04 May 2004 Tuesday

irises--the other orchid

blooming flowers are such beautiful and fascinating things…
where there were only leaves—little green shoots in the ground, born from a bulb of dull color and unapparent promise, suddenly seems to one day have grown an impressive stem and the telltale droplet shapes that crowd the top, winking of magnificent iris blooms to come.
i used to love those days.. walking by our garden plots in the drowsy mornings to school, seeing green green green and stems and bulbs with just the shyest lines of color… and upon returning home being greeted by full, new-born stars of royal violet, angel white and blue, rich canary yellow, the prettiest velvet black, and dark periwinkle blues.

cicadas don’t eat irises, do they?