plantas y flores / plants and flowers: IRIS

Dwarf Iris reticulata should naturalize in garden beds or at the feet of deciduous trees, but it also can be cultivated in shallow pots. " src="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/v3/11-19-2009.NGD_17iris1.GPO2NKO76.1.jpg" onclick="return clickedImage(this);" alt="" onmouseover=" this.style.cursor='hand'" height="124" width="175">

Dwarf Iris reticulata should naturalize in garden beds or at the feet of deciduous trees, but it also can be cultivated in shallow pots.Ogden warns us away from expecting the tiny irises reticulata, danfordiae and tuberosa (also called Hermodactylus tuberosus ) to persist spring after spring, unless we can give them a site that bakes in summer without automatic sprinklers. But plant some with no expectations beyond the first spring's lovely show and the satisfaction of trying something most people have not.

Pavord says varieties of I. reticulata such as purple-flowered 'George' and blue 'Harmony' are excellent planted in shallow bowls to bring indoors. "Fifteen bulbs will fit nicely in a container about 9 inches across," she says.

In the ground, she advises, the early-flowering reticulatas grow best in sunny, sandy soils and do not like too much moisture. Plant them at least 4 inches deep to encourage them not to divide into tiny bulbils, which take at least two years to develop to blooming size.

Dutch irises like plenty of water while in growth in fall and winter and a hot baking in summer. Ogden says certain Dutch irises, including blue 'Professor Blau,' will naturalize and may be seen in many older gardens in April.

Paler blue 'Wedgwood' (bred in 1925) and 'White Excelsior' (1920) have different parents and usually flower several weeks earlier. Bulbs of Dutch iris, writes Pavord, are sold in several sizes, ranging from 2 ¼ inches to 4 inches and bigger. The bigger the bulb, the better the flowers.

SPANISH BLUEBELL

Scott Kunst, owner of the mail-order business Old House Gardens in Ann Arbor, Mich., advises North Texans to plant Spanish bluebells (H. hispanica), instead of English bluebells (H. non-scripta). Importers often package Spanish bluebells in blue, pink and white; Ogden champions the blue Southern heirloom.

"The round, white bulbs are happy anywhere they receive ample spring moisture," he writes. They bloom in dappled shade, and the mother bulb produces multiple bulblets to form a sea of blue.