Lost (?) & Found Irises

Hi all:

I went wild flower seed-collecting yesterday (don't worry -- I'm 
terribly careful & ethical at this) along the rocky canyon road that is 
my preferred route to & from Denver. (Bear Creek Canyon, CO state hwy 
74, for those who are interested.) Found some newly opened yucca pods 
(for a friend) that the deer & elk hadn't gotten to, many seed pods of a 
penstemon I have yet to ID, just-ready seed heads of our wild mondarda & 
a lot of other neat stuff.

Weirdest tho was what I found miles in any direction from sight or sound 
of human habitation -- a healthy, thriving clump of bearded iris! I have 
lived up here for 44 years & traveled this canyon road countless times 
so am very certain that no house, cabin, trailer or even tent (for more 
than overnight) has been located at or anywhere near this particular 
spot in all those years. Where did these TB's (based on height of leaves 
& size of rhizomes) come from?!

Located in the shade & at about the dripline of a large stand of scrub 
oak (Gambel's Oak), these iris had not bloomed in a long time -- I found 
no flower stalks or evidence or any, even old, dessicated ones. Too much 
shade, I presume. The ground is very rocky where it isn't nearly pure 
sand, but the iris had been well-fed by rotting oak leaves over the 
years. Other than the oaks & mountain mahoghany shrubs, the surrounding 
vegetation on this mostly barren steep slope consists of weedy grasses, 
yucca, some Prickly Pear cactuses, the ever-present thistles, gumweed, 
snakeweed & one lone Liatris punctata. If this was ever anyone's garden 
it's so long in the past that only the iris are left to attest to it.

I couldn't stand it -- I broke one of my cardinal rules about collecting 
from the wild & went back to my truck for a shovel. After all, no way 
are these TB's native! I dug up 8 good-sized fans & the rhizomes weren't 
even particularly snakey, tho the newer ones had grown over the tops of 
older, expired ones. Rocks all around the clump had kept the rhizomes 
from just marching on to the horizon, I suppose -- one new fan was 
pinned down by a rock only recently rolled down the slope. What was 
"lost" is now "found" again & maybe next spring I'll get to find out 
what the blooms are like. Doubt I'll ever know how they came to be 
growing about 50' downhill from the highway -- maybe they literally fell 
off the back of a truck?

Marte in the mtns	Zone 4/Sunset 1  Colorado
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