Irises are blooming! Pictures!

Our irises are blooming in Holland.  We have several and they are just starting to bloom.  Some are from my mother's iris garden in Ohio.  Several are from Rachel and Kyle from when they lived in Nashville.  Also at the bottom a picture today of an Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) an omnivore hiding in the monkey grass (Liriope minor) close to the house ... males have red eyes and females yellow.  Everything is on the move now that Spring is in full swing ... love is in the air!  Note the turtle giving me the an eye through the monkey grass.

A few pictures from outside this evening just before a storm and a couple of iris beards from cut irises indoors using my veho USB Microscope about 40X ... a great birthday gift!

Irises are monocots with rhizomes that spread in a thick mass and are transplantable.  Although their beards may be attractive to bees, I could not find their function.  I will try to take some more picts next week.