A few days ago I was talking about “rescuing” plants. This iris was rescued a couple years ago from an abandoned garden at a property that had been donated to our church. Eventually the whole site will be bulldozed for a new building. For now the garden is just a hindrance to the grounds crew who have to mow around it.

This plant bloomed the first year after I planted it and then I decided to move it again. I read in one of Scott Ogden’s books that it preferred a damp shady environment. Last year it did not bloom at all, and I was afraid I had made a mistake in relocating it. I was very surprised to look out the window this afternoon and see the flower.

It’s the first of my irises to bloom. The flower like the foliage is slender and delicate. The fans die back all the way to the ground in the winter.