Cult: Garden Tour Finds

Ian E. & Shirley Efford wrote:
> 
> Garden tours have become a major source of funds and enjoyment for
> horticultural societies and their members.  Two years ago, one was so
> successful that the church serving food ran out of water and had to
> borrow from another church to keep up with the tea demand.  That society
> seem to have made enough money to last them for years because this
> year's tour is restricted to members and free.  The result of all this
> local activity is that we have spent one day each weekend visiting
> gardens.  New plants and surprises abound.  Last Sunday, in one garden
> deep in the woods of Quebec, I saw an iris hiding in the long grass.  I
> have been struggling with the problem of accurate identification of
> versicolor-virginica and, on seeing this iris, my first reaction was
> here-we-go-again! I need not have worried as the owner pointed out that
> it was Iris douglasiana, a Californian iris that does not grow in this
> area!  It had been flowering in the same spot for three years and a
> piece is now flowering in my garden.
> 
> It just shows that we cannot accept what the experts tell us about where
> things grow. I have been struggling to grown I.innominata for about four
> years.  It always dies, indoors or out, after about a year.  Yet, here
> we have douglasiana flowering happily because not one told it not to.  I
> might note that, amongst mis-named irises that I have been given were
> Louisianans, more Dorothea K. Williamson and Iris hexagona.  Both
> flowering happily today in my garden although the latter, at least, is
> not a Zone 4 plant.
> 
> The season remains odd, to say the least, I.pallida and aphylla stopped
> flowering about four weeks ago and are now back in flower.  It is the
> first time that I have seen this happen.
> 
> Ian, in Ottawa where he would like to thank John for his efforts to keep
> the group together.
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