I know of no other genus whose plants flower out-of-doors every day of the year.
I know of no other genus with one or more species coming into bloom or growth, peaking or going dormant at every season.
- Nancy Goodwin
Every rose has its thorn: You never find a woman without pins and needles.
- Douglas Jerrold
Since Iris is the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love, her sacred flower is considered the symbol of communication and messages.
Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women as a tribute to the goddess Iris, whose duty it was to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields.
- Hana No Monogatari
A flower's fragrance declares to all the world that it is fertile, available, and desirable, its sex organs oozing with nectar.
Its smell reminds us in vestigial ways of fertility, vigor, life-force, all the optimism, expectancy, and passionate bloom of youth.
We inhale its ardent aroma and, no matter what our ages, we feel young and nubile in a world aflame with desire.
- Diane Ackerman