The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-26
USEMENTS.
The JAPAN IRIS.
How H should BE crown to Secure
the Rest Results.

OF all our hardy plants none is so grand
and beautiful as a well-grown specimen
of Japan iris; yet a great many people
fail with them simply because they do not
furnish the plant with its most important
reQuirement-water AS is well known al
most all irises are swamp plants, and are
therefore great lovers of water, yet most
of the species will adapt themselves to al
most any condition, growing with almost
equal vigor in water or on dry land, as,
for Instance the varieties of German iris,
which flourish like weeds in our gardens,
but my experience has shown hat the
Kaempferi iris requires an abundance OF
water during the growing season.
My first attempt at the cultivation of
this plant was with a collection of up
ward of two dozen fine varieties; the
plants when received from the nursery
were strong clumps. and We're set out
early in the spring and given the same
care l gave the German iris. They grew
finely and produced some magnificent
blooms in June.
The latter part of the season was ex-
tremely dry, but l supposed that the
plants were all right. as droughts never
Gil " iC iAlAAAC - -
the next spring, when they started to
grow, it was noticed that the foliage OF
nearly all of them was of a sickly yellow
color and the growth very weak, a large
portion Of them dying in a few weeks,
and those that survived made a very
poor growth and produced only q few in
ferior lower
l at once concluded hat the .irises
needed was water and plenty Of it, SO |
removed them to a swampy piece of land
which could be flooded. The results We're
surprising; the foliage soon ssumed a
dark green color and began to grow Wig
oreusiy, and by frest man. OF the leaves
were upward of four Ieet n ana suen
lowers as they produced n following
June! o chidS could not Surpass them
This is such a grand flower that one
can well afford to give the plants a little
extra care. and a bed can De prepared at
small cost which will furnish Just the
requirements for producing the gfandest
flowers. Select a level spot of ground con-
venient to some water-pipe, or well, marx
out the size n shape you want the pea,
then remove the top soil to the depth OF
fifteen inches, leaving the bottom smooth
and level. on this spread d thin coat OF
cement and enclose the sides with poardS,
then fill up the beds with rich compo 70
within two inches of the top OF the ped-
Set the plants eighteen inches 10 TWO 1eet
apart. During the growing season the
beds should be kept constantly moist, ana
lust before the buds appear the ped
should he flooded n the soil should be
kept very wet until the plants are through
BLOOMING. Such flowers as are produced
by this method of culture is beyond me
power of pen to describe AFTER the
nlants are through blooming the bed will
not require to be SO wet. but the
plants must never be allowed to suffer
for water if good results are desired Tor
After frost has killed the leaves it is a
good plan to. mulch the beds with straw
or some coarse litter, for protection dur
ing winter. If one cannot AFFORD a PED as
described, the next best thlng IS 70 In9ich
the nlants heavily and water freely dur
ing the season.-Vick's Magazine.