History – even horticultural history—repeats itself. Proof of this is found in return popularity of the geranium, African-violet, day-lily, and small and decorative gladiolus, which, having fallen out of grace with gardeners, achieved new favor when breeders offered improved iris varieties.
The same is true of the spuria or butterfly group of iris, one of the most brightly relighted stars in the flower firmament.
As with day-lilies, the pioneering work in hybridizing the spuria iris was done by English gardeners (who have always shown more interest in the beardless iris than have Americans), but it was the Americans who re-explored its possibilities and developed exciting new types and colors.
Sir Michael Foster devoted much work to spuria iris, as did his compatriots Perry and Barr. Following Foster’s MONSPUR and numerous garden hybrids from Perry and Barr, the development of the spurias seemed to have reached the bounds of its potentialities, and interest in England turned to the Siberian iris and other species.
A few workers in the United States, such as the Sass brothers, gave some attention to the spurias, but the late T. A. Washington did the most extensive breeding in Nashville and the late Eric Nies in Hollywood.
From Washington came the purple MONTEAGLE and several pastels and blue varieties.
In addition to the vigorous BRONZE SPUR, the parent of most of his later named types, such as the ruffled Two PALs, Mr. Nies improved the blues and added such distinctive varieties as the glamorous LARKSONG and the solid dark-brown BLACK POINT.
Carl Milliken, also working in Southern California, introduced GOLD NUGGET, WHITE HERON, and the beautifully formed WADI ZEM ZEM.
But, despite the availability of so many fine garden varieties, interest and acceptance were insignificant, and horticulturists were forced to drop from .heir catalogs that they could not sell.\
Then public interest was aroused anew, mainly as a result of the generosity of Mr. Nies in supplying nit flowers to the professional arrangers at the iris shows of the Southern California Iris Society in Hollywood.
My interest stems chiefly from attending these shows; later, Mr. Nies and Mr. Milliken kindly filled my entire garden with their originations.
There is no member of the iris family, with the possible exception of the gladiolus, that surpasses the butterfly iris as a cut flower. Indeed no other iris species challenge its position in this regard.
Iris Blooming Season
Although its blooming season in the extreme North is limited to about two weeks, it extends over a full two months in the Deep South. The white spuria varieties are not only superior at Easter.
Still, they are more appropriate than the Easter lily since their native home is in Asia Minor and the Holy Land, while the Easter lilies are not.
The seed of spuria iris is enclosed in a thin parchment-like capsule containing air, and in their original home, the seed was carried on the water to the mouths of rivers, finding a foothold on hot, treeless deltas.
This accounts for their preferring sun rather than shade, as do the Louisiana iris, the cork-covered seed of which was similarly carried downstream lodging on shaded deltas, especially of the Mississippi River.
There are spurias native to the colder climates, but Iris spuria is found in Europe and adjacent islands.
Spuria iris belongs to the rhizomatous-rooted division of iris, as does the bearded iris, but they are classed in the subdivision known as the apogons, a word which means “without a beard.”
Iris Species
Several species of iris belong to the spuria group, including Iris spuria, Iris ochroleuca, and Iris monniere, from which many of the fine named varieties available to gardeners today were developed.
The best varieties carry four pairs of flowers similar in construction to Dutch iris. The color range includes white, yellow, blue, brown, and blends, with purple and red tones appearing in new hybrids.
Like all members of the iris family, they are subject to virus infection, the blue ones being most susceptible.
The culture of butterfly iris is quite simple, but this does not mean that they should be relegated to the garden’s most “difficult” section. They do splendidly if given full sun, food and water, good drainage during the growing season, and a dry hake after flowering.
They may be moved at any time, but growth is retarded for a year or two unless they are moved during or just after the dormant period which follows flowering. Never allow them to dry out during transplanting.
Leading breeders of butterfly iris in this country today include Mr. Marion Walker, president of The American Iris Society, and Mr. Tom Craig. Their hybrid iris, daffodils, day-lilies, and other flowers clothe mountains in Southern California.
Iris Popularity
Indicative of the growing popularity of the butterfly iris is that such noted hybridizers as Mr. Tell Muhlestein of Utah and Mrs. Thomas Nesmith of Massachusetts arc also breed them. I have registered fourteen varieties of my breeding to date.
Many of the iris specialists who have concentrated on growing bearded iris have, with the renewed popularity of the spurias, added them in recent years to their lists. It is encouraging to see George Park Seed Company of South Carolina now offering seeds and plants.
It is of particular interest that both Mr. Fred Danks of Australia and Mr. Muhlestein have undertaken a program of crossing the Louisiana iris with the butterfly iris. If successful, this might add the pink and red shades to the bulbs’ color range.
At the same time, the inter-species hybrids might open up many cultural and other genetic possibilities by the selection of the best seedlings since I have thousands of spuria seedlings still unbloomed from crosses of past years. I am concentrating on this Louisianaspuria breeding this season.
At the request of The American Iris Society, I assisted in the formation of The Spuria Society, a membership that includes an informative bulletin and costs a dollar to members of the American Iris Society.
Under the guidance of Mrs. J. Willis Slaughter, an enthusiastic group was formed in Houston, Texas, and today the Garden Club of Houston and the River Oaks Garden Club jointly finance a magnificent test and exhibition garden for butterfly iris.
Further proof of the tremendous interest in butterfly iris is that in 1956 The American Iris Society activated the Eric Nies Award for spuria iris. The first winner was WADI ZEM ZEM which received the vote of seventy-seven judges.
It was astonishing that the voting was heavier for this award than for the similar top awards for Louisiana and dwarf iris. Incidentally, the Dykes Memorial Medal—top honor for bearded iris—went in 1956 to De-Forest’s Fitts-r VIOLET, and it received only six more votes than WADI ZEM ZEM.
It can be seen that the popularity of the spuria iris is on the ascendancy, and I urge you to include some in your garden plans.
44659 by Philip G. Corliss