Birth flower for May 23
Rabbit-ear iris
Meaning: good fortune will surely come
In the Tales of Ise, a classic of Heian Japan, the poet Ariwara no Narihira sees these irises by the water at Yatsuhashi. He writes a poem missing his wife back in the capital, starting each line with one syllable of kakitsubata, the flower's name. Centuries later Ogata Korin painted his famous Irises screens, now a national treasure at Tokyo's Nezu Museum.