Japanese Iris

This lovely Japanese iris, Iris ensata, is blooming for us for the first time. It has been growing here for two years. Typical of mail order plants, the first year's growth established the plant. This year's late frost and early drought followed by monsoon like rain have not fazed this iris. An old order shows "Freckled Geisha" as the variety. I don't see any freckles, but it is a gorgeous flower. As far as I can tell it has no scent. "This iris is happy in standing water and will not tolerate dry conditions" says the catalog. We don't have standing water, but rain we have had aplenty. Today has been the first sunny day without rain in the afternoon for weeks. The regular iris really drowned this year so it's nice to see this one.

We have some real concerns about the garden being so wet. The 4th may be a holiday, but the bees were working overtime on the lemon thyme blossoms.Bees prefer to work on sunny days. Blue sky and sunshine are reason to celebrate this year. Since it's also the 4th I think fireworks are called for!