First Iris Blooms of Spring Are Here

The first official Iris blooms of Spring have arrived in our garden! Winter here always feels too cold and too long for how far south we live. But every year about this time we remember how quickly things start to bloom and warm up. If you were to look at the hardiness zones for gardens for very far South East Alabama, we happen to live just north of the line where the weather still gets a good freeze. South of us in Florida, around Tampa, they get to a point where a freeze is a rare event.

Iris bulbs actually do need a freeze period to put them into hibernation for a least a few weeks. Gardens in Orlando and Miami have a hard time growing Tall Bearded Iris bulbs because they just don't get the cold freeze in winter needed to keep their bulbs healthy. We do. So while winter isn't our favorite time of year, the Iris need it to survive.

Last year we finished off planting over 60 raised beds in our Iris Garden so this year we get to watch them grow and hopefully bloom. The first unique Iris Bulbs in the garden to bloom this year looks like it will be Bernice's Legacy Tall Bearded Iris (see below), which are a super dark red burgundy color.

Bernice's Legacy Iris

Edgar the Papillon

Once things really get blooming here my camera will be out and shooting almost every day. When does it warm up enough for the flowers to bloom where you are?

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