It was so overwhelming, I didn’t know where to start. It was my equivalent of a candy store. Where to look first?
Our garden club was visiting Ted Baker’s garden on Saltspring Island. He likes iris. A lot.
Inside the Iris Societies BC & Canada, he’s a celebrity. He was instrumental in bringing the 2011 American Iris Society national convention to Vancouver Island. What a treat to explore his garden!
Who knew there were so many variations of iris? It was a kaleidoscope of exotic blooms & colours. With names for each plant, it was an enthusiast’s dream.
It’s too much to try to show you everything.
“Focus – Focus!” I thought to myself, entering Ted’s main iris field. I decided to concentrate on a single theme.
Yellow. I like Yellow, it’s a happy colour. So, get ready, here’s only a ‘Baker’s dozen’ of Ted’s 250+ bearded iris. See if you think the name matches the flower.
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
photo by SVSeekins
The morning visit to Ted’s garden was fun. It certainly proved there was more to iris than those delightful purples that still grow (un-tended) in Mom”s & Grandma’s gardens. Which do you grow in your garden?
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© copyright 2012 SVSeekins
Garden Variety Life 
WOW what a wonderful garden trip and obviously the perfect time of year to go. When we moved in to our townhouse there were quite a lot of iris as the previous owners name was IRIS! Over the years I’ve dug them up and passed them on – they are beautiful for about a week and then just take up a lot of room! Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures! We’re off from work this week and finally a SUNNY day today so will be out in the garden soon.
The lady that gardened here before us was named Iris, too!
She also grew several varieties – – all versions of purple. I’ve moved them around the yard & they worked great to fill in space while the shrubs we added grew up.
Last fall I realized it was time to remove quite a few. Like you, many have been shared with friends. 🙂 Some more are growing in gallon pots for anyone that might like some….
🙂
These flowers are truly amazing but I still prefer the purple ones. Guess I am ‘old school’.
I’ve always liked the purple ones that Gran & Mom grew – they’re still surviving untended at the homesteads. I guess that proves they’re ‘low maintenance’ 🙂 + they’re deer resistant. They’re so big & exotic looking. I wonder if the hummingbirds feed on them? Anyone know?
Wow, I like yellow too and it would be hard to choose a favorite. Glad you got a chance to enjoy such beauty.
Beautiful flowers. Can you tell me the difference between the terms flag and iris? Are flags a type of iris?
Hi Julie; Iris is a group of flowers with at least 200 varieties. An old fashioned way to refer to an iris is calling it a flag… Who knows where tat originated 🙂 Although consider the different bits of the blossom are called (beard, falls, standard…) it comes to my mind that medieval armies had ‘standards’; weren’t they some sort of flags to identify whose army was whose?
Either way, both blue flag iris & the yellow flag iris are common in these parts… but the ‘flag’ is just part of the name. Both are iris. 🙂
cheers, SV
Thanks for clearing that up. The history would be interesting. .You may be on to something. 🙂