Wild Iris

At altitudes above 1.5 Kilometers, we kept seeing Iris growing wild on the slopes. Dilsher had used these local flowers as borders in his hotel. I sat down with my camera and took several shots of these elegant flowers. It is interesting to see the buds open up. The petals are rolled and twisted inside the buds, as you can see.

When I read up about this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is called the Graceful Himalayan Iris. A lovely name for a lovely flower. The entry in Flowers of India says that it can be found at altitudes of between 1.8 and 4 kilometers. I’m sure these borders are a little elastic, because I definitely saw some at 1.6 Kilometers. In its wild state it grows in the open, so gardeners will probably have to make sure that it is not planted in shade.