An Iris by Any Other Name

Many years ago, when there were no garden paths or gardens of any kind surrounding my home, a friend gave me some walking iris plants to place beneath the oaks.

The lovely neomarica longifolia puts up a many bloomed spike of yellow flowers while neomarica gracilis bears single white blooms with a blue center. Over the years these plants have multiplied and been placed in many spots at My Garden Path. They have become hopelessly mixed together yellow and blue. Until they bloom each spring through summer I have no idea which is which. Many have been given to fellow gardeners but usually without knowing which color was being given.


There are still plenty of each color both in the front and back gardens. Each bloom only lasts one day, but there are constant replacements opening throughout the spring and summer seasons. When not blooming, the long slender spearlike foliage is still quite beautiful on its own. These lovely leaves are cold hardy and only had a few burned tips after this past winter's cold temperatures.

Last spring a new walking iris caught my eye. Neomarica caerulea 'Regina' has very large deep purple blooms with just a touch of yellow in the center. The long slender leaves are much darker green than the other walking iris in the garden so she really stands out from the crowd. I have also put this plant in an area all her own.

Another deep purple bloom is produced by the native blue flag iris, Iris virginica.  The one clump purchased last year has become three. 

I'm hoping these will multiply and bloom profusely filling up the space in the bog.  This plant is not a "walker" but is a clumper and I have read that it can be spread by seed.  The beautiful blooms last several days. 

Another plant that goes by the name of iris is the African Iris, dietes iridioides, also known commonly as Fortnight Lily.  These lovely white blooms with purple and yellow centers are suspended seemingly in mid-air and remind me of butterflies floating on the breeze when viewed from a distance.  This plant's blooms don't seem to last more than a day or two but a flush of blooms is produced at one time and then a rest period of a "fortnight" occurs before another flush of blooms. 

All of these plants with the common name of  iris grow, multiply and bloom well here in dappled shade under the oaks.  They have become a mainstay of my gardens and I love the way the blooms and slender leaves bend and sway with the wind. 

Selective Sights After a Cold Winter's Night

The garden thermometer under the big double-oak showed 29 degrees this morning at first-light. 

Smiling Pansies

As a native Floridian who has never lived anywhere else, I remember cold winters like we have been experiencing these last few years.  However, I had been lulled into forgetfulness by the decade or so of milder winters occurring prior to 2008.

Bamboo, Multiplex 'Fernleaf'

I've lived on the same piece of property for 25 years now.  When the children were still small my gardening efforts were limited to a few hedges of ligustrum, viburnum and lots of azaleas.  All of those plants are cold-hardy and have never been fazed by winter.

Budding Azaleas


A few hibiscus bushes and pass-along bromeliads were in the landscape but I don't remember winter ever ravaging them like it has recently.

Native Saw Palmetto

The last four years have afforded a slower lifestyle that fueled a new interest in gardening.  Yep, just in time for a cold winter cycle to hit.



Flowering Maple

All the beautiful tropicals and butterfly nectar and host plants that drew me that first spring of 2007 gardening have taught me much.  Old stand-by plants once considered "boring" are now appreciated for the structure they provide during just such times as these.

African Iris

Oh, the tropicals and other tender perennials will always be loved and grown in this garden, but more thought is being given to a reliable frame-work to define the garden during the dormant months.

Shrimp Plant

This thought began after last January's eleven days of freezing temperatures.  By April, the thought was hidden beneath the exuberance of seeing those tender plants returning.  Soon, the thought of providing a form that would be cold-hardy was completely forgotten, or at least, ignored.



Sasanqua Camellia 'Yuletide'

A few reliable garden residents are rewarding my initial effort and refueling my resolve to follow-through better this next gardening year. 

My blog title says "Learning and Growing in a Florida Garden" and, albeit slowly, I am.

In-between

While the garden is between frosty weather episodes these flowers have brought their joy.

Lovely lavender only grows well here during the cold season. 

Once the humidity of a Florida summer cranks up it wilts and withers,but now, it is spiking up beautifully.

A reliable bloomer most of the year, African iris is sending up shoots of new buds. 

Sweet Alyssum and Belinda's Dream mingle their perfume adding a sweet scent to the morning walk-about.

With a scent that is a little less sweet and a little more peppery, the White Out rose is doing her best to provide wintery white blooms.

Smelling like almond cookies baking in the oven, the sweet almond bush is loving the cold. 

(While tender potted plants and seedlings have been brought into the protection of the porch and a few in-ground tropicals have been covered with old quilts, the above flowers have been on their own.  Other plants left unprotected have already turned brown and begun their winter hibernation.  It's nice to have a few things doing well in the winter garden.)