Blooming Irises

Normally we see about a week between when the tulip bulbs self destruct and the Irises.  The Genus Iris has over 250 species, but the "type" is Iris germanica.  We have several hundred of them, and they multiply nicely from rhizomes.  

Irises along the smaller turtle pond.

I like them around our Hampshire farm because deer don't seem to try them even once (they're mildly toxic) and our deer will eat right out of the planter boxes on our front patio. They seem to bloom in the first week of May each year in Hampshire County, although the leaves sometimes begin emerging as early as late March.  When we divide them in the Fall I 'll plant a few dozen throughout the farm in surprise places, usually forgetting about them until the greenery becomes noticeable in mid-April.




Our sunnier wetlands (left) are still flooded, and I see that the Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) seeds we spread casually have germinated and thrived.  The wood ducks and frogs seem to prefer the more protected woodland wetlands, and the predatory herons seem to avoid them, so I'm happy to encourage a few Silver Maples, Sycamores (Platanus occidentalis) and River Birches (Betula nigra) in the two smaller, more open ponds.

A female Wood Turtle travelling along our walking trails.

We do leave spots for the Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta).  Our adult turtles seem to be thriving, but we haven't found any youg wood turtles yet this year.  Unlike Box turtles, which close up and park themselves at any sign of danger, the wood turtles will move out of the way.  Hitting a turtle with a mower is a sickening feeling, and fortunately it's only happened once (a Box Turtle).   We made a decision two years ago to mow all the trails along the ponds, creeks and the river  with the mower at it's 4-inch setting, easily high enough to miss a Wood Turtle.