This is Melody Masi's story, as told to me and published with her permission;
‘Song of Gold’ was originally bought by my mother in the early 1950's. I don't know where she got it from, but probably a local grower, as there was one a few miles away that had many, many acres of irises. My mother, my nana, and I, would go to walk through them, smelling each, and finding delight in the different fragrances.
Although she was a newly married person, just starting out, she valued flowers, irises in particular, and would buy one or two a year for our garden. ‘Song of Gold’ was a shared favorite. This one was planted under my bedroom window and as a very small child, three years or so, I remember waking to that delicious fragrance. That would be 1950.
When I left to make my own home, I divided it and have replanted it with me, wherever I've gone.
Years before my mom passed, I asked her how I would know she was still with me. She thought long and then said, "I'll make the yellow irises bloom". She passed November 6, 2011, and I thought, "well, I'll have to wait awhile for that sign". Our iris only bloom in spring here. Within a couple of weeks, the entire back page of our local paper had a half page picture, and a story about the unusual and inexplicable blooming of some gorgeous yellow irises. It hasn't happened since.