Flowers in bloom as Napa Valley Iris Gardens open

A favorite annual garden event returns this weekend with the opening of the Napa County Iris Gardens in the east Napa hills.

The colors are just beginning to show in the small family-run operation. It’s the 18th season of opening the garden to visitors, said Lesley Painter, who along with her husband John, grows 438 varieties of iris.

“We love growing irises and sharing their beauty with others,” she said. “All the wonderful comments we receive from our customers and garden visitors make it all worthwhile.

“To maintain the quality and size of our rhizomes we dig and transplant our entire stock each year,” she said. “Some varieties are replaced with new and different ones. We also sell potted irises at the garden during our bloom season which runs from mid April through mid May.”

Plant ordered are shipped bare root July and part of August via UPS.

For those who want potted plants, now is the time for best availability, she advised. Since quantities are limited for each variety, several varieties sell out each year. “Our fastest selling period is during peak bloom season in the garden when several thousand people visit the garden,”

“The exciting part of our business is developing new varieties,” she said. “For 2008 we have six new varieties, which can be seen at Introductions for 2008. Last year we were thrilled to hear that two of our irises won awards in the International Iris Competition in Florence, Italy. Purple Ritz was selected as the best purple variety and Pickledilly garnered a 7th place Honorable Mention. Also awarded Honorable Mentions from the American Iris Society judging were Accidental Woman, Brilliance, Pickledilly and Rainy River. Needless to say we are very honored for these awards.”

The garden, located 14 miles northeast of Napa near the southern end of Lake Berryessa, will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through May 18. They are closed Monday through Thursday. Admission is free. The address is 9087 Steele Canyon Road, which is just north of the intersection of highways 121 and 128. The garden is 1.5 miles on Steele Canyon Rd on the right. For more information, call 255-788 or visit the Web site, www.napairis.com.