Japanese Irises

Before heading to Bishopville, South Carolina, on Saturday - a friend and I stopped off at the Sumter Iris Festival.  I had not been before, and for the most part, I'm not much of a festival-goer, but Pete had said that it would be worth the drive just to see all of the japanese irises in bloom, and he was most certainly right about that.  The Swan Lake Iris Gardens were worth the drive all itself...and I love the fact that the garden was an accidental one.  According to their website:

Swan Lake-Iris Gardens began in 1927 as a private fishing retreat for Hamilton Carr Bland, a local businessman. At the same time he was developing the 30 acres of swamp on what is now West Liberty Street, he was landscaping the grounds of his home with Japanese iris. They failed miserably, and after consulting expert horticulturists from as far away as New York, he ordered his gardener to dig up the bulbs and dump them at the swamp. The following spring, they burst into bloom. The accidental garden, referred to by Southern Living magazine a "lovely mistake," has since been developed into one of the finest botanical gardens in the United States.

I walked away from the festival with an Iris ensata Pink Dace, Flamingo Frolic (I couldn't find an image of this one - but it's a large flower, white, with purple veins originating from a yellow center), and Geisha Obi.  They were a bit picked over when I got there, since it was late in the afternoon on Saturday - but I think that this will be a great start.  They'll need moisture, so I'm planting them around a bird bath that I try to fill up with water regularly, so I'm hopeful that they will do well.  I did get them planted today.  I don't know terribly much about Japanese Irises, so here are some links I found, while roaming around the web last night:

• The Society for Japanese Irises
• Japanese Iris Photographs by L.R. Fortney
• National and International Iris Societies

   

Comments

[layanee]

I think it was well worth your trip to see those beautiful iris. I have a few and they bloom well after all the other iris which is very gratifying.

[David]

Stunning! What a treat. Thank you.

[Pam]

Layanee - Same here - my bearded irises, etc are long gone - so they are about a month or so behind the others. I know that they need it to be moist, so I'll have to pay attention to them, especially when it is unusually dry (which it is now). I bet they look beautiful in your garden with the all of the rocks - I definitely envy stone walls now that I'm in the sandy south!

[Pam]

Layanee - Same here - my bearded irises, etc are long gone - so they are about a month or so behind the others. I know that they need it to be moist, so I'll have to pay attention to them, especially when it is unusually dry (which it is now). I bet they look beautiful in your garden with the all of the rocks (haven't I seen a stone wall in your garden?) - I definitely envy stone walls now that I'm in the sandy south!

David - Thanks for stopping by. I've been admiring your photographs ever since I saw your link at Anna Marias. Your photographs are simply beautiful (but then I'm rather found of your subjects!).