Prepare for long and wandering narrative:

So four years ago exactly, my first nephew was born. I traveled to see him and was captivated by my sister in law's irises in full bloom in Richmond Va. I thought I felt a little pang of jealousy and longing for a voluptuous bed of my own irises. I attributed it to the fact that emotions were swirling out of control and who would not love sitting in the beautiful May sunshine in a bed of irises with a newborn baby sleeping on one's shoulder!? I ignored it since I'm a good old fashioned rose-and-daylily girl and irises are just... well... irises, right?

Last year we bought our first house and planted beds full of roses and daylilies. Thanks to my aunt and some guerilla gardening, I was able to salvage some heirloom irises from my old homeplace which is under new ownership, so I planted those for purely sentimental reasons. I would never BUY an iris, you know.

So here we are in our first spring as homeowners and gardeners. The roses have plenty of buds but no blooms. The daylilies have plenty of folliage but no scapes. BUT, my gardens are delightful, thanks to the heirloom IRISES!!! So yeah... I am giving in. Maybe I'm an iris girl afterall. O:)

Any idea what this lovely is? From the old farmhouse, been there 35+ years until it came to live with me.

Here is a link that might be useful: