by James Alexander-Sinclair
One of the very earliest of flowering bulbs in many gardens is Iris reticulata, which is flowering away right now.
When we think of irises our minds tend to wander towards May and great swathes of big, brassy flowers over sharp-sided, sword-shaped leaves. Either that or drifts of yellow flag iris on the sides of pools and streams. We tend to ignore February. Big mistake.
One of the very earliest flowering bulbs in many gardens is Iris reticulata, which is flowering away right now. It has the same shaped flowers as its early summer cousins with hanging falls, but without the distinctive beards (more like Siberian iris). The flowers vary in colour from pale blue to deep violet, with yellow-spotted splashes down each petal.
Some of them share names with the engines of Rev. Wilbert Awdry, so we have I. reticulata 'Edward' and I. reticulata 'Gordon' although, sadly, no I. reticulata 'Sir Topham Hatt'.
Others worth growing include I. reticulata 'Cantab', I. reticulata 'Violet Beauty', I. reticulata 'J.S.Dijt' and I. reticulata 'Katharine Hodgkin'.
They look particularly fabulous in gravel, as the flowers stand out better against a pale background - the darker varieties in particular get a bit lost against the naked soil of February.
These irises are terribly easy to grow: plant the bulbs in autumn at about twice their own depth and wait. Clumps can be divided in summer to produce more plants. The tricky bit is remembering to order them in August, so long after they've actually flowered.
Make notes, Ladies and Gentlemen, always make notes (says the man who always forgets everything).
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