Flags on flags with flags…or rather iris on paving slabs with a couple of Union Jack flags!

If the ‘Tête-à-tête’ hadn’t been in flower for the first time last week and therefore automatically destined for Monday’s vase, these iris would have been there instead. Fortunately still good enough for cutting a week later, these redundant Iris reticulata potted in readiness for our cancelled February garden opening will probably now be composted, as they don’t consistently perform in open ground and, at a few pounds per 25, are cheap enough to be disposable. There are three varieties – Clairette, Blue Note and Painted Lady – and once picked I decided rather than mixing the colours I would just plonk them in the vase, a vintage willow pattern gravy boat, as they were. A few wayward sprigs of witch hazel Hamamelis ‘Zuccariniana’, stunningly beautiful this year, were added to bring out the…