IRIS STYLOSA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 80, 16 March 1934, Page 15

IRIS STYLOSA

WINTER FLOWERING PLANT. Every flower that makes its appearance in mid-winter is doubly welcome, and any special care given to its cultivation is well repaid. One of the most charming winter flowers is Iris Stylosa. This is an Algerian variety, ever-green in nature, having greener and narrower foliage than the Bearded Iris and sending up its pretty blue blooms from May to August There is some little difficulty in persuading this iris to flower well every winter: it is only at its best after a dry, sunny summer, which goes to prove that it needs a warm, sunny position where its growth can be well ripened. The Ideal position for it is at the hase of a wall facing south, where it should he planted either in October or after flowering, in March, small pieces being put in about 15 inches apart in a narrow border of rather poor soil in which there is a fair mixture of brick and mortar rubble and some coarse sand. Wellestablished in such a position the plants will show a carpet of blue blossoms during mid-winter. It is also possible to flower Iris Stylosa on the sunny side of a rockery This iris will flourish for some years in one position, hut it increases rapidlv and the time eventually comes when it needs dividing and replanting. This work can be done either in the early autumn, when growth is completed, or when the flowering season is over in August,