If my garden was a theater, Pacific Coast Iris (Iris douglasiana) would be the overlooked understudy or supporting actor that unexpectedly steals the show. It’s presence is subtle if not negligible for most of the year, until a couple weeks in May when it pulls out all the stops and produces flowers that would make a watercolorist pant. While this stellar performance is brief (2-3 weeks), it is memorable enough for me to seek an encore–an encore that usually requires a trip to the local nursery to add cast members to this colorful troupe of players in anticipation of next year’s return engagement.
Related links: Native Irises, Sunset: Pacific Treasure, BC Iris Society, Dunn Gardens Seattle
What I was blogging about a year ago: Souvenir de Madame Leonie Viennot
A rose by any other name wouldn’t smell as sweet
10 responses so far ↓
1 Vikki // May 27, 2009 at 1:07 am
Tom,
Steal the show indeed! Breathtaking irises. Of course not to be had here in my part of the world (the sultry southeast).
I’m loving your blog which I came upon through a visit to the Grumpy Gardener.
You are a talented writer and you take amazing pictures.
Vikki
2 Miffy // May 27, 2009 at 9:49 pm
One of my faves….next to the lilac! Heaven “scent”!
xo
3 brion // May 27, 2009 at 11:40 pm
damn Tom you do take a fine picture. I was wondering how you keep it from getting all munged up with mud, sand, slobber, sweat, sap, fryer fat, chicken…droppings, et cetera. Inspired by your skill I’m shopping for a Digital SLR. I’m curious what kind of camera you are using.
4 Tom // May 28, 2009 at 2:34 am
From your line-up of said hazards, you can see Brion that I haven’t changed much. This is where my cover is blown, I use the digital version of a brownie camera, an early version of the canon elph PowerShot S110. The term powershot does elevate its status no doubt, a much better moniker than WeakShot or WimpyZap. It’s been a great camera withstanding mud, sand, slobber, sweat…etc, etc, etc.
5 brion // May 28, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Virtuosity is not in the instrument. Simple cameras teach you to see and you’ve always had a good eye. Keep those images coming in.
6 June // May 28, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I would really love to know the name of the pink one on the right. It is gorgeous. We tend toward a lot of Siberian iris in Maine. Off to research how the Pacifics would do near the Atlantic…
Thanks for sharing…
7 Tom // May 29, 2009 at 1:48 pm
June this group is called Pacific Coast Hybrids and I don’t recall that they had named varieties. I’ll check with the nursery where I bought them in bloom several years ago.
8 Renae // May 29, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Tom, you must be on stay-cation. We have lots to talk about. As it turns out, I’ll be near your cubicle sooner than expected so we can talk blog even more.
9 Eileen @ Passions to Pastry // Jun 3, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Beautiful. The center iris is amazing.
10 Tomato Trellis: A Cagey Alternative // Jun 3, 2010 at 4:52 pm
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