A Gardener's Miscellany
This week it’s:
Dwarf bulb irises
They may be small, but dwarf irises still pack a colourful punch in late winter or early spring
DURING my student days with the RHS, one of my jobs was to look after the Alpine House at Wisley in Surrey. In those days it was an old-style unheated greenhouse, with benches of sand into which alpine plants were plunged, still in their pots, when they came into flower. It meant that there was always something colourful to admire. It was here that I first discovered dwarf irises. I knew the large border irises, but the diminutive bulb versions were a revelation and have been firm favourites ever since. Let’s look at some of the stories surrounding them.
▪ Nearly all the irises included here are the so-called ‘Reticulata’ irises (see
