“Once upon a time”! What a great way to begin a garden experience. Hybridizers searching for names for Iris have often gone back to the children’s books they loved in their youth. A garden with an assembly of these Irises can interest children in reading. And reading these books can interest children in Irises.
Storybook Gardens introduce our children to two parts of culture; literature and gardening. The first Iris Storybook Garden was by Jean Morris former AIS Youth Chair at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.
Sterling Innerst probably inspired this type of garden with his many literary names. As a former teacher he was well aquainted with the literature. The following children’s literature is suggested, with the Irises referring to it listed under each; See also Iris Names from Science Fiction; and Iris names from Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales.