Iris Day

Iris- Robert Reid

May 8th is Iris Day.  The origin of this day isn't known, although it may be from Japan where the flower has spiritual importance and is believed to ward off evil spirits.  On Iris Day, people take baths in iris leaves and add the juice to their sake to prevent illness.  This is interesting since iris is poisonous to grazing animals.

Iris contains glycosides, a common chemical found in toxic houseplants. But iris has been used in herbal medicines for hundreds of years and cooked up into a substitute drink for coffee (no, thanks). To consume it, the plant requires careful processing to neutralize the toxicity. This is suddenly reminding me of the Japanese Fugu preparation rituals. Some cultures like to eat dangerously.

Anyway, our iris aren't blooming yet, and we have no plans to eat them when they do.  Some of the old ones are so spectacular they're worth the year's wait and the space they hog up in the flower beds. They have wonderful names like "Hello Darkness" and "Stitch Witchery." Iris have starred on the blog every May and probably will again, since we never get tired of photographing them. They are the big beauty queens of the garden, but their glory is short.

There are over 300 species of iris in every color of the rainbow. In fact the name comes from the Greek goddess Iris, the divine personification of the rainbow and a swift messenger.  Her job was to glide along the rainbow to the ends of the earth carrying messages to gods and men.

Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, Atkinson Grimshaw