florid-lgNo other flower in the world boasts a history as rich and profound as that of the iris. It’s one full of import and innuendo, tracing back to ancient times when the Greek goddess Iris, a messenger of the gods, acted as liaison between heaven and earth. From there, the flower, as striking in beauty as it is in essence, has been marveled over by Egyptian pharaohs, famously painted by Vincent van Gogh, and used as a perfume in lieu of bathing during the Middle Ages (when such a thing was considered dangerous), and in A.D. 493 became the flower emblem (the fleur-de-lis) of the French monarchy.

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