We have a colony of Iris in a drainage ditch in our yard. We’ve been here over 30 years; the iris were there when we arrived. I finally cleared the privet out of the ditch and surrounding area a few years back, and the irises have flourished, providing us with a lot of enjoyment each spring. They started blooming a few days ago; this photo is from this morning just as the light reached them.
Iris in the Morning Light
Dwarf Violet Iris, a native species, has been added to the USWildflowers database. Scientific name is Iris verna. This plant also goes by the common names Vernal Iris, Spring Iris, and Dwarf Iris.
Dwarf Violet Iris – Iris verna
To avoid crowds like those that were on the Shirley Miller Trail at The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain last week, I headed down there early Saturday morning, arriving at the parking area shortly after 8 AM. The sky was overcast, but the wind was low – a good situation for wildflower photography. My first stop was the dogwood tree beside the parking area.
Due to rain and obligations, it had been 9 days since I’d been down to The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain. Today was the Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian Church’s Keen-agers’ annual (I think) wildflower hike at The Pocket, so at 10 AM I joined the other folks in my age group at the church, and soon we headed on down to Pigeon Mountain. I returned from the hike with 381 photographs; two of them with people in them. After an initial run through the photographs, I’ve deleted about 150 of them; both photos of people remain.