Rock Garden Iris

They have been pushing their leaves up above ground for a couple of weeks and finally opened up.  A beautiful deep blue with yellow blotches, an Iris called Harmony (I. reticulata Harmony) is another flower that blossoms in early spring, and this little beauty is only 4″ above ground.  Cute little thing.

I remember I bought a bag of little bulbs from one of the catalogs a couple of years ago.  Put the whole bag in the ground in fall but only a few came up the following spring.  Though, it is supposed to be a type of rock garden Iris that can do well with less water, I think the plot may be too dry since it is under the roof and only a quarter of it gets rain water.  But, it survives year after year among the Hyacinth, with the leaves just an inch above ground now, along with Columbine (self-sown, I swear).

By summer there will be no sign of the iris left.  It retires back under the ground to wait for next spring.