Pockets of Irises

In our travels around the various gardens at our kids’ property, I discovered a few of the hidden irises that had just opened to reveal their dramatic essence.

Just over two decades ago, when we owned the historic home in Christchurch (that we saved from demolition and restored), Glenmore House, I too, put in many irises. They have an old fashioned allure and such a vast array of colors and styles. Some are frilly while others are not. But the impact is always one of high drama and intensity for any landscape. In those days I went a bit overboard, buying $600 worth of iris bulbs to be shipped to me. I got all the colors and styles I wanted including but not limited to a brownish one that had root beer tones in its petals.

In the North Island of New Zealand, irises do very well because they thrive in a wet environment and enjoy a copious amount of rain. They are usually planted around a boggy site, often at the edges of ponds and other water features. Although they only bloom for a short time, perhaps a month or so, they’re just another knockout punch in their garden of delights that’s packed with perfectly luscious surprises at every turn.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my own garden at the House of Cluck-Cluck in the South Island of New Zealand. But this homestead packs a wallop too and in many ways outdoes my own little piece of heaven. One thing is for sure though, when we got home we were raring to go outside to fine tune our seasonal work, put in a few more vegetables and clean up what we’ve ignored or postponed lately. Our garden still needs an overhaul in certain areas but the inspiration we got from visiting the family has definitely incited much more labor of love to get it all humming at our rather humble abode.