Iris Germanica ‘Las Vegas’ Revisited

One week ago I pomp-and-circumstanced one of the most extravagant blooms in Rosslyn’s flowerbeds. Today I return to the same topic, but with a twist. So if you felt a twinge of déjà vu when you read the title of today’s dispatch, fret not. On offer now, Iris Germanica ‘Las Vegas’ Revisited, is a sequel of sorts… And by way of introduction I offer you a photograph of the same sensational blooms, but cut, vased, and presiding over the morning room table AND the morning room flowerbed where they grew. Keen eyes might even spy fuzzy ghosts of the same irises outside the window (near bottom left).

Iris Germanica ‘Las Vegas’ have unfurled into festive summer festoonery outside the morning room. And that is more than fair recompense for all the rainy days.(Source: Iris Germanica ‘Las Vegas’)

Perhaps I spoke too soon, for the rains had merely paused, not stopped altogether. Betrayed by optimism!

But there’s a happy ending to this episode of iris interuptus, and today’s photos tell the tale. As does the still-sanding-down-the-rough-spots poem below.

Las Vegas

After relentless rain
a bonanza of blooms,
flamboyant firstlings
of iris season.
Sepia standards 
unfurled, flutter
above butter cream,
violet edged falls.
Ballroom extravagance —
dusky vintage silk
flounces and ruffles,
delicate stippling,
veining, egg yolk beards.
"Could have danced all night..."
Infinite fêting
and extravagance
eternal? Unfated.
Heaven unheavened.
As suddenly as
the downpour had ceased,
it began again.
Blades were battered.
Shoots thick as fingers
began to bend and, 
arcing toward earth, 
succumbed, one by one,
water weighing down
frills, festoonery,
and delicate dance.
The daylong deluge
burdened blooms, blades, and
my soggy spirit.
Might they recover
when cloudburst clears and
warm sunshine returns?
Might the delicate
petals re-ruffle
and the crooked shoots
still straighten skyward?
Might inflorescence,
fallen foliage,
and optimism
offer another
bountiful blessing?

Still work to be done on these lyric lines, but pushing it out to let it wander the world for a bit. Will revise as revision warrants… In the mean time, thank you, Teddi. In fact, thank you twice! We’re grateful beyond measure for your garden nurturing that resulted in these iris blooming better than ever. And being able to enjoy them all over again inside as cut flowers is a magnificent rebound from the disheartening rainstorm damage. Thank you.