“Rainbow Goddess”, a copyrighted post, was written for my WordPress blog called Always Growing by Jan in Covington, Louisiana
Iris was the goddess of the rainbow in Greek mythology, and considering all the colors that irises come in, it is appropriate that they be named after this goddess. The irises I have in mind are the Louisiana irises, which despite the name, can be grown just about anywhere from the Gulf Coast to Michigan to England, Australia, and South Africa. Louisiana irises are very easy to grow. While these will grow in water, they also do quite well in the garden. If planted in water, they should be no deeper than six inches. In the garden, plant 1 to 2 inches below the surface and then mulch deeply to keep in the moisture. These iris start growing in the late fall and continue until bloom time in the early spring. They tend to go dormant once the warm weather sets in.
I started out growing these beauties with ones shared with me by my sister. Gradually, I have added more. I think these are such lovely flowers and anticipate the blooms in late March/April.
Bayou Classic
Heavenly Glow
Irish Bayou
Marie Dolers
Poverty Point
These flowers are often described as “precious jewels,” and after growing them in my garden for a few years, every time I see one of these colorful flowers, I have to agree that is a perfect way to describe them.
Always Growing 
Jane said,
April 19, 2011 at 4:38 am
Ohhh, these are some pretty flowers. Heavenly Glow is my favorite.
Janet, The Queen of Seaford said,
April 19, 2011 at 6:55 am
Growing up I thought there were only Bearded Irises. oh silly me. What beauties!!! Hard to pick a favorite.
Ryan said,
April 20, 2011 at 4:22 am
What wonderful colors. These are really some beautiful flowers.