life cycle

i just watched a documentary about dutch garden designer piet oudolf, who designed the gardens for the high line and battery gardens in nyc. he talked about designing landscapes that are what you would want nature to be if you could idealize it. he also talked about arranging the dense plantings in his designs so that they were pleasing to look at throughout their life cycle, not just when the flowers were in bloom. this iris might fit into one of his designs — as beautiful in early old age as when she was in her prime.

blue flag iris