The Sensual Bearded Iris

The Bearded Iris Is a Sensual Flower

Many flowers are beautiful or glamorous, but I can't think of one that is as sensual as the bearded iris. The City Daily Photo Bloggers theme this month is sensual so I will feature my photos of the bearded iris. This is also Day 1 of the October Ultimate Blog Challenge, and I've decided to participate. 

How Can an Iris Be Sensual?

To be sensual, something needs to appeal to the physical senses. There can also be an element of sexuality in something sensual, but there doesn't have to be. I think irises have it all. Bearded irises have a delightful fragrance. They come in an array of colors. Their texture is smooth and silky. Their beards tickle when you touch them. 

Wear my Irises

elegant flower blue iris Slip-On sneakers


I decided to show off some of my irises on T-shirts. Click through on any of the shirts to see the other styles and colors you can choose. I added the shoe that someone else designed because I thought it was beautiful.

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Light purple with pink irises T-ShirtHoody with White IrisesLight purple with pink irises baby bodysuit

Modesty Enhances Sensuality

Like a beautiful but flirtatious woman, the iris leaves much to the imagination. You don't see all of an isis at once. It actually emerges from a rather ugly bud that looks a bit like a distorted onion. It would be hard to imagine by looking at the bud how sensual the flower might be. 

Would you guess it would look like this? Yet even with its flags unfurled, it does not reveal its golden center. The spider is looking for it. If you don't see the spider moving when the video starts, just click through to YouTube. 

In the photo below it appears the spider found what it was looking for. Look closely in the center. The spider is storming the inner sanctum of the iris in search of the pollinating insects which are attracted to it. 

Below you can see an insect that will soon be trying to pollinate the iris it has chosen.

Notice how modest the iris is as she keeps her private parts covered until she is ready to show them off.  Only the pollinating insects and their predators are allowed in under her folded petals.

Next time you see a bearded iris, touch it, smell it, and feast your eyes on all it reveals. It may be more sensual than you gave it credit for.

What do you like best about the iris?

See how City Daily Photo Bloggers worldwide have interpreted this month's theme of sensual.

The Garden is Full of Surprises

It's beginning to look like spring in Paso Robles. Not only are there trees flowering on the streets and in neighbors' yards, but the plants that have been awaiting nature's call are beginning to wake up and bloom. The garden is full of surprises. 

To the right you see my irises waking up. Two days ago I could see the buds that had not yet shown their purple color. Five days ago there was actually one flower near these buds, but it faded before I could get out with my camera. One flower appeared in this particular clump of irises last year in December, but my purple irises usually don't flower until April. Here's another view of this iris patch taken today.

It's not just irises. Rosemary is beginning to show more blue flowers and on the top the blue is winning over the green. This will make the bees very happy. The black sage plant you see behind the irises is also just beginning to produce some open flowers. The calendula never seems to sleep, but since the rain it is producing some of the largest blooms I've seen all year. Here's one of them.

The biggest surprise of all I discovered in my garden was what you see below.

Just after I planted some kale seeds I had collected last week before the rain, I discovered this plant growing a long distance from the mother plant I'd collected seeds from before I pulled the plant out. This is where the mother plant was in June last year. You can see it flowering and making seeds. I like collecting and saving my own seeds. 

You will notice the kale is growing in front of the house. At the back right you can see the garage wall. To get to where that photo of the kale volunteer plant was taken, you would need to  walk around the garage and across the driveway -- not a very direct route for the wind to blow the seeds. 

Had I planted the seeds myself in the poor soil at the edge of that clump of gazanias that gets nothing but rain water, I doubt if they would have sprouted. Who would choose a place like that to plant? God did. It appears the plant is thriving with no help from me at all. Nature never fails to amaze me. 

Bloom Where You Are Planted Mug
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