Marilyn's Magnificent Marvels

When it comes to Tall Bearded Iris, judges are looking for strong stems, upright flowers, big frilly presentation and fabulous fragrance. Or, so I was told. I can't tell a bad one from a good one. They're all too stunning for words.

Do you keep track of what you plant? I was all type A when I first started planting my perennial gardens.

I'd log every single flower into an excel spreadsheet and categorize them by cultivar, color, bloom time...  Good Lord! That was a lot of work!

Made Of Magic Tall Bearded Iris

Later, I opted for a more efficient method of garden bookkeeping. As in the ultra-arrogant, "Oh, I'll remember / Why waste time jotting this junk down?"

Guardian Angel, Tall Bearded Iris

That made life easy. Right up until some well-meaning garden visitor would exclaim: "Ooh la la! What's the name of that one?"

At which point I'd have to shrug my shoulders and say: I dunno.

Millennium Falcon Tall Bearded Iris

Suffice to say that when I visit more experienced gardeners ~ as in the gals who've done this for a good, long time and know full well that the devil is in the details ~ I'm forever ordering a second helping of humble pie.

Love Ballad Tall Bearded Iris

I'm talking, of course, about the hottest ticket in town last week.

The private showing of Marilyn's Magnificent Bearded Iris collection.  One ultra-special VIP party and ~ oh, yeah, I crashed it.

Now when you show up uninvited, you really need to act super nonchalant. Casually stroll around and behave as if this is nothing.

You do not drool all over yourself, as I did. That's a dead giveway.
 

Collette Thurillet Tall Bearded Iris

Not only do Marilyn and her flower-loving husband, LeVar, (he even hybridized a special iris for her!) have the most magnificent Tall Bearded Irises I've ever seen ~ they're perfectly arranged by bloom time and color combo, with nifty little tags that told me where they came from and how long they'd been living there.

Marching Band Tall Bearded Iris

* There are tons of wonderful aspects to the Bearded Iris. For one, they're amazingly drought-tolerant ~ to the point that they will continue to grace an abandoned home long after the humans have moved on. 
** Marilyn and LeVar have a fab collection of every predictable color of Iris one could imagine but her psychedelic beauties simply stole the show. :))