Iris, Therefore I am

When I bought my Cambridge-Narrows house in 1992, it came with a few things that I liked (some perennials, the view, the lingering odour of tasteless nouveau riche decor), and some things I didn't like (the carpeting!, the vinyl siding!, the lingering odour of tasteless nouveau riche decor). One of the notable likable items was a patch of yellow and purple bearded irises that continue to bloom to this very day (see today's image). That's twenty-two years of enjoyment. Makes me wonder why anyone buys annuals that give one season of colour, then croak.

I'm not really dissing annuals because they can be quite spectacular, but they have the investment value of fireworks, more or less. My irises look better this year than ever before. I'm not sure why but perhaps they like having a winter that lasts six months, a spring that never sprung, deluges of rain and no wind. Or perhaps it was the fertilizer.

Hey! What do you know about irises? I know very little other than I see wild ones growing in wet fields and ditches. They're commonly known as blue flag, but where did they come from? Are they native? Let's root around for some answers.

This calls for Wikipedia!

The iris (plural: irides or irises) is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupil and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. The color of the iris gives the eye its color.

Oops. Let's try again...

Iris is a genus of 260–300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species. As well as being the scientific name, iris is also very widely used as a common name for all Iris species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera. A common name for some species is 'flags'.

Irises have inspired artists such as Vincent Van Gogh. They've become the provincial flower for Quebec (and I thought Quebec's official flower was a bouquet of Poutine canadensis). The fleur-de-lis, seen in French illustration, is a stylized iris. You'll see it on the Quebec flag as well in the logo of the NFL's New Orleans Saints. I think the honourable Scouts ripped it off too. It's all over North America.

I'm happy to announce that there are about 30 species of irises native to North America. This makes me feel good because so often it turns out that some of the most beautiful and/or invasive flowers were introduced by those god-damned Europeans (thanks, Dad!). I used to wonder if North America, pre-Columbus, pre-Vikings, pre-Bill Varty was simply a vast floral nothingness. I envision millions of buffalo eating fields of fiddleheads, and perhaps a Vesey's Seeds teetering on bankruptcy, but not much more.