In late may the irises  begin to take centre stage.

Most of the irises in the garden  have been  imported from the USA.  Whilst on holiday I came across a catalogue from 'Cooleys' iris growers in Oregon, USA.  I fell in love with the colours and quickly found out from DEFRA, how I could go about importing some to the UK. 

Sadly after 76 years the family buisness of Cooleys have ceased trading so there will be no more.  Having fallen in love with them I have had to adapt my very wet and acid soil, in order to make them feal welcome. 

Some have fared better than others, but as I hold my breath every spring to see which ones have survived, there is always a great sigh of  relief  when they come into flower.