Superstition

Day 239: Friday the 13th? Black cat cross your path? Do your ears tingle when someone is talking about you? We all have our superstitions, but mine grows under a Sitka Mountain Ash and sweetens the yard with its fragrance on warm afternoons. One of the deepest purple varieties of bearded iris, Superstition is marketed as black, but is quite variable depending on soil conditions. When I first planted mine thirty years ago, it remained quite dark for several years before fading to a rich mahogany red as the bed failed to supply the proper nutrients. I shifted it to a new spot where the soil was richer, and it reverted to "black" within two years. It's been happy there, and despite having its rhizomes fairly well grassed-over, it continues to reward me with a flush of blooms every year. It's difficult to maintain iris weed-free since seeds (particularly grasses) work their way into the crevices of the root system where they can't be pulled without damaging the tubers. Sometimes it's easier to just dig them up and move them, so why not divide them at the same time and share them with your friends?