St. Louis, MO

Report on all the gardens in the Japanese Iris convention tours.

by Jules Austin Hojnowski


	The first garden we saw was on Friday. That was the Missouri Botanical 
Gardens. The guest Japanese garden was just beautiful! It was set very nicely 
next to a pond with water lillies. There were also Japanese irises in the 
Japanese garden that were at the farthest end of the Botanical Gardens. I 
enjoyed walking through this part and reminiscing about the Japanese gardens 
I had seen while in Japan a few years ago.

	On Saturday, we toured 6 gardens! The first was the Delmez garden. 
It was delightfully tailored to fit many gorgeous plants in a small area 
and not feel as if it was a small place. The Japanese Iris's there were 
meticulously groomed and had many beautiful blooms. 

Iapetus 
 

T690-23-1 by Currier McEwen
 

The next garden we attended was the Buehring Garden.
What can one say about this? other than 
it was a miniature Missouri Botanical Garden! As I walked down the path 
to the Japanese Iris in the creek, I felt as though I was walking in a 
mystical place where unicorns might appear. It was very lush and 
wonderfully manicured. I loved the way that the delightfully hidden 
statues, hostas, and other plants came popping out at each turn of the 
trail. 

 
Ink 0n Ice  by Terry Aitken & Reign of Glory

 
Lillies

 
Kalamazoo

 
SO-1 by Don Delmez

 
Picotee Princess by Lorena Reid


The last garden of the tour was in the Smith garden.
The koi pool with Japanese iris and a 
small waterfall was the highlight of this final place. The tour through 
the 1860 farmhouse was equally an exquisite treat! The whole setting 
reminded me of a Monet reproduced in real life.

 
garden by pond

	I really enjoyed the 2 days of tours, and am very pleased that 
I was able to travel from Region 2 ( New York State ) to participate in 
this auspicious occasion!