Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: bearded iris

Bearded Iris usually blooms from late April through early June in southern Oregon, so when Steve and I visited the Harry & David public garden in April, their lovely bed of iris was just showing off the first blossoms, with most were still in bud. I loved the way these petals looked like spirals.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to spend a day taking pictures of countless bearded irises at a friend's property some time ago, but I am always eager to take more pictures of these stunning flowers. The Harry & David public garden had a very nice display of lavender and purple irises to feast my eyes upon! :)

Today I decided to step outside and see if I could get another pretty picture of the bearded irises we have blooming now. There are only two more stalks of buds to go, so I thought I'd try to get a nice picture of them. I've been trying different ideas over the past week, and today I got an image that made me happy enough to make it my pick of the day! Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and the most influential physicist of the 20th century. While best known for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation"), he received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory. Wikipedia: Albert Einstein

There are only a handful of flowers that were planted on our property, and this is one is among our most magnificent. For a couple of years after moving here, there were about half a dozen Bearded Iris flower stalks that bloomed, but unfortunately this area gets flooded when it rains heavily and I'm afraid the bulbs rotted. The plants seem to be making a come back, but this is the only stalk of flowers that bloomed. I made the most of it though, so tonight I'm showing the pictures seperately and not nested together as I have with other flowers. I hope you like them! :) The Bearded Iris is native to Germany, and gets its name for the fuzz or "beard" that grows on the three lower petals, which are called "falls". The inner upper petals are called "the standard." This flower was so beloved by the king of France that it was chosen for their national emblem, the fleur-de-lis! (Conflicting information states the Yellow Flag Iris--Iris pseudacorus--was the flower used for the stylized emblem.) In any event, the Bearded Iris is an extremely popular flower. Like daffodils and crocus, once you plant irises, you'll get beautiful flowers every year without doing anything, and they will also multiply over the years! These flowers are also very adaptability to different soils and climates, and can tolerate droughts too! :)! If you would like to know more about Bearded Iris, The American Iris Society has a great page here: Bearded Iris Classifications . For more information about irises in general, Wiki has a great page here: Wiki: Iris

Here are two of the four flowers in full bloom! Aren't they magnificent?! In fact, Steve and I are going to buy an assortment of other colors to plant this fall so we have more lovely flowers to enjoy next spring! :) Irises grow from a kind of bulb called a rhizome, and they look a lot like a ginger root, which is also a rhizome. Many flowers which bloom in the spring or early summer are planted in the fall. This is important because the bulb, rhizome, or corm must have a "resting" period of cold temperatures before they will grow. In the springtime, the soil begins to warm up and the bulbs, rhizomes and corms "wake up" and begin to send a stem up and roots down! If you would like to see an amazing assortment of Bearded Iris in a zillion different colors, I found a wonderful farm in California which has an endless variety to see! :) Pleasant Valley Iris Farm

It's nice having this flower right outside the front door because I could just step outside to see its progress as each flower began to open! (You can see the drying daffodils and jonquils that form the bokeh in the lower right! :D) Bearded Iris comes in every color of the rainbow except true red, and has been cultivated to grow in many different sizes from miniature to tall. Ours is a Tall Bearded Iris! :)

The other day I took some pictures of our lovely bearded irises and saw something huge fly by. How nice to be in the right place at the right time! I got several pictures of this bee on the iris, but this is my favorite, taken just as he lifted off for his next assignment! :D