Cynthia St. Charles Store

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Iris GardenViews

 Here are a couple of views of the iris gardens from the veranda on the north end of the house.  These terraces were built by me one shovelful at a time.  I had to haul a lot of wheelbarrows full of dirt to create the flat surface for the flagstone patio.
The rocks have been hauled from the Beartooth Mountains (we have a permit from the Forest Service to collect them for personal use).  Then, I have drystacked them all at the edge of three of the terraces.   This summer there will be a lot more trips to collect rocks for  dry stacking these terraces.

This is the first year that I have really had any good iris bloom to speak of and I am really happy to see the results of my labors!

4 comments:

Judy Sall Fiber Art said...

They are gorgeous, Cynthia! How do you care for them? I have not had much luck here, and don't know if I'm not planting them right, watering them right, etc. Any suggestions?

Cynthia St Charles said...

I grow iris because they don't require a lot of water and the deer don't eat them. They also don't need much care. I stick them in the ground, water a bit and let them go. This year, I did add some special fertilizer (low nitrogen) and also some triple phosphate to encourage bloom. They don't like a lot of water. I have lots of drainage, we don't get much rain, and we haul our water, so I only water plants when necessary. Tell me more about where you have them planted and I will try to offer suggestions.

The Idaho Beauty said...

Spectacular - visually worth all that hard labor.

Margaret Cooter said...

So very beautiful - and, from what you said about why you grow them, the perfect plant for the situation. Lovely in the photos, and they must be even more so in reality!