When I saw, from a distance, the new shoots of the flowers in the first two pictures I thought they were crocus coming through however as I approached I realised they were not crocus but more like a variety of Iris. I was a little taken aback though because the irises that I am familiar with are tall and showy but these were small and rather understated.
As I walked around the garden I found other varieties too but in larger numbers (especially the yellow variety) and where they were planted together they were definitely more showy, like their taller cousins.
The first variety (pics 1-3) is Iris reticulata "Sheila Ann Germaney", the second variety (the yellow) is Iris reticulata "Katharine's Gold" and the third variety (the purple as if you needed that spelling out) is Iris histrioides "George".
These are not native to the UK but you can buy the bulbs to plant them in your own garden should you wish. A word of warning though, as hinted at in the title of today's post these plants come with a health warning. If ingested they may cause severe discomfort and it is advisable to wear gloves and "other protective equipment" when handling them. Who'd have thought eh?
