Renowned for colorful flowers that often have detailed markings, irises are some of the most popular cottage garden plants.
Perhaps the only downside to growing irises is that they only bloom for a few weeks, but by planting a variety of bearded, beardless, and aril species, you can enjoy iris blooms for up to a few months ...
Left: This 126 year-old bearded iris is preserved in the U.S. National Herbarium alongside millions of other plant specimens. (Smithsonian) Right: A close-up of a bearded iris shows the hair-like ...