Iris

Iris

According to wikipedia, Iris is a genus of 260-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers.  It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species.  

I've found that Iris flowers are wonderfully easy to grow, even in the heavy clay soils I've had to work with most of my life.  When we bought our home 17 years ago I transplanted some Iris rhizomes from our family property into my front side yard along the fence, and some more along the back of the house.  They have spread and flourished throughout the years with very little care, and by the end of May provide a wonderful treat of color in our yard.  We only have the white and purple and gold varieties, but someday I may invest in some of the more colorful ones too.  

Right now the plants are greening up and gearing up for the May festival of colors:

But by May they should look more like this:

Do you have Iris in your garden?