The genus
Iris is named after Iris, the Greek messenger goddess; the goddess of the sea and the sky. Iris's most famous association is with the rainbow. The greek's believed that Iris walked between heaven and earth over a bridge made by the rainbow. Legend has it that wherever Iris walked, her footprints bore flowers in the colors of the rainbow.
The Iris family lives up to its rainbow goddess name, with frilled blossoms that can be any color or combination of colors, from blue to yellow to red to green to white and even black!
My other great plant interest is cacti and succulents. There are no true blue flowers in the cactus family; the pigments that produce them are not present in cacti. This makes the various shades of blue in the iris family appeal to me all the more.
In ancient myth, Iris, the sister of the harpies and goddess of the storm, was represented by the rainbow. She was as swift as the wind, had wings of gold, and was employed by Juno for her especial messenger, as Mercury was the messenger of Jupiter. She carried messages unto the ends of the earth and even into the depths of the sea. By some of the Greek poets she is called a virgin goddess. One day the flowers all assembled at the invitation of Juno to celebrate the birthday of Iris. They all came in their prettiest dresses and were having a fine time when three new sister flowers were seen approaching, dressed in gowns of red, yellow, and purple, and wearing gorgeous jewels, but no one knew who they were. As they were without names, they were christened Iris, because they wore the colors of the rainbow, and thus it is that they bear the name of the messenger of the gods. ~K.M. Beals, Flower Lore and Legend
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