THE BENTON IRISES TAKE THE STAGE
New arrivals, familiar ghosts, and the promise of a future performance.
The new arrivals swept in like a travelling troupe — fresh from the hay-strewn hold, labels stapled to their leaves like boarding passes. A little dishevelled, a little dazed, but humming with potential.
They’ve now been potted on with grit and the ever-essential magic sprinkles, and are resting in the wings. Soon, they’ll be moved to the sunniest corner of the garden — the rehearsal room — where they’ll acclimatise and prepare for their grand debut next season.
🎭 The Cast:
BENTON ‘NIGEL’
Blue-lavender with a grey haze, quietly refined. The kind of iris that probably folds his newspaper just so. Named after Cedric Morris’s gardener and companion — a nod to loyalty and lineage.
BENTON ‘APOLLO’
A glowing yellow — radiant and lithe, like a golden god poised to outshine the sun. Flashy, but not without depth.
BENTON ‘CARAMEL’
All muted warmth and butterscotch undertones. One for the poets, or those with a soft spot for mid-century upholstery.
BENTON ‘SUSAN’
A softly glowing yellow with cream-white falls and delicate brown veining — far more demure than her name suggests, with the quiet confidence of someone who knows she’ll be noticed eventually.
BENTON ‘MENACE’
Already resident in the current iris border. A rogue element. Part Dennis, part diva. He came first and refuses to be upstaged. Named after Cedric’s beloved, slightly feral cat.
🎬 The Production Plan:
After flowering, the Old Iris Border will be rechristened: The Benton Border.
It will undergo a full revamp — more grit, a bonemeal glitterfest (yes, glitterfest), and a clarified sense of structure. Then, the full cast of Bentons will return — replanted with purpose, positioned like actors taking their marks.
But there’s more. A new, larger iris border will be made in July, designed for the non-Benton irises — those who speak in different dialects, who belong to another troupe. It will be their space, their script, their performance.
Allium ‘Gladiator’ will also make its return to the Benton Border, providing early vertical punctuation. A brass fanfare before the iris curtain rises. The effect? Movement, build-up, crescendo.
And somewhere in the wings, Cedric Morris watches. Not as a ghost, but as a muse. The artist-plantsman who bred these irises at Benton End — each one a brushstroke, a statement, a gesture across time.
This is no longer just a border.
It’s a stage.
Let the irises rehearse.
Their moment is coming.
Cedric Morris didn’t just paint flowers. He painted their character. He believed plants had apprehension — a presence, a personality — and he sought to capture not just their shape, but their intention. His irises don’t sit politely. They lean, twist, flare, flirt. They live. And in cultivating these Bentons, we’re not just growing plants. We’re rehearsing a conversation with colour, with form, with legacy.
Further reading (for those inclined to go deeper into the wings):
- Apollo Magazine: How Cedric Morris fused his twin passions for plants and painting
- Philip Mould Gallery: Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris
Image credits: With thanks to Beth Chatto Gardens for visual reference and inspiration.
THE CULTIVATED STAGE 