Monday, May 19, 2008

Unfurling Iris

I know you have noticed but I am consumed by the collection of Iris I have this spring. I know I have noticed them before but it seems this spring they have my full attention. Especially the way this one unfurls. It is just beautiful when it is curled up in a colorful wrap. It seems that the color is on the outside... Then when those colorful petals begin to fall...an apt name for this part of the blossom.The bashful white center begins to reveal itself .
This fully opened iris is being tickled by a Columbine seedhead. I think the oposites of the dark and light color make this iris special. I don't remember where it came from or who gave it to me. With the camera I wish I could capture the colors correctly and the texture of the wrap in the first photo. For me the beauty of the garden is often seen only by the inner eye.

29 comments:

  1. What gorgeous Iris photos - the ruffle of the petals as it opens & the colouring is just beautiful. I haven't any Iris in my garden, but I do have a few Columbine and I love them. I find them very hardy.

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  2. What a great sequence of photos! And a beautiful iris of course. I was hoping to have some too this spring, but both 'Mother Earth' and 'Pass the Wine' didn't make it through the winter...

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  3. Lisa just a beautiful presentation of your lovely Iris! It certainly lets us know of it's presence once open!

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  4. When I Was a Young Child I would Run Outside First Thing In The Morning and Watch The Iris Do This. My Gram would Always come calling me and asking what I was doing..Then One Day I was capable of Talking her into watching with me.

    Its a Beautiful thing you have done in sharing these. Thank you

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  5. Gorgeous Iris photo Lisa.....I know what you mean about the camera, sometimes it just doesn't catch that special something.
    None-the-less its colour and centre are stunning. I've never grown them....you have me thinking now, perhaps I have never looked at them properly.

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  6. Lisa, your iris is beautiful! Mine are finally getting buds. Have read all your post and loved them. Especially Luna and her smile.

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  7. This is an absolutely gorgeous series of nature photos!! Gee, my iris don't even have a bud yet.

    You and I are thinking alike (see my post tomorrow)

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  8. PS, are you going to paint these?

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  9. Thanks for sharing your beautiful iris photos, Lisa. Irises are at the top of my favorite flowers list. They are beautiful -- and the deer don't eat them.

    A couple of years ago, a friend sent us the rhizomes for a half dozen different irises. He refused to tell us anything about them. Five survived and are blooming for the first time this year. Watching the blooms open is like watching a special gift being slowly unwrapped.

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  10. I've just started to get to like iris flowers....and when I see your beautiful pictures I wonder, why I didn't like this plant before.

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  11. Lisa,

    I've always admired Iris. Your photos are a nice tribute to them.

    Mary

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  12. Lisa, I know what you mean about not being able to truly capture the color and beauty of a flower with a camera. But you have done a marvelous job in this sequence of photos! I especially like the last one; this is a lovely and unusual iris.

    P.S. The snail photo was also great, but that's the only place I want to see one. Ugh. Glad you got Luna away from it.

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  13. Your Iris photos are just gorgeous! It's so exciting this time of year to see all the beginning blooms.

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  14. I love the purple and white iris with the columbine. Great colors together and your series of photos was great.

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  15. Tickled indeed! I love that last photo!

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  16. Dear Lisa,
    These are beautiful. I agree the garden is best seen with our inner eye.
    Sherry

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  17. I really like irises...in other people's gardens, for the most part, because I find they're only here for a week or so then they're gone. I love your collection, Lisa, such rich colours!

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  18. Wish my irises were this far along!

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  19. I loved watching the Iris unfurl as I love Irises. I've recently been to France and it was such ajoy for an Iris lover like me as you will find them all over the place in May there.

    Excellent series of pics, well done!

    BTW I wish Irises would flower for a much longer period than they actually do. How about you?

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  20. Thank you Deb.

    Arythrina, I don't know the names of any of my irises. They have all been pass along plants.

    NG, this iris is difficult to not appreciate.

    Survivalwoman, I am glad to have stirred-up a good memory for you.

    Cheryl, I wish I could send you starts of my iris. Customs would probably nab them.

    Hi Beckie, good to see you back. I hope all is well and good with you and yours.

    Teri I hope life slows down after this weekend and I can do some painting and other things I like to do.

    Marvin, how exciting to have five surprise packages opening. What fun.

    Barbara, isn't it funny how we decide we don't like something in the garden and then years, months or days later we change our minds. Something about the offending plant tweaks our collectors mode.

    Thank you Mary.

    Rose, the camera did a better job than my vocabulary could have described it. I just can almost feel the bud but I can't quite describe it.

    Karen and Layanee, I am glad you like them.

    Jayne, the iris are quite ticklish.

    Sherry, my inner eye can see so much more than the rest of me.

    Jodi, my irises last much longer than a week. I have early bloomers, then the later bloomers take turns. When you have a large clump they also bloom longer as each stalk has more than one bud.

    It won't be long Mon@rch and you will have lots of pretty iris.

    Although they last longer than a week as Jodi suggested they are a little more short lived than some other bloomers. I don't mind this. They are so pretty. I hadn't really thought of their longevity before. I guess I just think of them as a must have for the spring garden.

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  21. Great pictures of your iris they capture their beauty up close, isn't amazing the detail you find in pictures.

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  22. Great shots. It's like watching it open all at one time. I love the columbine tickle - really cute!

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  23. I find them beautiful and interesting, too. We have Iris at our house, but it is still small. It will bloom some time in June.

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  24. Your iris are pretty.
    Mine are so huge, they always break and bend.
    What sense is there in creating a flower that cannot hold up its head!

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  25. Lisa, If I had an Iris so gorgeous I would be consumed with it too. I'm intrigued by how many kajillion varieties of Iris there are in the plant world. Of course, your purple and white one is especially lovely.
    I'm with you on getting the camera to capture what our inner eye sees... it just can't be done.
    Meems @Hoe&Shovel

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  26. Mine are already gone for the year, Lisa, but you've recaptured the joy of the unfurling iris! Thank you!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  27. What a great stages you captured! I love irises too - I am ver excited to see them opening soon :)
    Greetings,

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  28. Your Iris is beautiful in bud & in bloom. I always liked those amoenas with the white standards & blue falls.

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  29. I love irises, so please do not hesitate to show more of them :)

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