She’s a stunner! And quite frankly I’m relieved this iris flowered at all.

You see I had buyers regret. An impulse buy in the middle of winter from an online catalogue. Oh I’m a sucker for those bright pretty flowery catalogues!

Miss Iris arrived and for $15, unexpectedly small, shrivelled up and looked fit for the compost bin. But, given the amount I paid, that was definetly not happening.

Full sun, for protection planted amongst elephant garlic, yarrow, chamomile, lavender, violets and some new roses, they all kept each other company. Watered to begin with then kept an eye on the rainfall to make sure she didn’t dry out any further.

Miss Iris also spent many months under a wire cloche, those blackbirds were more than happy to dig her up on the first day. How strong are their beaks?!

I’ll have a play around and see if I can get a good screensaver photo, an iris would be lovely to add to the Spring Collection.

If irises and dahlias are on your garden wish list, keep an eye out at markets and church stalls for them. I’ve usually found them tucked under the front of the table in plastic bags. Autumn is when they are usually dug up, divided and sold.

My bet is iris will be the next big come back in the flower world, dahlias have become popular again thanks to some great flower growers and pretty photos on social media. When I was shopping for our garden 10+ years ago I was told by a nursery owner that she didn’t stock dahlias, they weren’t popular enough and didn’t sell, that is totally not the case now.

Just like the fashion industry there are trends in horticulture, what do you think will be next? Iris?

Jude x