Re: Cementary Plants

Donald Eaves said:

<< Today I walked to the country cementary just to view the irises.  I think
 there were probably 3000 or more in bloom at once - all old fashioned
 purple ones.  They are in the bar ditch, in the brush, in the dry Johnson
 grass.  I've been around here for 45 years now and I don't remember them
 ever doing any close to what has happened this year.  It is spectacular! >>

Donald, what kind of purples were they? Were they the I. germaicas--medians--
or the tiny Atroviolaceas? I would assume the latter bloomed there in March,
so the others would be more likely. About 24" tall, two toned purples, for the
most part, with white beards? Hereabouts  the insidious popularity of
"perpetual care" and its attendant reliance on mowing, coupled with the
decline of the custom of planting and tending graves of family, has made
irises in graveyards a fairly rare sight, at least in urban areas. The books
say that I. albicans is often seen on graves in the south, particularly those
in older cemetaries, but I haven't seen it very often in this part of Virginia
where the living ornament, if there is much, tends to be English boxwood, or
occasionally, roses. 

Anner Whitehead, Richmond, Va
Henry Hall  Henryanner@aol.com
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