"Immortality" Bloomed Today!

The first thing I did when I got out of bed this morning was to look out the front window, and sure enough, 'Immortality' was blooming!!

Maybe you didn't know that Immortality can bloom. Well guess what -- it can.

Two years ago, in the spring of 2007, I purchased from White Flower Farm a collection of re-blooming bearded iris, consisting of 6 varieties of the flower. I planted them and then waited. They didn't bloom once the first year, let alone twice, and I realized they didn't have quite enough Sun, and that the soil was probably to acidic. So I moved the iris to a different spot, put lime in the soil in the fall and spring, and another year went by and still they didn't bloom.

I decided to create a new garden in my yard in a sunny spot that appeared recently when a neighbor lost a tree in her yard. I moved the re-blooming iris to this new garden, added lots of lime to the soil, and called White Flower Farm for advice.

The advice I was given was to fertilize the soil around the iris with a 10-10-10 fertilizer before and after each flowering episode, in the early spring, mid-summer, and late fall. And I was also told it could take up to 2 years for the iris to flower after moving them.

So I was prepared to wait another 2 years before seeing a flower...

Imagine my surprise and delight when a flower stalk appeared on one of the re-blooming iris plants 10 days ago! And then another flower stalk appeared!! Yesterday I counted 6 iris stems with buds preparing to bloom this spring -- 2 of the new re-blooming plants, and 4 from varieties that I already had but that rarely bloomed.

And that brings me back to this morning, when I got out of bed and looked out the front window. Yes, there it was -- 'Immortality' was blooming. Immortality is one of the varieties of re-blooming iris in the front garden, and I find it hysterical that Immortality is the first variety to bloom. 'Immortality' is calling. 'Immortality' has my full attention. With a cup to tea in hand, I went outside to smell the flower. It was heavenly.

So 'Immortality' bloomed today. And the fact is that I ascribe to the belief that the soul returns to Earth numerous times from one lifetime to the next, and that it is in fact 'immortal'. So not only am I thrilled that one of my re-blooming iris is blooming for the first time, but the metaphor of 'immortality' making a grand entrance and presenting itself in my life is not lost on me.