Swooning in Loomis

          I love irises.  They’re my favorite flower, despite not having the heady fragrance of lilacs, which I also love, or plumeria, which I also love. 

          There are hundreds of varieties, in every show-stopping color imaginable.  Like delicious confections, they conjure images of sherbet and pastries, calorie-free the way they must be in heaven.

          Is it any wonder that Iris means “rainbow” in Greek? Old fashioned and sassy at the same time, irises know how to put on a show.  Whether clustered like clouds at sunset, or standing in their bright ruffled ball gowns, you cannot overlook them.

Thus, when I learned of a local iris garden, I had to drag St. Bob along to see it.

          We live in a friendly little suburb of Sacramento, sandwiched between Granite Bay, Roseville, Lincoln, and Loomis.  And Loomis is where the Horton Iris Garden is.  

Driving into Loomis is like going back in time—its quaint main street boasts a saddle and feed store, an old fruit processing plant that’s been made into an art gallery, and farmer’s markets such as The Blue Goose.

          Loomis has acres and acres of horse property, some of which we passed on our way to the Horton Iris Garden. You know how I love horses, so the minute we saw some I told Bob we should never travel without carrots.

          Bob thought that was a ridiculous suggestion, and immediately pointed out some cows and said we should never travel without steak knives.  Now who’s being ridiculous?

          Unfortunately, the irises bloomed a bit early this year, so we missed the heart-stopping peak performance. Still it was fun to see the late bearded bloomers, and to look up the various names hybridizers give these luscious blooms. Who can resist names like Loop the Loop, Crackling Caldera, Blowing Kisses, Dracula’s Kiss, High Octane, Last Hurrah, Bewilderbeast, or Capital City Jazz?  They sound like race horses!  

Still others made me hungry: Gingersnap, Pink Frosting, Nigerian Raspberry, Peaches and Dreams, Blueberry Parfait, and Mango Passion.

          Well, it doesn’t take much of a reach to go from hundreds of deliciously named irises to dozens of deliciously named shakes and malts at another Loomis establishment: Taylor’s, a burger and ice cream joint with more than 160 flavors.  

          Here’s just a portion of their shakes and malts menu.  Not that we went in and got butterscotch malts:

          And now I’m picturing irises named Cookies and Cream, Red Velvet, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Blackberry Cobbler, Cherry Lime Freeze, and Death By Chocolate. Hybridizers, take note.

          Have you subscribed to my Youtube channel, yet?  What are you waiting for?  I’m the YouTube mom with more short life skill videos than Taylor’s has shakes!