://creativecountrymom.blogspot.com
Lorelei is beautiful! She looks very similar to the variety I have in my yard, but I don't think she's the same. Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteI better add an iris (or two or three) to my yard because it seems I'm missing out on a lot of pleasure. Lorelei sounds Hawaiian and she's gorgeous and I understand why you've annointed her Queen of the Spring Garden.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty iris. Now I know the name. Photos are lovely.
ReplyDeleteYour iris is very similar to one in my garden that I inherited from the previous owners. I've tentatively identified mine as 'Graccus'. Google some pictures of Graccus and see what you think. Mine is very hardy, and adapts very well to a variety of exposures, so I've divided it around to a number of areas.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for showing us your fabulous garden and home! A real highlight of the Fling. Susan
ReplyDeletenice iris! I am adding iris to my garden, too. I never get tired of them.
ReplyDeleteIn other places in internet-land I've used the name Lorelei for...wow, nearly 20 years now. I love the name, and the legend - Lorelei is an infamous rock at a narrow spot in the Rhine River in Germany, anthropomorphized into a siren-like vixen luring sailors dangerously close to the banks. Your Lorelei irises are gorgeous, and how lucky to accidentally get heirlooms! Hopefully they won't lure you into any danger!
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen this one before. I like that color combination.
ReplyDeleteHi Carol,
ReplyDeleteWhat an impressive fragrance the light blue iris had, eh ? I was amazed because I didn't expect an iris to so fragrant.
I'll certainly let you know if I can find this particular cultivar.
Thanks, MBT. You were SO busy that day running around like a chicken with its head cut off :-)
ReplyDeleteI love heirloom flowers! They do not come with, "Do not propagate" on the label. Your iris is lovely!
ReplyDeleteHi Brooke and thanks for stopping by. All colors of iris are beautiful but I just happen to be very partial to purple and yellow ones I guess.
ReplyDeleteHi Marissa and thanks for stopping by. I'll have to make a return visit to your garden.
ReplyDeleteHi Donna. May and early June are definitely made more beautiful by the lovely irises in almost every garden and the nice thing is that they spread and can be divided and planted elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteHi Northern Shade,
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure to look up the 'graccus' on google. Thanks for the info.
Thanks, Balisha. I must visit your garden and catch up on what's growing.
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Sweet Home and Garden Chicago during the Spring Fling tour. It was great to meet so many great bloggers. Wish I'd had more time to chat.
Hi Muum,
ReplyDeleteSorry I've been negligent in stopping by to visit you. I'm a big iris fan as well.
Very poetic, Diane. I do recall the story of Lorelei in our lit class in high school.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Phillip. I don't recall seeing a post on iris from you. What kind do you have in your garden?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted this, Carolyn! Mom and I were both VERY enamored with your orange one. Somehow I missed 'Lorelei'. How did that happen???
ReplyDeleteThank you SO VERY MUCH for inviting us to see your garden and home. Everything is just beautiful!
It was great to see you at Gethsemane on Sunday, too. Every time I put my ear of corn on the Christmas tree, I'll think of you. LOL.
I wish I'd bought that variegated hardy hibiscus I saw. I'll bet that was 20% off that day, wasn't it? I really should have gotten it! I got my cobalt blue strawberry pot planted with 'Lipstick' that I bought that day and runners I cut from my 'Pink Panda' that I already had. I'm also thrilled with my Bunchberry! Gethsemane is a great place and deserves an entire day of browsing. Some other time!
I told Cathy I might take you up on your offer if I go to Chicago again. Thank you for that. I wish I'd gotten to meet her!
Okay, I'm losing my mind or else it's just so full of images from SF, things have gotten misfiled. I'm working on my post about your gardens right now, and resizing my photos I took. I took a couple of 'Lorelei' so I DID see it! LOL.
ReplyDeleteDon't mind me......