a testament to survival

Gala Madrid (http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/89881/) is among the many iris we've had since 1976. However we severely neglected them leaving them to their own devises for survival from the mid-1980s until about 4 years ago when we moved them all into a single bed and began encouraging them to again be the best they could be. Gala Madrid surprised us May 9th (I had thought it was going to be La Raspa) when it presented us with its beautiful and unique coloring. We had not seen it bloom for about 25 to 30 years -- proof positive that a rhizome can survive for decades until it has the right environment for it to again produce a new rhizome and bloom once more. Now we're anxiously awaiting more such surprises over the next several years.

Amazing!!!