Monday, 3 June 2019
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Temps: 77F (25C) /49F (9C)
Great day … great outing. It was actually on the hot side in the sun quite early this morning, but a cold wave brought the temps down as the day progressed. Luckily, the afternoon thunderstorms that come through on a regular basis this time of the year held off until after we got home, so we had a really lovely day.
Today’s USAFA ITT/ORC-organized day trip took us to an iris garden in Denver. The Iris4U Garden is a family-operated local company, with a branch in Germany that is overseen by the owner’s daughter. Their motto is: “Growing and Hybridizing Tall Bearded Iris for Beauty, Performance, and your Pleasure!” Bob, who met us at the gate, explained that he’s been growing tall bearded irises at the current location since 1994. He has approximately 1,000 varietals, including several that he has hybridized himself.
I would venture to say that most of the visitors to Iris4U are gardeners … members of gardening clubs. In fact, there were other visitors at the garden who were wandering around the iris beds with notepads in hand, selecting plants to order. Not so our group of 10. Yes, there were a few who said they enjoy the pastime, but for most of us this trip was simply to enjoy the beauty of the flowers and the riot of color during the short few weeks when the irises are in full bloom.
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Green Manure … these plants will be tilled into the soil to
rehabilitate it before irises are planted into the plot.
P.S. I tend to like ID’ing flowers and such when I photograph them, but with so many varieties in the iris beds, doing so quickly became overwhelming. Just enjoy the color and beauty.
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For more photos from the garden … click this link for my online gallery.
After our time at the garden, we piled into the USAFA van for the short drive to Nixon’s Coffee House in nearby Englewood … part of the Denver metropolis. While Mui pronounced the Kaladi coffee brewed here top-notch — and ended up buying a package to take home — the food choices were tasty but limited. We were back at USAFA by 2:30p … and home 30 minutes after that … just as thunder was booming in advance of a short-lived afternoon storm.
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I do love visiting iris gardens. The purple beauty I posted in a recent photo was from just such a visit in a rather famous iris garden south of Spokane. I was one of those with notepad in hand deciding what to order. These tours are a very nice way to get to know your area. So pretty to photograph.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad we hooked up with USAFA for tours. Some of the places we’ve gone to may have been off our radar otherwise.
DeleteOh, and I did simply enjoy your photos. Color and beauty, indeed! Those yellows -- wow! I have a few Iris blooming in my yard (came with the house) and I'm enjoying them. One more great feature of this flower? Deer DO NOT eat Iris!
ReplyDeleteThe iris garden is lovely. As I began reading I was thinking, gee, I wish Erin had taken some close ups...haha! A little further I got my wish. I have never seen such frilly iris. They are just gorgeous.
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