Flower power

Some of the wildflower seeds that Tom put in around the house are sprouting up beautifully, but for some reason, other patches -- planted in the same soil at the same time and getting similar sun and water -- are not doing squat. His plan is to have plants around that are native to the area and will require little attention. But today he decided to give up on the section in front of the house that is not working and went over to Home Depot to get perennials to stick in.

Closer to the house are a bunch of iris plants, some a donation from Peggy across the road and some that he brought from Chicago. Here is what he has to say about those in the photo:

The iris are out this weekend, and I am delighted to discover that a number of the "Ringling Iris" made it back to the farm.

The "Ringling Iris" are an old strain of iris, dating back to the turn of the century or before, which Alf Ringling [of the Ringling Brothers Circus, headquartered in nearby Baraboo] gave my great-grandfather. The "Ringling Iris" are not spectacular, but they mean a lot to me.

My great-grandfather, Nicholas Stein, bred a strain of black Percherons [see photo], and the Ringling Brothers used them as draft horses to pull the circus wagons. He and Alf, an Iris fancier, were friends, and Alf gave him some Iris to plant. At least, that is how the story is told, true or not.

Whether or not the "Ringling Iris" were from Alf's garden, the iris grew in a patch in our front yard, somewhat neglected as flowers tend to be on farms, but a reliable harbinger of summer, opening right around Decoration Day, now known as Memorial Day.

I took a few of the iris south to Chicago when my brother and I sold the farmhouse, and I've been moving them around from house to house since then. I brought a bunch of Iris to this house -- hoping but not certain that I had any of the "Ringling Iris", because the plants were not in bloom when I took them out of the garden -- last year.

And this year, I am delighted to know, at least five of the "Ringling Iris" are home again, a half mile from where they started their journey.