Joy asked me for a photo of the Florentine iris that I mentioned on facebook....a week or so ago, I think. Here is one from Saturday, May 12, 2012....
I call them Florentine iris, well, because that is what I ordered. And they appear to fit Patrick Lima's description in his Illustrated Book of Herbs, a book I kept at my bedside and read often to ensure sweet dreams and to plan my own garden. That book is one I would take to a desert island or may have buried with me. Seriously. I don't have the book at hand right now but way back when.....probably 1995 or so, I called the source for the iris from the back of the book (in Ohio, I believe) and (yes, I called. No innernets then the way they are now....) and in a week or so, I had my own source of lovely dove gray iris that fade to white. Someday I must visit Larkwhistle, the gardens that Patrick Lima and his partner built in a relatively remote part of Canada.
(This photo was taken about a week ago, in the early evening, a day before the big full moon.)
Although these iris resemble the typical germanic variety ( I hope I used that term correctly), they do bloom about two weeks or more before most germanic iris bloom in the same garden conditions.
Have I satisfied your curiousity, Joy? I'll be dividing these iris this year and will be glad to share...just let me know if you (or any other readers) are interested in a few rhizomes later this summer and I'll send them off. (You can share your snail mail address later.) Really.....there will be a lot to share, so don't be shy about finding some space in your garden.
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I had to drive quite a distance on Thursday and Friday and, gosh, did I get the travel sickness! I'm over it now which is quite fortuitous as I'm driving again tomorrow. Must.stop.the.car.more.often.and.walk.around!
Have a lovely week!


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