The blooms of the bearded iris are very distinctive. 

 They are named bearded because of the broad petal with a dark patch folding downwards.  Flowers are often up to 6″ across.  They mainly bloom from mid May to early June and can be grown in light soil with some lime in a sunny position.  (NB: they are grown from rhizomes as opposed to other varieties of iris grown from seed or bulb).  Please refer to link with further information on how to grow bearded iris – http://www.cdn-iris.ca/bearded.html

There are both tall and dwarf varieties – a very hardy species.  These particular iris were growing in my neighbour’s garden and I couldn’t resist taking some photos.  I am still patiently awaiting for mine to bloom.  (Thanks Nancy and Graham for letting me photo your clumps of iris).  Note too that they are deer resistant.

In the Findleberry Garden I noticed today that the yellow flag iris (iris pseudacorus) has started to bloom around the pond area.  

In contrast to the bearded iris, these plants love wet low lying areas, hence they work great next to the pond where the soil is more damp.  This is a hardy perennial plant that can become invasive if left unattended, but is certainly a great feature in the pond area.