One of tine most amusing occurrences in my garden each spring is to have one to a dozen admirers of the iris bring a bloom from their garden to compare it with more than 600 named varieties and numbered seedlings that grow there.
Nine times out of 10, the iris to be named is an old garden variety handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter.
Unless I am not very careful, it becomes a new, modern iris of recent introduction, which, the owner assures me, will grow larger next season when better culture Mid a little fertilizer is applied.
Advances in Iris Breeding
As a judge of the American Iris Society and a horticulturist by profession, it is my duty to clarify the above situation and tell the potential iris enthusiast of the great advances made in iris breeding during the past 15 years.
These include:
- The development of the yellow plicatas
- The tangerine, bearded pinks
- The deep, smooth browns
- The approaching era of true reds
- Larger and brighter amoenas and variegates
Cost, too, is always a factor, but once you understand that a fine iris garden of many colors can be acquired for as little as five dollars.
The visitor discards the bloom of unknown identity and begins to take names of varieties that appeal to him.
Each season over 1500 people visit my iris garden. I keep a sharp ear for their remarks, their likes and dislikes, and, from their criticism plus my own evaluations.
The following iris rate as the finest of the new introductions, being worthy of all gardens.
Outstanding White Kinds
Iris, which appears white in the garden, ranges from the stately Lady Boseawen, demure, round-petaled Priscilla, and tall, white-bearded Lady Moon.
Through the yellow-throated varieties, Sharkskin, Snow Carnival, and the giant White Tower, to the blue-tinted whites like crisp Icy Blue and ruffled Snow Flurry.
Pale blue, one of the garden’s softest and most tranquil colors, finds its forte in the tall, bearded irises like towering Sylvia Murray, ruffled Elden McGregor.
Turquoise Cahokia forms a background for tile deeper majesty of Great Lakes, Blue Rhythm, Danube Wave, Chivalry, and the rich, campanula-blue of Pierre Menard.
Wliite iris stippled with blue and classed as the blue plieata type is represented by Blue Shimmer and the age-old Los Angeles, still one of our finest irises.
A rich contrasted plicate is Minnie Coiqnitt, a man’s iris, with deep violet etchings on a mire white background.
Garden Somber Tones
Deep violet forms, typical Brunhilde, find new forms in Gulf Stream and Regal Robe.
The black violets are ruled by the most popular dark irises Sable, Dwarf Black Forest, and gigantic Down East, which give the garden somber tones to liven the brilliance of the gayer colors.
Mauve-lilac, Lilac Lane, and the gigantic purple Elmobr, Purple Loor, and Master Charles round out the tints of this color.
The rapid development of the seashell-and orchid-pink with bright red through orange to tangerine beards during tine past 10 years presents the most controversial group to evaluate.
Pale, eameo-pinks are represented by Pink Cameo, New Horizon, Cherie and Ballerina, peach-colored Hi-Time, the ever-reliable Premier Peach, and gigantic Dolly Varden.
Orchid-Pink and Fuchsia
Heather Rose, a deep, orchid-pink with a red beard, is truly a color combination yet to be equaled; that of Scotch Heather, deeper-colored.
Fuelisia mini the famous Cook irises, Harriet Thoreau and Dream Castle, create a distinctive class whose recent introductions fail to materially improve although sweet: scented, Morning Melody shows great promise.
Fifteen years ago, we had a few yellow irises. Those early, tall bearded yellows were muddy colored, streaked with brown.
Today, we have hundreds of yellows ranging from rich, deep, orangey tones to crisp, lacy, pale creams.
These not only brighten up the garden, but they form the basis of most of our breeding stock for other colors.
Finest Yellow Iris
The finest yellow iris in my garden is Desert Song, a tall, ruffled, primrose-yellow- capable of holding four open blooms at a time on its well-branched heavily-budded stalk.
Withstanding wind and rain, it continuously gives a four-star performance in the garden worthy as a candidate for Dykes Medal honors.
The creamy yellows include many of the newer ones; bicolored white and yellow Pinnacle and Summit with slightly deeper falls, from New Zealand, are novel color combinations.
Lemon yellows are represented by the brown-budded Golden Fleece, its highly-improved color companion, Mat-tie Gates, and delicately-scented Moonlight Sonata.
The medium yellow varieties. Sunray and well-brane-hell multi-flowered Mystic Melody contrasted to the rich, golden-yellow of Goldbeater.
Searchlight, deep, golden-yellow Prospector atari early, richly-colored Zantha give the garden rays of sparkling iridescence equal only to the sun.
Yellow Plicatas
Yellow plicatas —yellow iris with stipplings of red and bronze—are represented by deep, rosy-red Firecracker, creamy-white and pink Confetti, and the ruffled splendor of Raspberry Ribbon, a brighter, more spectacular form of Minnie Colquitt.
The desire to develop a brilliant red or scarlet iris has been the ambition of many hybridizers who have grown thousands upon thousands of seedlings without a break in the general under tones of yellow and purple that all our so-called reds Possess.
By selection, there is a gradual removal of these underlying colors each season, giving us an iris more nearly approaching true red.
Red-Toned Varieties
Each Spring, two reddish-brown iris give me a lunge thrill as they are early and possess great color. Solid Mahogany and Orelio usher in a group of outstanding red-toned iris.
These are Display and Quechee, short in stature but brilliant in color. Red Valor and Ranger, dark, majestic reds, Pacemaker and Technicolor, newer varieties that are tall and crimson-red in the garden.
Garden Glory, very late, closes the season for tile about two weeks after the other iris have lost their color.
The brightest of all iris are variegated. Their bright standards and deep-red falls give unsurpassed color wherever they are grown.
Mary Vernon, old but reliable, is still one of the best; however, Gypsy and the brilliancy of Spanish Fandango can never be overlooked.
Yet, the greatest thrill comes from my own seedling variegates, the result of 15 years of work, which is cleaner and clearer than any yet introduced.
Many Subtle Blends
I have saved the blends till last since I believe we have Sonic superb blends of color created in this group.
One has never experienced a real treat until he has beheld the somber elegance of Pretty Quadroon. Chamois, El Paso and General Patton.
Blends, reminiscent of the far Western sunset on the canyons are the ever-popular Cascade Splendor, Rainbow Room, Bryce Canyon, Sunset Blaze, and Arab Chief.
The lengthening rays of the sun on those majestic canyons turn from the brilliance of salmon and copper to rosy salmons wide, which are the colors of Campfire Glow. Pathfinder. Three Oaks, Drum Major, and ruffled, rosy-pink Alline Rogers.
Then lengthening shadows east deep purple tints suggestive of the color of the Grand Canyon. an odd yet beautiful iris.
The endless color range of the iris, like the potential of the painter’s palette, enables all of us to create beautiful pictures in the garden.
These varieties are outstanding and, in your garden, will create beauty beyond your fondest hope or recollection.
44659 by Thomas R. Manley