Ron's Iris
I lack an innate sensitivity and compassion toward plants. I know folks that are ‘plant whisperers’. My dearest and longtime friend Marcia is one of these. People who can bring back from the dead, impossible ruins in black plastic pots. The pots found in an anemic pile at the back of any nursery. The ones rescued from the dumpster. You know; those people.
Well.
I am not one of those people. Truth be told:IF PLANTS WERE PEOPLE I’D BE ON DEATH ROW.
This is a fact. I am a crap gardener.
But I can humbly say, that after 30 years of doing this waterwise garden thing – I totally rock as a designer. Humility, does not negate the fact that I’ve learned a few really good things in the last 30 years. Add to that, the fact that gardening is NOT brain surgery. I rock, you can rock, we all can rock. Anyone can, if you know a few (or a dozen) good things.
This is where my strength lies: I’ve figured out a nice palette of plants that I cannot easily kill. And I am continually searching for more. These plants require little in the way of water or maintenance. Plants that plant themselves with little care or attention, then go on to perform perfectly. Producing color, fragrance, and texture dependably year in and year out. I lean heavily on plants like this. I think a garden is a machine that can be built so that it grows and takes care of itself. Pretty much. Sort of. Not to mislead. A garden filled with perennials, annuals, grasses and herbs does take some attention. And you have to want to be out in it. That is a given. But why would you have a garden and not be in it? A nip and a tuck here or there is all one really needs to do if you have the right mix of plant materials, healthy soil, and a nice layer of mulch over all. Those three things really, are fundamental to success.
One of the top 10 favorites in my bullet-proof category of flowering perennials is the bearded Iris. These are “Over-the-Fence” plants. The things that grow in a garden so enthusiastically that they are always throwing off side shoots, sprouts, pups and extra bulbs.
I love in particular one over the fence plant that I got in 1984-ish. It is a beautiful blue iris that blooms dependably every spring. I don’t know its name. But it is the color of the sky on a bright spring day and it has that old fashioned “grape-y” Iris smell. A grand-ma plant. It makes me feel cozy, happy.
I was a 30 year old stay at home mom with my first real garden.
It also makes me think of Ron, the fellow on the other side of the fence, where the Iris grew. We had just purchased our first house in Coronita. I was a 30 year old stay at home mom with my first real garden space. Ron and his then girlfriend were renting the house next door when we moved in. I noticed the iris sprouts on the bank of hard compacted clay soil that separated our front yards. He was happy to let me dig up a few of the rhizomes. A bit of good soil, some water and not much else – the beautiful blue iris began to bloom and grow.
It blooms to this day. Over 30 years later. At least the babies of the original Iris bloom in my garden in this house. And it reminds me of Ron, a 48 year old plumber from New Jersey who was shockingly funny, kind a crazy and apparently irresistible, as he bedded a significant number of the young moms in that neighborhood.
So this morning in the garden, when I saw my blue Iris, I remembered back to the time when Ron had an 18 year old girlfriend. Let’s call her Donna. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were witnessing in our neighborhood one day and knocked on Ron’s door. He opened it and engaged in quite a long conversation with them. They talked to him a lot about Paradise, and how it was important. About then his girlfriend Donna stepped into view behind Ron. The nice ladies at the door asked: “Oh, is this your daughter?” And Ron answered: “No. That is my Paradise”. Ron was one funny guy.
I do not recall any further door to door evangelizing in that neighborhood for the rest of the time that we lived there.
