The Blue Flag Irises are slowly finishing their bloom cycle. You can still find a few down by the pond where the dragonflies are active… But slowly, slowly, they are setting seeds and the flowers are wilting away…
Not to worry… Another from the Iris family is just starting: Blue-eyed Grass. I was kind of surprised to learn that this “grass” is really an iris! But when you look closely, you can see, of course it is:
Iris family members have flowers with parts in multiples of three and leaves that occur in a single flat plane at the base of the plant. Blue-eyed Grass meets this criteria.
It’s a small plant – far smaller than Blue Flag – so look carefully amongst the long grasses to see it – during the day, as the blossoms seem to close up when evening comes.
The USDA Plant database lists 41 species. Click here to see which variety lives near you!
I was pleased to discover a large patch of blue-eyed grass last week, right along the road near my house. Funny how I’ve managed to overlook it until now.
Huh – never realized that was a mini-iris. I”ll have to look closer, obviously.
Blue-eyed Grass is a lovely little flower – it’s very common trailside on the coast here for most of spring, often growing next to Douglas Irises. We also have Yellow-eyed Grass, which is much less common.
I always wondered about Blue-eyed Grass’ name. Its “eye” is surely bright yellow, and the flower is purple, although your lovely photo of it is much paler than the BEG in my area.