purple iris

It's catching

Here is mine purple iris that I wanted to show Thee - the one that wants the garden to itself LOL Jan please tell me what it is again - I'm keep forgetting.

Looks a great colour Fran. Sounds like it's a pot specimen only.

It is a beautiful colour, Fran,
I think it looks lovely making space for itself in the garden, it will be beautiful when it gets more flowers on it, what a bright spark of blue.
Marion

LOL - I. tectorum! It is one of my favourites, and i just had to dig a heap of mine out of the ground for a fence to be put in. They are sitting in a bucket waiting to go back in the ground :-(
Your forgettory is functioning well you mean? I'm am woeful lately. Must be age creeping up.
cheers, Jan

Ta Jan - looked it up to see if it had a common name - Japanese roof iris - you can bet I won't forget again LOL So wonder why it's called that

You know the white face paint that japanese ladies traditionally used? It is made from the dried, ground up rhizomes of I.tectorum.
During the war all the available land had to be used for food production in Japan. These ladies, not wanting to part with their irises, took to growing them on the thatch of their cottage rooves. That's my story and I'm sticking to it :-)

Like the story probably some truth to it. Geisha were privileged weren't they and applying makeup was an art in itself.

There's a white variety apparently.

It's the story that all the iris books tell you, so I guess it is correct. They would probably put some soil on the roof for them to grow in, and the sharp drainage would suit the irises well.
Cheers, Jan