Iris, the Rainbow Goddess
In response to Dancing Elephants prompt 19 of 52
In ancient Greek mythology, the goddess Iris travels along rainbows carrying messages from gods to mortals. She is often thought of as the personification of the rainbow itself.
Irises are my favorite flowers. They come in a wide variety of colors, and my favorites tend to be the ones that I don’t have (which is a bit unlike me). I love them all, it just feels special to come across a color that I don’t get to see every day.
Most of the irises around my home are some form of purple.
My mother has some delicate apricot irises in her garden, and some pale yellow ones, too. They look like Victorian valentines to me, faded and elegant.
My wedding bouquet included bold purple irises. I wanted yellow ranunculus as well (purple and yellow are complementary colors), but apparently those don’t do well in high heat and humidity, so we had roses instead.
I guess I have memories of talking irises in Alice in Wonderland, Iris from Rose Petal Place, and the Iris Fairy from Cecily Mary Barker. They do carry an air of personhood for me.
I love their shape and texture, their color and depth. They are some of the first flowers to open in my garden and I am always delighted to greet them.
Spring in New England is daffodils, tulips, grape hyacinth, and crocuses. It is, unerringly, a sharp yellow burst of forsythia. But I don’t have any of these. For me, spring is a tall, graceful iris, opening her silken face to the sun, slurping at warm raindrops and letting them dribble down her chin.
Dr. Preeti Singh is absolutely right — flowers bring joy to life.
I am grateful to Annelise Lords for sharing this vast and vibrant collection of flowers from Jamaica —
There are so many beautiful blooms to love. My husband’s favorite are lilies. I read somewhere that it can be uncommon to ask men and boys their favorite flowers, which is an awful shame. Do you know your brother’s, son’s, husband’s, father’s favorite flowers? It might be fun to ask.
Maybe you, reading this, are a man who loves a flower — I hope you will respond to Preeti’s prompt and share that joy.
