By now, we've all likely cleaned up a good portion, if not all, of our gardens. We should be grateful for the wonderful year we had; I'm sure many of us were worried about what the year would bring, specifically, would we have blight again? Thankfully, that problem stayed away, although there seemed to be an abundance of slugs. However, we gardeners forget quickly, don't we! The frustration of the slimy pests is becoming a distant memory as we finish up the year and look forward to winter and a well-deserved rest!
The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society's October meeting takes place on Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sunshine Room at SIGN on North Street. We'll be welcoming Anna Schaab from The Garlic Farm as our special guest. Anna will be talking to us about how and when to plant garlic, and I know we'll learn a lot about this much-loved plant. I'll take this momento to remind all hort club members to bring your garden pictures to this meeting, so that we can add them to the group photo album. And if you've been working on your own albums, bring them along to share with the group!
Stacked along side my favorite place to sit on the couch is a tall pile of gardening books and magazines, perfect to dip into at the end of the day when I sit down with a cup of tea. I unearthed one book that I hadn't studied for a while: it's called "Stangers In The Garden: The Secret Lives Of Our Favorite Flowers" by Andrew Smith. I started reading about irises; this hardy plant grows everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. Because it is so widespread, irises are one of the most popular flowers featured in art through the centuries. As early as the 15th century BC, King Thutmosis III of Egypt brought back these prized plants from his travels to Asia Minor, and had them carved in stone. In mythology, Iris was chosen to carry messages to earth from Mount Olympus, and her bridge between the heavens and the earth was a rainbow. Even now, the name "Iris" is included in the word for rainbow in some languages, such as arcoiris, Iris' arch, in Spanish. The most well-known picture of the iris is the fleur-de-lys. Long ago and far away, in 496 AD, German Goths were hot on the trail of the French king, Clovis. Clovis and his men were trapped in a bend of the Rhine river. It seemed there was no way out, until Clovis looked across the water and saw iris flowers growing near the centre of the river. These water irises, known as yellow flags, gave Clovis the idea that the water wasn't as deep as he thought, so the French army escaped using the yellow flags as guides of which way to go through the water. Clovis was so grateful to this lovely little flower that he chose it as his emblem, and it is still a symbol of French monarchy.
It's amazing, isn't it, that some of the flowers in our gardens have such history, and have travelled so far to get to their home in the here and now. Especially the iris, which is so easy-care and plentiful, and often taken for granted by us gardeners. It seems the tough rhizomes will grow almost anywhere, in almost any kind of soil. If you are adding some to your garden next spring, remember not to bury the rhizomes as you would a dahlia or tulip bulb. They should be resting on top of the soil, with the roots buried. With their abundance of color choices, heights and textures, irises can fit into any gardening landscape.
So next spring, when we're starting our gardening again, we'll look at the humble iris with renewed respect!
Have a great week!
