Oregon Iris

A cooler day than yesterday, but still warm and a bit humid as the marine air moves into the area. A good day to head to the Wildlife Botanical Garden. This little iris and a lovely golden companion iris, were in the very back garden and it was well worth the short walk to investigate all the little gardens that make up the Botanical Garden. Lots of people started to show up as they were going to have a plant sale this afternoon. Then shopping at the store, and home. And another basketball game tonight as the Blazers didn't win their last game. So, another chance to seal the deal. (well, one phase of "the Deal", which is to win the championship...but don't hold your breath on that one..) These two teams play like a couple of scrappy dogs with one bone, I tell you.

NATIVE IRIS
Of the fifteen or so Iris that are native to the whole of the west coast, seven are at home in Oregon. Most are known as “grass iris,” because their narrow leaves grow in a narrow-bladed grass-like clump, rather than the more distinctly separate, wider blades of their relatives (one exception is I. tenuis, which a “crested iris,” having the telltale ridge or “crest” along the center of it’s curved petal). They are also typically lower-growing than their non-native counterparts – generally not reaching any taller than 18 inches.

Most of our native species can be found west of the Cascades, from Washington southward into northern California; colorful drifts in primarily open, wooded areas at low elevations. So in the garden they will be happiest in part to full sun in well-drained soil. Others, native to parts of southwest Oregon and the grasslands east of the Cascades, can be beautiful additions to a rock garden or other dry spots. Blooming in the spring and going dormant in the summer, they like regular moisture through their bloom cycle then allowed to go dry, like the parts of the state from which they originate.