Every year is different. Last year at this time the countryside was a riot of wildflowers. This year seems to be a good one for irises.

Irises are one of the plants that survive in abandoned or neglected gardens. Our own gardens fit that description since the property was owned for several years before us by someone who never actually lived here. These irises are the best evidence that a gardener had once lived here. The ones at the top are along a path through the woods. I’ve mentioned before that we are on a slope, and you can see that in this photo. Thankfully, not all of the property is sloped as much as this.

Most of the irises that were left here have not bloomed before this year so I did not know what color they were. It turns out that a majority are this pale yellow, like these along the driveway. Probably my least favorite color, but I will leave them for the time being.

In addition to the irises that were already here I brought some with me from our previous garden. These I call the Ruiz irises because that was the name…