BULLETIN

OF THE

American Iris Society

AUGUST, 1945 No. 98

CONTENTS

Editor’s Bulletin Board _ I _ | _ _ _ 1

List of 1945 Awards — _ - _ _ _ 3

Iris Recollections, 1945, Jesse E. Wills _ _ _ 6

Iris Visits, Geddes Douglas _ _ _ 15

Breeding for Spacing and Substance, Elias Nelson _ 23

Reports on So. California, Archie MacLean and L$na Lothrop 25

Growing Spurias, Eric E. Nies _ - _ 33

The Man Behind Elmohr S _ , _ _ _ _ _ L_„- _ _ _ 35

Peregrinations of a Fancier, J. P. Fishburn _ _ _ 1 37

Notes on Two Gardens, John Dolman, Jr. _ _ _ 48

Iris at Ingersoll, Ont., F . C. Biehl _ _ _ _ _ _ 53

A Visit to Three Oaks, J. Marion Shull _ 56

New England Gardens, TV. J. McKee _ .v 59

Kansas and Missouri Gardens, D. B. Finish _ 68

Northern California Season, H. /. Johnson _ _ 72

Iris Memoranda, Guy Bogers _ 75

Iris of Cedric Morris, N. Leslie Cave _ _ _ 78

Visit to Rene Cayeux, Clifford TV. Benson _ 82

Our Members Write:

American Iris in England, N. Leslie Cave _ 85

Growing Conditions in Yakima Valley, Elias Nelson _ 87

Vetoes Limiting Introductions, Katharine Clifford _ 88

Okehs Limiting Introductions, David B. Finish _ 89

Size No Measure of Beauty, Eric E. Nies _ — 90

Two or Twenty Species? A. TV. Mackenzie _ _ _ 91

Published Quarterly by

THE AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY, 32nd ST. AND ELM AVENUE, BALTIMORE, MD. Entered as second-class matter January, 1934, at the Post Office at Baltimore, Md., under the Act of March 3. 1879.

$3.00 the Year — Additional copies 50 cents each for Members

THE AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY

OFFICERS 1945

Directors:

Terms expiring 1945: F. W. Cassebeer Geddes Douglas

Dr. H. H. Everett Dr. R. J. Graves

Terms expiring 1946: J. P. Fishburn David F. Hall

E. G. Lapham W. J. McKee

Terms expiring 1947 :

Dr. Franklin Cook Carl S. Milliken

Howard R. Watkins Jesse E. Wills

President — Mr. Jesse E. Wills, Belle Meade Blvd., Nashville, Tenn. Vice-President — Mr. Junius P. Fishburn, Box 2531, Roanoke, Va.

Secretary — Mr. Howard R. Watkins, 821 Washington Loan and Trust Bldg., Washington, D. C.

Treasurer — Mr. E. G. Lapham, 1003 Strong Ave., Elkhart, Ind.

Editor — F. W. Cassebeer, 953 Madison Avenue, New York 21, N. Y.

Assistant Editor — Miss Marcia Cowan.

Regional Vice-Presidents —

1. W. J. McKee, 45 Kenwood Ave., Worcester, Mass.

2. Kenneth D. Smith, Benedict Road, Dongan Hills, Staten Island, N. Y.

3. John Dolman, Jr., 204 Vassar Ave., Swarthmo^e, Pa.

4. J. Marian Shull, 207 Raymond St., Chevy Chase, Md.

5. T. N. Webb, Durham, N. C.

6. Mrs. Silas B. Waters, 2005 Edgeeliff Point, Cincinnati, Ohio.

7. W. F. Cahoon, R 4, Cahaba Road, Birmingham 9, Ala.

8. Mrs. W. F. Roecker, 3319 North 14th St., Milwaukee, Wis.

9. O. W. Fay, 1522 Isabella St., Wilmette, Ill.

10. Frank E. Chowning, 2110 Country Club Lane, Little Rock, Ark.

11. Mrs. Mary F. Tharp, Payette, Idaho.

12. Merritt H. Perkins, 2235 Fairfax St., Denver, Col.

13. Dr. R. E. Kleinsorge, Silverton, Ore.

14. Mrs. G. G. Pollock, 1341 45th St., Sacramento, Calif.

15. E. E. Nies, 1423 North Kingsley Dr., Hollywood 27, Calif.

16. W. J. Moffatt, 170 Delaware Avenue, Hamilton, Ont., Can.

Chairmen of Committees:

Scientific-— -Dr. L. F. Randolph, Ithaca, N. Y.

Election — Dr. George M. Reed, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. Membership and Publicity — W. J. McKee, 45 Kenwood Avenue, Worcester, Mass.

Registration — C. E. F. Gersdorff, 1825 No. Capitol St., Washington 2, D. C. Ass’t. to Registrar — ’Mrs. Walter Colquitt, 487 Albany, Shreveport, La. Exhibition- — Mrs. Ralph E. Ricker, 1516 Ross St., Sioux City, Iowa. Recorder of Introductions and Bibliography — Mrs. W. H. Peckham,

The Lodge, Skylands Farm, Sloatsburg, N. Y.

Awards — Junius P. Fishburn, Roanoke, Va.

Japanese Iris — Dr. George M. Reed, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y.

IRIS CHECK LIST, 1939— Lists 19,000 names of iris and parentages; over 500 pages. Price $3.00 to members; $4.00 to non-members.

LANTERN SLIDES— Rental Fee (to members) $5.00. Apply to Mrs. P. E. Corey, 707 Pearl St., Reading, Mass.

THE EDITOR'S BULLETIN BOARD

■ This issue of the Bulletin is a sort of compendium of the progress being made in bearded iris inasmuch as it contains a wealth of articles reporting on the new varieties seen during the 1945 season both here and abroad.

Quite noticeable throughout the stories is the unanimity of opinion about the merit of such newcomers as Helen McGregor, Blue Valley, Suzette, Garden Glory, Lady Mohr, Cherie and Bryce Canyon. It is perhaps unfortunate that the writers usually mention only the iris with which they are favorably impressed and shy away from positive expressions of disapproval of recent iris. Failure to mention a variety might by implication be considered indicative of disapproval. Our belief is that brickbats often may be as constructive as bouquets if the writer takes the trouble to give specific reasons for not liking an iris.

While this issue is devoted almost entirely to the subject of bearded iris, we hope in the next issue to bring our readers some reports on progress made in our native American beardless iris and in kaempferi varieties. Contributions of articles from fanciers of other iris as well as of the bearded kinds will be especially welcome.

F. W. Cassebeer, Editor

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Elmohr, winner of the Dykes Medal Award for 1945 .

[2]

AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY AWARDS, 1945

DYKES MEDAL AWARD
W inner
Variety	Originator
Elmohr	Loomis
Runner-up
Daybreak	Kleinsorge
AWARD OF MERIT
American Varieties — Tall Bearded
Variety	Originator
Ola Kala	J. Sass
Azure Skies	Pattison
Mary Vernon	McKee
Moonlight Madonna	J. Sass
Treasure Island	Kleinsorge
White Wedgewood	Grant
Sunset Serenade	J. Sass
Nightfall	TV Hall
Minnie Colquitt	H. P. Sass
Other Than Tall Bearded
Sheriffa (TMB)	White
Bronzspur (Spuria)	Nies
Foreign Variety
White City	Murrell

HONORABLE MENTION

Tall Bearded

Variety

Bryce Canyon Blue Rhythm Chamois

Originator

Kleinsorge

Whiting

Kleinsorge

HONORABLE MENTION ( Continued )

Variety	Originator
Copper Glow	G. Douglas
Cascade Splendor	Kleinsorge
Carillon	Wills
Chantilly	Hall
Cape Bon	Tompkins
Elegans	K. Smith
Goldbeater	Kleinsorge
Gay Senorita	Salbach
Garden Glory	Whiting
Gypsy	Kleinsorge
Harriet Thoreau	P. Cook
Katharine Fay	Fay
Lake George	K. Smith
Lake Breeze	Fay
Leilani	Washington
Lothario	Schreiner
Mount Hermon	Lowry
Miobelle	McKee
Misty Gold	Schreiner
R EDWARD	P. Cook
Redwyne	McKee
Reveille	Tobie
Rocket	Whiting
Sonrisa	DeForest
Sousun	Essig
Spindrift	Loomis
Suzette	Knowlton
Sky Maid	Walker
Tea Rose	Whiting
Three Oaks	Whiting
Vision Fugitive	War eh am

Other Than Tall Bearded

Dutch Defiance (Spuria) Nies

Michigan State (Spuria) Nies

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HIGHLY COMMENDED

Variety Amandine Blue Valley Black Banner Blue Glow Cherie

Country Lass Edith Rorke Pay 44-36 Gulf Stream Golden Russet Green Pastures Hija Mia Ivory Tower Lynn Langford Miogem Moontide Mission Madonna McKee 4210 New Snow Nesmith 42-1B Pink Cameo Quality First Royal Diadem Russet Wings Red Majesty J. Sass 40-311 J. Sass 44-39 Snow Crystal Sukey of Salem Tompkins 45-10 White Ruffles Whitney 43-70

Other Than Tall Bearded Golden Agate (Spuria)

Lark Song (Spnria)

Two Opals (Spuria)

Originator

G. Douglas K. Smith Nichol'ls Nicholls D. Hall Walker K. Smith

Fay D. Hall Heller

C. C. Taylor Walker

D. Hall McKee McKee Essig

Fay

Fay

C. C. Taylor

Cassebeer

Wills

G. Douglas

Wills

Nesmith

C. C. Taylor

Nies

Nies

Nies

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IRIS RECOLLECTIONS, 1945 Jesse E. Wills

■ This article is to be mainly an account of the 'Nashville iris season, such as it was, but it will also be a carry-all for varietal comments and various impressions growing out of my remembrances of the other iris gardens I saw this year. I did quite a lot of trav¬ eling, fortunately before it became too difficult, but Mr. G-eddes Douglas, who accompanied me on this trip, will make the formal report on it. My itinerary was also practically the same as that of Mr. Fishburn, except that he did not go to Bluff tom.

No intelligent report on the Nashville iris season can be made without supplying the background of the weather, but in view of the Editor’s exhortations, I will make this brief and factual, with no meanings nor complaints. I got these last out of my system some time ago. Last summer we had a drought in Nashville that extended from the second week in May to the last week in August. There were good fall rains but the fall growing season was perhaps not so long as normal. The winter was average through February. The entire month of March was warm, with temperatures ranging up to the 80’s. Naturally, the iris started to grow. There was a hard freeze on the night of April 5, when Los Angeles and a. couple of other tall bearded seedlings were open and a great many other iris were showing color. A week later there was a rather heavy frost. All during April and May the weather was cold and bad, with very little sunshine and frequent drizzling rains or heavy showers.

My own garden was very hard hit by the freeze. Stalks bent over and buds dried up. I lost the bloom of a good part of the early named varieties and my new seedlings blooming 'for the first time were particularly hard hit as they were in an exposed open field. My current crop of seedlings had been transplanted late and due to the drought of the previous year, not a great many of them would have bloomed anyway, but I had a big carry-over from the previous year and the year before which I had not seen. Most of those that did bloom had their flowers so distorted that I could tell very little about them. I did have good bloom on my midseason and late named varieties, on a few midseason and late seedlings, and on some selected seedlings which were in the yard. All estab-

[6]

lished rules are off when a freeze hits tall stalks and open bloom. Some varieties that had been tender in normal years came through while other supposedly hardy ones toppled over. It was also notice¬ able that many iris which escaped the freeze bloomed very freely or even tried to bloom themselves to death. There were twelve or more bloom stalks on Persian Prince, for instance, and there is only one rhizome left out of what seemed a good clump.

Mr. Wentworth Caldwell’s garden was hit nearly as bad as mine. Iiis new seedlings suffered particularly.

For some reason I don’t understand, perhaps because he is fa¬ vored by the Goddess of the Rainbow, Mr. Geddes Douglas’ garden largely escaped the ravages of the weather. For this reason any Nashville comments for this year, particularly on new originations, will have to be largely around what was seen at his place. There was a lot worth seeing. Mr. Douglas has been making steady im¬ provement as a hybridizer, particularly in the last two or three years. He never makes a great many crosses or raises large numbers of seedlings but he is getting results in nearly every color class. The seedlings are always marked particularly by good branching, and, in the case of the later ones, by good substance, although one or two of the earlier ones — Titian Lady for instance — were somewhat lacking in this respect. I told him once that he could cross a broom¬ stick and a poker and get good branching. This was after he had told me the parents of a beautifully branched seedling were two iris that never branched themselves. It happened that the particu¬ lar parentage was wrong, but nevertheless all his iris seem to have the low branch below the middle and sometimes the branches are branched.

Mr. Douglas’ Chicory Blue and his two fine whites, Sharkskin and Northman, are well known. Chicory Blue, which is usually tender, came through the freezes in good shape and both the whites did well again. Sharkskin is at present perhaps my favorite white. The flower and stalk of Northman are just as good, or even better, but it is not so vigorous a grower or so free a bloomer as its sister. There is a splendid clump of Sharkskin in Wentworth Caldwell’s garden which was still full of bloom stalks even after he had cut out a lot which had frozen. Extravaganza is the only outstanding amoena since Wabash. There is a little yellow at the base of the standards, it is true, but this fades out to clear white at the edges and at the top, and the effect is decidedly that of an amoena both

[7]

close up and at, a distance. The only criticism I could find of it are that its falls could be a trifle wider and it is so late that people are not apt to see it unless they bloom it themselves. Nancy Hardison is a nice pink blend with semi-flaring falls and good substance. It is of good size but does not grow very tall. I like it better this year than I did last because it is somewhat deeper in color and had more pink in it. Amandine is a very excellent cream — I cannot think of a better at the moment. It had thick heavy substance and a very fine slightly ruffled form, with wide falls and standards. Copper Glow is a bright copper-brown, fairly deep in color and yet bril¬ liant, which makes a spectacular clump and which has good sub¬ stance, good form and good branching. As I saw them this year, it and Amandine were Mr. Douglas’ two best iris. I did not happen, however, to see a good bloom this year on his Red Majesty as the flowers were either fading or still in bud every time I visited his place. Last year it was outstanding also. It is a tall medium rose- red with a lot of yellow through the center of the flower and a tiny blue fleck at the base of the beard. It has fine branching and good substance.

Among Mr. Douglas’ new seedlings for this year, there was No. 429B, a big, dark red, smooth-flaring flower of good substance, which he has named Drum Major; No. 303-2, a very large blue from Chicory Blue and Great Lakes; No. 436A, a tall, well branched flaring' yellow, which he has named Mimosa Gold. This last is a sort of two-tone yellow, although it is not a bicolor. The yellow on the falls, however, shades from lighter yellow in the center to darker yellow at the edges and there is a golden iridescence or sparkle all over it. It had one of the nicest stalks I have ever seen, with four branches and a terminal and eleven buds. A yellow reverse bicolor with yellow standards and white falls, a trim flower with a lot of sparkle to it, has been named Silver Sunlight. Seed¬ ling No. 502D, which comes from Extravaganza, has lavender or light purple-rose standards and brown-red falls with a light edge. A bright, orange beard sets off the big ruffled flower. It has been named Ten O’Clock Scholar,

Mr. Caldwell was so disgusted with his new seedlings that he pulled them up as fast as they bloomed and I am afraid he may have discarded some good ones, mistaking the effects of frost-bite for bad looks, so I did not get any numbers at his place. A big clump of his white Cotillton looked fine, however, and I was even

[8]

more impressed with liis Saint Regis in a clump than I had been with the first stalks the previous year. This is an exceedingly pale blue, or perhaps it would be better to say blue-white, of stiff flaring form and fine branching. It comes from a cross of Great Lakes and Birchbark. Other carry-overs from the previous year that looked good were Chaxjvanon, a light purple, and Summertime, a yellow. Sequatchie had been hard hit b}^ the freeze. Tishomingo, his very tall wistaria blue, grew well again for him and also did well for me. This is the plant that grows so tall and has such good substance that it got the birds in the habit of roosting on his iris, and even the best substance does not take that too well.

Mr. Tom Williams, “The Old Dirt Dobber, ” has not been pur¬ suing his iris interests as actively since he gave up his commercial garden and devoted so much of his time to broadcasting. Ilis gar¬ den is as lovely as ever, however, and he had some interesting seed¬ lings in bloom this year. I understand that a yellow of Dr. Alford ’s, No. 129 8 A, was very outstanding but unfortunately I did not see it at Mr. Williams’ garden. I am told that it is an exceedingly brilliant yellow, slightly bicolor with very large flowers, and is going to be named Golden Jubilee.

As I said, catastrophe overtook my new seedlings so that not a great deal could be told about them. I did number a good many on the suggestion of w7hat they might have been. The most interesting one to me was a deep true pink that came from (Midwest Gem X Sandia) X Leilani. The styles and the beard are the same pink as the flower. It grew short, however, because of the freeze and I could not tell much about its form. I was also pleased to get several amoenas late in the season, mainly because I had been trying hard for these for years. The best of them has crisp, clear white stand¬ ards and good form on a medium-sized flower, with red-purple falls carrying the light edge. The falls, however, are not so deep and velvety as I would like and the branching is uncertain.

Only a few of the seedlings I had selected last year bloomed, and 1 had to go to Lowell and Chicago to see Russet Wings, one of my 1943 seedlings, doing well. 1 did have good bloom on a number of named varieties, and the varietal comments and impressions which follow are based mainly, although not entirely, on performance in my own garden. Allowance has to be made again for the weather this year. The only test of substance was rain and wind, and the cool, cloudy weather made all the colors darker than usual. Growth

[9]

on some varieties was especially good and some were taller than I had ever seen them before.

The two outstanding iris that I had not seen before were Lady Mohr and Helen McGregor. As it happened, I did not bloom either of these although a nice tall stalk of Lady Mohr toppled over in the freeze. I saw it well grown in New York and especially well in Lowell, however, and I also saw a fine clump of Helen Mc¬ Gregor at Mrs. Nesmith’s. Lady Mohr grows tall and large, with a big round flower of excellent substance. My first impression was that it was more of a curiosity than anything else but the more I saw it, the better I liked it. It is entirely different from the other Mohr seedlings, which tend to resemble each other. The standards are a pale gray-lavender, the falls chartreuse yellow with a dark red blotch at the base of the brownish beard. Helen McGregor is a very large, ruffled, light blue. It is a pale blue, but not a blue- white in the class with White Wedge wood or IcYr Blue. It comes nearer being truly blue than any iris I know. The form is lovely and the substance is good. The stalk is a little heavy and the branch¬ ing is not so outstanding as is the case with some of Dr. Graves ’ other iris but it did not seem to bunch. A nice clump of the de¬ servedly popular Azure Skies was growing close by, but it looked very lavender in comparison with the blue of Helen McGregor.

There seems to be a return to blues on the part of a number of breeders. Another very outstanding new blue that I saw this year was Blue Valley, of Kenneth Smith’s. This was one among the number of fiile blue seedlings that came from Lake George X Great Lakes. It is very slightly deeper and slightly bluer than Great Lakes, with a ruffled flower. Several other ; seedlings from the same cross were also excellent. One darker blue has been named Neighbor as an indirect compliment to Mrs. Louise Blake. Although I did not get to see them, I understand that Lake Shannon (De- Forest), Blue Rh¥thm (Whiting) and Silvia Murray (Maxwell) also are outstanding new blues.

I was very much impressed this year with the new iris Dr. Klein- sorge has been producing. Bryce Canyon did well on a first-year plant at my place and was very outstanding in a clump at Mrs. Nesmith’s. If I had to name the third most outstanding iris I saw this year, this would be it. It was tall, splendidly branched, had fine form and seemed to have good substance. I presume it will have to be classed as a blend but it is really an unusual red-brown

[10]

self with a touch of henna in it. Perhaps because of the cool, damp weather, however, the color was slightly darker than that shown in the color plate in Cooley’s catalogue. In color it is very similar to Casa Morena, which I also liked very much, but on the basis of this year’s performance I would have to give Bryce Canyon preference for its better form, substance and branching. Cascade Splendor, one of Dr. Kleinsorge’s 1945 introductions, is a big heavily ruffled flower that mingles pink, apricot, and tan smoothly in one tone of color. Branching and substance also are good.,, I thought the cata¬ logue description did another of his 1945 introductions, Alpine Glow, an injustice. The description reads as though it were some¬ thing along the line of Grand Canyon or Aztec Copper. As I saw it, it was a very nice medium rose-pink with a blue flush on the falls and a little tan at the haft. Goldbeater is a big sturdy yellow of good height, with branching and substance satisfactory. The color of Chamois is not particularly outstanding, being just about what the name implies. It is an exceedingly large flower, however, with standards and falls somewhat ruffled, and has excellent substance for its size. Mexico is a blended variegata that somewhat suggests a browner, darker Mary Vernon. I did not like it quite so well as I did Gypsy but I did not see this last especially well grown. Ranger is a big, dark purple-red which seems to grow to good height and makes a good clump. It is not noticeably redder, however, than some other iris in its class. Oregon Trail is a nice iris but I per¬ sonally do not like it so well as some of the others, perhaps because of the brown markings on the haft which spoil its smoothness. On the other hand, I like the brown flowers of Tobacco Road better every time I see them, although I sometimes wish they were on somewhat taller stems.

A number of Mrs. Whitings ’ iris did excellently with me this year. Mellow glow was one exception as it did not bloom and has been a rather weak grower in my garden. Garden Glory, however, grew taller and larger than I have ever seen it and impressed every¬ one. It was somewhat similar in color to Captain Wells, a trifle lighter, and a little redder and with a somewhat wider haft. It has the smoothest haft of any red — in fact, of any iris — I know. Vati¬ can Purple, a rich medium to dark purple self with a satiny finish, also was excellent. Rubient, after failing to bloom for two years, shot up a stalk that was almost too tall. It is a red-purple with the falls much deeper than the standards and edged with a lighter

[HI

color, A little white at the haft detracts slightly from it. Arab Chief, a rich orange-red self that is really brilliant, is very out¬ standing for color. It is the brightest of the late iris. Burmese Gold has a lovely ruffled flower of apricot-orange color but I was not sure of its stalk or its substance.

I also had the opportunity to compare most of Mr. DeForest’s new things. Of these, I still like Casa Morena the best. Second I would put Sonrisa, a nice big coppery-pink blend. It has been somewhat tender with me but for some reason bloomed better this year than it has in the past. I also saw it well grown in New England. If it will grow well, I am. inclined to think it will rank high among the pink blends. Fortune ’s Favor is a big sturdy flower of good form and seems to have good branching but I do not care particularly for its color. The standards are tan and the falls rosy-lavender. The cool, damp weather, however, may have made it look duller than it really is. Marimba is a big, pale tan self. Some visitors thought the color dull but I rather liked it. It has nice form and excellent branching with flowers very well spaced. It should be valuable in the garden as a foil to other more brilliant iris. Rio Oro, which I believe is a sister seedling, is not so large but is much brighter. It shines in its own light. It is a glistening brown-gold with a lot of sparkle to it. Shishaldin is also very bright but not smooth. It is a mixture of orange, brown, and brown-red. Tiff an j a is a nice plicata that carries a distinct yellow effect in the garden and the brown margin at the falls is very smooth and even. On the other hand, I did not like Unique, which this year looked dirty, and I have never cared particularly for Lori May or Mollie May. They resemble each other somewhat, Mollie May being slightly deeper, but both are pink blends with deeper shadings or thumb marks of rose on the haft. Pretty Penny had a nice soft coppery-rose color. This was not especially bright, however, and for some reason this year the standards all opened.

Mr. Hall’s “flamingo pinks” had hard luck in the freeze. Over¬ ture was the only one that bloomed and it was not at all typical, even for a first-year plant. Fantasy and Premier Peach, which are related to the flamingos, made up for this, however, by bloom¬ ing nicely. Fantasy is a luscious lavender-pink whose broad ruffled flowers are set off by a deep tangerine beard. Premier Peach also has a red beard, this time against a tan-peach background.

Among the “seashell-type” of pinks. Spindrift is in some re-

spects the best yet introduced. It is very pink, particularly in the standards, and lias a flower of good size and form on a well branched stalk. A certain amount of flecking at the haft spoils it, however.

We are still awaiting the really good true pink that will combine good smooth color with other good qualities of flower and stalk. Mr. Hall has named four of his second generation pinks, some of which should be ready for introduction in a couple of years.

New pinks have taken interest away somewhat from the pink blends but. there are a number of good ones in this class. I prefer to class Daybreak among the pink blends but. however it may be classed, it is certainly a fine iris. It is somewhat variable, however, between gardens and seasons. Sometimes it is very pink and at other times it is almost the dark copper of Copper Cascade. Mr. HalDs Remembrance is one of the best pink blends, somewhat pale, but with a smooth lovely color and fine forip. Bill Kellogg’s Cop¬ per Pink did not do so well this year , as it did last year in Nash¬ ville but it was fine everywhere else I saw it and ranks close to the top. I still like Mr. Lapham’s Hoosier Sunrise very much, and feel that it has never received the recognition it deserves. Although I believe I would put it a little below the ones just mentioned, Dr. Grant’s slightly bicolor Coral Mist makes a fine clump. It is very dependable for bloom and increase.

The orchid-pinks used to be marked by floppiness and lack of substance. This is not true of the new ones we are getting. Paul Cook’s Dreamcastle, a big, broad-hafted flower, is perhaps the best and better than his Harriet Tiioreau, which is also good. Sass ’ No. 43-49, which I have heard will be named, is excellent among this group. While it is an orchid-pink, the color has a warmth and carry to it and there is a nice yellow beard. Orchid Lady, from Mr. Salbach, is a big nicely formed flower of good sub¬ stance. To me, the color is not quite so smooth or so pleasing as the colors of the iris just mentioned.

Progress in the red class seems to be lagging somewhat. There tire no reds among the top iris in the 1945 Symposium, and com¬ paratively few reds in the whole list. New reds represent only slight degrees of improvement over older ones. I saw Mr. McKee’s Red- wyne for the first time this year and liked it. Red ward, of Paid Cook’s, is very red, perhaps the reddest, and his Action Front is also a very bright copper-red. Mrs. Whiting’s Garden Glory, al-

[13]

ready mentioned, is the smoothest. Dr. Grant’s Display also is very smooth and blooms almost too freely. Edward Lapham has a lovely flower but it has been a difficult grower with me. Perhaps the two best all-round ones are Ranger and Red Valor. Both have tall stalks with good branching and nice big flowers of excellent sub¬ stance. Ranger, however, is not so red as some of the others and the standards of Red Valor tend to open.

Among the copper and red bicolors, Fred Cassebeer’s Orange Glow is excellent and deserves more recognition.

Before closing this article I cannot help but recall some of the pictures and memories that run through my mind as I think about the iris tour Mr. Douglas and I made this spring — Kenneth Smith ’s line of blue seedlings from Great Lakes and Lake George ; Fred Cassebeer’s garden looking better than I had ever seen it; meeting Mrs. Blake in the station on the way to New England ; the gathering of the New England elan at Mrs. Nesmith’s; Mr. Buttriek’s- very feeling comments on the weather ; the tremendously long iris border at- Mrs. Corey’s around the sides of a hollow square, with lupines planted in among the iris and clematis growing on a stone wall at the back; the row of ruffled pink seedlings from Lancaster and Daybreak at Mr. Barker’s; Mrs. Lowry’s small but beautiful gar¬ den, and that of Mr. Knowlton’s; the delightful luncheon Mrs. Knowlton gave us ; the plicata seedlings at 'Mr. Oarruth’s from a good cross of Los Angeles and Matterhorn; at Mr. McKee’s, the cTowd around a new seedling, No. 4507, a bright deep brown-rose ; the beauty of Mr. Buttrick’s estate, the way he grows his iris and. our wish that we could have stayed there longer ; Ed Watkins hover¬ ing lovingly over the iris at Dr. Graves’; at Mrs. Nesmith’s, the last 'glimpse of the pink" bud of Exquisite, still not opened after we had watched, it through four cold days ; Paul Cook horrifying us by tearing new seedlings to pieces trying to open the buds so that we could see- them; the hospitality of Mary and Mrs. Williamson; and, as a grand finale to the season and to the trip, two or three hurried hours in Chicago seeing Franklin Cook again looking fine, getting a glimpse of Dave, Hall’s: and Orville Fay’s seedlings, enjoying the iris conversation -and the food at a 5 :30 supper Mrs. Hall served us so that we could catch- our train.

When I came home I found a seedling and Dawn op Gold still with their last blooms. The final blossom of the longest season I have ever had closed July 10 — the first had opened April '3.

[14 1

IRIS VISITS, 1945

Geddes Douglas

■ It was my got) cl fortune this year to have the iris season come in a travel lull between the ending* of the movement of men and materials to the East and the beginning of the return movement to the West. Due to this fact, and by combining business and pleasure, I was able to make the trip to Louisville, Ky., and later, with Jesse Wills, to go to New York and to New England, back to Bluffton, Inch, and even to Chicago for a very full two hours with Dave Hall, Franklin Cook and Orville Fay.

On such an extensive trip as this, naturally we saw a great num¬ ber of both named varieties and seedlings but lack of space pre¬ cludes a report on both of these groups. Therefore, I will try to make this a running report on the new things I saw and liked. It will necessarily be rather long, for which I will apologize at the out¬ set, for we visited the gardens of no less than 21 hybridizers and saw so many good things worth recording.

There.^ere a good many early varieties blooming in Nashville when I left but the season really begaiy}for me in Mrs. Blake’s lovely garden, where I saw for the first time :

The Capitol — A tremendous iris with a bright golden beard and haft. The petals are the whitest white, and although the falls droop a bit too much, it stands out like a lighthouse on a pitch-black night.

Sylvia Murray — A tall light blue self of excellent branching with a very clean haft. I know that I’m a sucker for blues but this one was something to see.

Lady Mohr — At first a little disappointing, but the more one sees this iris, the more one likes it. I know the standards are supposed to be oyster-white but to me they seemed to be a light lavender-pink. The falls are chartreuse lightly veined with cinnamon and there is a cinnamon-maroon spot at the end of the beard, which is gray tipped with yellow. At Lowell this iris grew to tremendous propor¬ tions and was the sensation of Mrs. Nesmith’s garden.

Vision of Mirza- — I still prefer the plicatas with symmetrical markings and a contrasting ground.

Lake Shannon — Blue iris really staged a comeback this season and this is one of the best. It is very blue in a light medium tone

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and a white area at the haft makes it very distinctive. It has five branches and is very tall.

Tiffanja — This was new to me and is a reverse yellow bicolor plicata with all of the attributes which make up a fine iris.

So Big Texas — The ten-gallon hat of the iris family. Very blue with a bad. haft, but big.

Glory — This is a very large cream white of nicely ruffled form from Father Kinish of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kans. Al¬ though I saw only a single blossom, which was beginning to fade, this . iris has great promise.

Mary Clotilde — This is a clean blue from the same hybridizer. It is very similar to Shining Waters except it has a light bluish beard instead of a yellow one.

Cherryluska — Quite similar to Captain Wells but bright for such a dark iris.

Russet Wings — A new one from our worthy president. Its color is a bright blending of gold, copper and apricot. The flowers are large and very ruffled. I saw this iris blooming in Nashville, Lowell

and Spartansburg and it was uniformly good.

It was good to see Henry and Frank Grant again. Henry is well enough now to be wheeled to the garden and we did a lot of iris talking, flanked on every side by such iris notables as Jasmine, White Wedgewood, Blue Delight, Display and Coral Mist. They grow beautifully for Henry and he has a new one which he named for the late Frank Drake, for many years a great iris enthusiast. It is a stiff, crisp flower of heavy substance and erect carriage. The chartreuse-lemon stands are tightly domed and they contrast nicely with the oyster white falls.

The tire business (or should I say the lack of it?) kept me sev¬ eral days in New York, so I had the privilege of seeing Kenneth Smith’s seedlings twice and also of visiting Fred Cassebeer’s lovely planting at Blauvelt. I have never seen better bloom than Fred had this year and the mass color effect in the two long beds between the spirea hedges was a masterpiece of combinations. Among the varie¬ ties he had which were new to me were :

Alpine Glow — The catalogue descriptions of this iris which says ‘‘it has a slaty overcast, etc.,” would lead one to believe it was dull. But this is far from being the case. While the colors are soft and

[16]

well blended, it is a bright iris which carries well. The stalk is extra good and the substance heavy. On first acquaintance it comes close to being tops in the deep rose class.

Ella C allis — In Nashville I thought this iris had the brightest color I had ever seen and wondered how it could ever be used to advantage. But in a clump at Fred’s, it showed up to great advan¬ tage when combined with contrasting colors. The perfection of the individual blossom is considerably marred by the heavy striations at the haft. Bright j^ellow and orange !

Blauvelt — Should make a good garden blue, although its color¬ ing could be smoother. It has petals like leather and will with¬ stand much wind and rain. It is from Cybele (Cayeux) X Great Lakes.

Royal Diadem — Blended yellow standards. Falls of deep, smooth, oxblood red. Xo venations at the baft. It is inclined to be short.

When I think of my crop of horse weeds and thistles at home, I am envious indeed of Kenneth Smith’s well kept garden overlook¬ ing lower New York bay. The garden was just at its peak when we arrived and I have never seen better bloom. There were several outstanding seedlings, the best of which were :

Blue Valley — Coming from a cross of Lake George X Great Lakes, this large ruffled iris of good stamina and carriage is slightly deeper than the famous Dykes medalist. Also the blue is clearer and the color veins are not so obvious. Blue Valley comes close to being the best new seedling I saw in 1945 and comes in a color class where new iris of high quality are needed.

Chinese Gold — Seen under number (No, 5-28) this large, wide- hafted yellow of great substance has falls slightly deeper in color than the standards. There is a slight greenish tint to the brilliant velvety falls. The branching could be better.

Admiration— A large flower, somewhat ruffled. The color is lighter and less brilliant than Chinese Gold, but it is clear and pleasing.

Edith Rorke— A new plicata of merit. I like the clean contrast between the clear white ground and the blue-purple markings.

No. 4-54 — To me the most unusual plicata. It has red markings and a white ground. Most of the plicatas which have red markings have a yellow ground. If my memory is correct, the usual thing is for the white ground plicatas to have blue or purple markings.

[17]

No. 5-29 — This is a pleasing* variegata with bright reddish falls and clear yellow standards. There are a minimum -number of mark¬ ings at the haft and no line down the center of the foils.

Our next stop was at the famous Fairmont Gardens of Lowell, Mass. We spent several days with the Nesmiths and were royally treated with wonderful food, superb iris, grand company-— and a complete lack of cooperation on the part of the weatherman. It was cold throughout our entire stay and the flowers we saw opening on Wednesday we saw closing on the following Sunday. Very few new flowers opened in the interim and it is surely tantalizing to be in the midst of a garden full of fat buds and not to be able to see what’s on the inside of them. But the garden was beautiful and the bloom excellent with much less frost damage -than we had in Nashville. The new ones I saw there were Bryce Canyon, Chamois, Resolute, Sundial, Fay No. 43-4, Nesmith No. 42- IB, Carpenter No. 43-4, Lady Boscawen and Helen McGregor.

Helen McGregor — Have you ever seen the blue sky of a clear, bright morning with left over starlight" twinkling on the dewdrops ? That is Helen McGregor, by far the most beautiful iris I’ve seen in many years. It is a large flower with a wide haft and very, much ruffled. Its color m dear blue of a light hue but with no lavender in it. It is most effective in a clump. If it has a fault, it is that the stalk might be a bit stubby."

Bryce Canyon- — Henna-rose, copper and bright', gold are smooth¬ ly blended in this large, founded, firmly held flower. Bryce Can¬ yon, Russet Wings and Cascade Splendor make a nice color series. Bryce Canyon is the deepest colored of the three and has more red in it. Russ!! Wings is ruffled with more orange and copper in a slightly lighter tone. Cascade Splendor, a new introduction from Dr. Kleinsorge, is a shade lighter and. more of an apricot blend. It has a very ruffled flower.

'Chamois — The outstanding feature of this iris is the very large and ruffled flower for the color of a chamois skin is not very excit¬ ing. On a one-year plant it was inclined to be short. •

Resolute — In spite of the depth of its color, this smooth, deep, mahogany red self has a lot of i 4 carry. ’ ’

Sundial — To be fully appreciated, this iris has to be seen in -a clump. It is very free blooming and the medium-sized, • slightly ruffled flowers are borne in such profusion that it makes a blaze' of

[18]

Even the camera lens needs blinkers to shield it from the dazzling whiteness of Sharkskin in the sunlight.

color. The color is a smooth, harmonious blending of tan and gold.

Fay No. 43-4 — An absolute self — falls, standards, beard and styles. It is a very deep blue, much more on the blue side of purple than any of the varieties I know of. It is a little high-branched with medium-sized flowers carried on fairly tall stalks.

Nesmith No. 42-1B — From Prairie Sunset X Leilani comes this light-colored orange self. The beard is orange and the whole effect is bright. This seedlings clearly indicates that there are many new and unexplored lines to come from the “Pink Buds.”

Carpenter No. 44-3 — A smooth brown-rose blend on a well branched stalk. Less copper in it than in Copper Rose, and less orange than in Orange Glow, it is a shade rosier than either.

LAny Boscawen — If Dr. Graves didn’t have Helen McGregor to steal the spotlight, this iris would be the talk of anyone’s garden. I liked it better in Nashville where it was taller, bigger and more ruffled than it was in Lowell.

Sousun — I like this free-blooming cream colored iris from Dr.

[19]

Essig. It has clear clean color with no green in its make-up. The branching is excellent.

Mr. Steelman Buttrick could hardly wait for us to see his beauti¬ ful formal garden to show us his new white seedling No. 5-26. In¬ deed I can’t blame him for it is a flower of great purity and. like many other new iris seen this year, is large and ruffled.

From Mr. Buttrick ’s we went to Worcester and at Mr. McKee’s we saw :

Redwyne — An iris with fine finish. The falls are deep red that has more mahogany than purple in it. The standards are lighter and clearer than most iris in this class. It has a clean haft and the petals do not seem to burn in the sun as do many other red iris.

McKee No. 45-07 — Certainly one of the top new seedlings of the year — now named Miogem. I believe it is a new color in iris — bright fuchsia with a little raspberry and brown in it for good measure. The large well shaped flowers are carried on four- way branching stalks.

From Mr. McKee’s, a short ride took us to Mr. Carruth’s, where we saw :

Carrutli No. 111-1 — A blue and white plicata of great merit. I like the plicatas with clear grounds much more than the ones with a variable wash of streaked color. This one has fine contrast be¬ tween the clean white ground and the light blue markings.

Suzette — The term plicata covers a multitude of sins and should be used only when adecpiately qualified. The difference between lovely Suzette and, say, Madame Louis Aureau is the difference between daylight and darkness; yet they are both called plicatas. Suzette has garden value. The cream ground is bright; the light rose markings are pleasing. The highly colored styles make this iris outstanding. In branching and substance it ranks with the best. Suzette is a new introduction from Mr. Harold Knowlton of Auburndale, Mass.

Mount Hermon — This new white from Mrs. F. P. Lowry, of Newton, Mass., promises to be a worthwhile addition to the list of hardy whites. It it tall and robust ; the large white flowers are lightly ruffled.

At Concord, N. II., we discovered a stalk of Franconia with eight branches and 21 buds. Practically the only new iris to brave

['20 ]j

the icy blasts to greet us was Admiral Nimitz. This is a very large, tall white with a bushy golden beard. It will make A bold, striking- clump.

We left the Graves shivering in the tepid New Hampshire sun¬ light and shortly arrived in Bluff ton, Inch, for an overnight stay with the Williamsons and a day in Paul Cook’s garden. Here we saw :

Three Cheers — A tall blue bicolor with rather high branching. The standards are medium blue, the falls darker blue-purple. The flowers are large, clean and well shaped.

No. 135-42 — A new seedling of deep copper red. It has a clean haft and is very bright for an iris with such depth of color.

No. 61-42 — Another deep, bright red. The large flaring flower is what I would call “red mahogany.”

No. 31-42 — A tall, well branched seedling from Majenica X Pink Reflection. It is a smooth blend of medium rose and tan.

No. 57-42’ — Prom the same cross and somewhat similar to Day¬ break except that it is considerably lighter and pinker.

No. 131-43 — An outstanding flower. It was even larger than Dreamcastle with its broad petal and wide haft and has slightly more depth of color.

No. 65-39 — Quite the loveliest pink bicolor I have ever seen. It is a warm pink with the standards considerably paler than the falls.

At the time of our visit Mr. Cook was in the process of number¬ ing his 1945 seedlings, which were just beginning to bloom. There were many pale tannish pink blends among them. A definite ten¬ dency toward flaring flowers of very ruffled form was noted.

In Chicago we again saw flowers held over in “cold storage.” There were old flowers on two of Mr. Hall’s newly named pinks — C fieri and Hit Parade — but we saw many in good shape. Among them were :

Floradora — A medium sized flower of clear pink with a very red beard.

Lynn Langford — A large bright lavender-pink with a bright gold area at the haft. The beard is gold and the large, elongated, GuDRUN-shaped flowers are carried on 34-inch stalks.

Silver tone — A large silvery blue with fine branching and good substance. The color is not quite so clear as that of Bandmaster but in other respects I like it better.

r si )

No. 44-23 — To me this seems to be the best of Mr. Hall’s newer pink-buds. The flower is nicely finished, has good substance and the medium-pink color is remarkably clear. The beard is tangerine.

As in Paul Cook’s seedlings, many of the new Hall iris are ruffled or, rather, crinkled. The edges of some are similar to crepe paper, so tight is the fluting. Many have serrated edges. Typical of these is No. 45-06, a seedling from Fantasy X Chantilly. This is a large flower of lavender-pink. The tight crinkling shows even in the buds.

Of the newer hybridizers in the A.I.S., it is doubtful if anyone has achieved such startling success as Orville Fay of Evanston, Ill. Indeed his new seedlings are almost sensational. His deep blue No. 43-4 has already been noted in this article. Lake Breeze and Katharine Fay are two new introductions of 1945. Outstanding also were :

Pink Cameo — A seedling of Overture and a conventional pink blend. It is a reverse pink bicolor, the standards being slightly deeper than the falls. It has excellent branching and good sub¬ stance. Though a very early bloomer, the unopened blossoms with¬ stood a hard freeze in the writer’s garden this past season. Of a more peachy tone than Pink Cameo, it also carries the tangerine beard.

New Snow — This is the most promising white of flaring ruffled form. The stalks are tall and well branched.

No. 44-13 — Although not large, this yellow deserves notice for the extreme brilliance of the flowers. The flowers flare nicely and the color is pleasing.

A few guest iris which performed well in my own garden were:

Mayor Neale — A deep purple-red iris with a distinct border of the lighter color around the very velvety falls. Rather low in growth, this iris should make a fine clump for the front of the border.

Mount BufNC — This new white from Dr. Grant was stunning. The tall stalks carried many , clean white flowers of good form.

Blue Crown — The standards are blue and if the weather is warm, the falls bleach to an oyster white. This year, as with many varieties, the color was deeper than usual. This is a robust grower, with strong, well branched stalks.

[22]

Lapham No. H-5 — On a one-year plant this iris had large tannish peach-pink flowers, carried on a rather short stalk. The beard is tangerine.

Snow Crystal — I like this lightly marked white plicata from Mr. Jesse Wills. The flowers are large with broad styles of bright laven¬ der-bine. The branching is only fair.

Sukey of Salem- — The color of this iris is difficult to describe. It is somewhat similar to Tobacco Road but carries more red in its make-up. A smooth blending of copper, tan and a little pink will probably get it. It has immense, heavy flaring flowers carried on a high-branched stalk and is a fine addition to the list of late bloom¬ ing iris.

Now that travel restrictions are lifted, next year I shall probably stay at home. So before I forget it, come to see us in Nashville, where you can see many of the iris mentioned here and others, too.

BREEDING FOR SPACING AND SUBSTANCE

Elias Nelson

■ After breeding iris for several years, I undertook a close study this year of the several hundred varieties being grown in the vicin¬ ity of Yakima in order to find which ones might be the most valu¬ able for breeding purposes. In the course of this study, I reached the conclusion that not enough attention is being paid to good spac¬ ing of the flowers. I concluded also that in voting for the Dykes Medal award, judges do not give sufficient weight to this desirable quality.

I was naturally interested in Spun Gold because it received the Dykes Medal in 1944. This led me to compare it with other yellow varieties, especially with Ming Yellow, which is outstanding in spacing of its' “individual flowers. In my opinion, it is superior to Spun Gold and was quite as eligible for the award as it had received an Award of Merit in 1941. I was forced to the conclusion that Spun Gold was not equal to Ming Yellow in desirable qualities and that some judges had done a poor job of judging.

Let us compare the two. There are three slight differences which are not especially important. The color is slightly deeper in Spun Gold but close observation is necessary to detect the difference. The standards in Ming Yellow afe slightly the larger. The markings

[23]

on the haft are a little coarser in Ming Yellow than in Spun Gold. But the difference that “cries out aloud” is the spacing. In Ming Yellow, the spacing is as excellent as could be desired, while in Spun Gold the lower flowers are on elongated stems so' that on most stalks they are bunched at the top. Another difference may be noted. Spun Gold flecks in some seasons — a fault which has not been observed in Ming Yellow. Considering all this, I could not help but wonder how Spun Gold received the Dykes Medal award.

Perhaps my botanical training has made me critical but certainly good spacing is a highly desirable quality. A stalk in which the flowers are spaced so they stand out distinctly is far more attractive than one which has crowded blooms. Any variety which has bunched flowers and still can merit the Dykes award must have “something on the ball” as to color — something so striking that it commands instant notice. This is not true of Spun Gold, but it is in the instance of Prairie Sunset and Wabash. The flowers are too closely set in Prairie Sunset, and in Wabash they are distinctly bunched at the top ; yet I think the awards were deserved.

There are two different modes in which the spacing may be bad. In one, the branches are quite well apart but the stems are elongated so that the flowers come together at the top. In the other, the in¬ florescence is so short that the flowers are bunched. This is common in the diploids and occurs in varying degrees in a great many tetra- ploids.

Many of the top-liners fall short of having good spacing, and of the best 200 varieties less than 5% show the ideal candelabra branching. Here is a big field for improvement and breeders would do well to strive for good spacing as well as for color breaks. In some varieties, one may observe that the buds are incurved, which puts the flower right up against the main stalk. Even Prairie Sunset with its many fine qualities has this fault and transmits it freely to its progeny. It may be seen in Sunset Serenade. In my study of varieties, I noted good branching and spacing in Salar, Mulberry Rose, Fair Elaine, Casa Morena, Florentine and Ming Yellow. These are not the only iris which have good spacing but they are examples of those which have ideal form.

Good substance is another quality that should receive more atten¬ tion. The pink varieties are deficient in substance and need much improvement in this respect. Some progress has been made as may be noted in Remembrance. Substance should not be confused with

[24]

the lasting quality of color — color in iris flowers usually fades during the first 24 hours that the flower is open. Substance refers to texture, and the longer the flower remains in good condition, the more desirable it is. Varieties noted as having good substance are Storm King, Lighthouse, Garden Glory, Red Valor, Rose Top, Mexico, Ranger, Tobacco Road, Illusion, Vatican Purple, Blue Shimmer and Remembrance.

REPORTS ON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Archie MacLean

■ The Southern California iris season began again this year with shortened gasoline rations, so as in previous years visiting iris gar¬ dens was at a minimum. However, by pooling rides, many of the judges were able to see some of the best gardens.

We always like to start the season with a visit to the lovely gar¬ den of the Clarence Whites. There we have an opportunity not only to meet a genial host and hostess but to see Mr. White ’s famous oneocyelus and oneobreds along with the early bloomers in the tall bearded iris.

Other gardens in the San Bernardino-Redlands area came in for their inspection. At Carl Taylor’s, Anne Sheridan and Princess of Brentwood were showing off to very good advantage. Mr. Bren- an’s and Mrs. Barry Dibble’s gardens were just beginning with a few of the early bloomers.

In the Pasadena area, Mr. Heller’s and Mr. Fred Taylor’s gar¬ dens were in good display the last of April. Mr. Heller had several interesting yellow seedlings.

In the valley area, Mrs. Heimer’s and Mrs. Stuetzel’s gardens are always an inspiration. Here we can find the latest things grow¬ ing at their best. Miss Miese, a newcomer to the disease of “iris- itis,” had a very lovely display growing beautifully.

This was an opportunity to see the best in iris-growing under the most favorable conditions. If iris were hot doing well in this gar¬ den, they were not for Southern California gardens. Some of those that passed the test were Arctic, Blue Shimmer, Claret Velvet. Copper Cascade, Indian Hills, Great Lakes, Louvois, Lori May, Lucerne, Mountain Sky, Mulberry Rose, Ming Yellow, Red Valor, Violet Symphony, Shishaldin and The Admiral. Some

[25]

that were not up to their best were Fortune, with low flower stalk; Caroline Burr, with flecking in the falls ; Elsa Sass, lacking sub¬ stance, and Rio Ora, with very floppy falls.

Mr. Nies’ garden with his outstanding display of spurias was an¬ other stop for the judges. Dutch Defiance still is the most out¬ standing spuria, although Saugatuck, Bronzspur, Golden Agate and now Lark Song will make a lovely color range in spurias for any garden. We had a peep into the future with a lovely golden brown, to be called Java Princess, I believe.

In addition to garden visiting and iris shows, the newly appointed judges and some of the old ones gathered at Mr. Milliken’s gardens for a “pre-induction” training before the season started. Mr. Nies, the newly appointed regional vice president, and Mr. Milliken went over the good and bad points of an iris. The discussion proved most helpful to all.

Our season closed on June 9 with the annual meeting of the Southern California Iris Society, at which more than 70 members gathered. Sixteen A. I. S. judges of this region were present. Quite a display of iris was shown and used in the discussion, led by Mr. J. N. Giridlian, on “What Is a Good Iris?”

Due to the illness of Eric E. Nies , regional vice president, Miss Archie MacLean, president of the Southern California Iris Society , prepared this article. Members’ variety comments which Miss Mac- Lean included in her original report will he published in the No¬ vember issue of the Bulletin. — ED.

Lena Lothrop

■ Any report on our iris should include mention of dwarfs al¬ though it is common talk that they object to this climate. I have not grown dwarfs elsewhere so I just plant them and let them bloom.

This year I was interested to find that dwarfs fall into three classes — early, midseason and late — as do their taller relatives. The late dwarfs bloom with the first of the tall bearded. Intermediates, that is intermediate in season, are practically unknown because the tall and large children of I. mesopot arnica bloom with the last of the dwarfs. The gap which intermediates fill in the East does not exist here.

Two brand-new dwarfs gave me an unexpected pleasure. Mr.

[26]

White led me down through his garden to where Zia was bloom¬ ing lavishly. We dug several clumps, which I brought home, and they continued blooming undisturbed. The standards and falls of Zia, which is an oncobred, are in two shades of grayed red-lilac veined deeper. There is a blending of brown-gold on the upper part of the falls. The stalks are unbranched but the branching is not missed because of the two flowers on top of the plentiful stalks.

The other new dwarf bloomed in my garden — something Marion Walker had sent to me that I had forgotten. There it stood, a darling ! The branched knitting-needle stalks displayed exquisite flowers made up of flat petals in lovely shades of purple. This has been registered as Lagunita. It is out of Puck X Dogrose. I hear that Marion is much interested in dwarfs and is buying stock especially for use in their breeding. This is good news.

Mr. Hill, in one of his recent articles, intimates there is a lack of white dwarfs ; yet he makes no mention of Pee wee, which I think has everything. Among the dwarfs, Puck and Sonny are stand-bys and Treasure Trove (Grace Sturtevant) is very choice when it blooms ; not very dependable in my garden but worth wait¬ ing for. Spot and Jack are tried and true for California and both originated here. Spot came from Mrs. Reibold. It is a pronounced blue bicolor with unoffending flecks of still deeper hue on the falls. It is nicely branched and blooms freely. Jack is purple-brown trimmed with gold. It originated in the garden of the late Com¬ mander Monroe.

This season I made several early and hasty trips across the valley to Mr. White’s garden or down the street to the garden of Mr. Carl Taylor. In this way, I was able to see a good many varieties of iris.

Fair Enough, Due West and Betsy Ross opened the bearded iris season in my garden on March 16. Fair Enough and Due West are out of that cross (PPrissima X Susiana) that bloomed for the first time more than ten years ago. It will still be hard to find a bluer toned iris than Fair Enough or one more lovely or more floriferous in one year. Due West is a tall and large white, a sturdy iris that never disappoints. These are both, I suppose, iris for this climate. Betsy is, newer and pleases me very much. It is a blue blend. It is a very large flower with good substance. Men who admire size in flowers would like this one. The plant has the habit of blooming freely.

[ 27 1

Plieatas have almost taken Mr. White’s garden. One sees them in all sizes and shapes and colors and patterns. Some have huge round petals slightly ruffled at the edges, finely sanded and edged or veined in color, for all the world like the big oncocyclus. By this time, I imagine most of the seedlings in Mr. White’s garden do possess at least a trace of oncocyclus blood, but not enough to make a signal patch on these plieatas that so much resemble the onco- cyclus. American persistance, however, wall not be stopped by so . small a thing as a signal patch. Some day plieatas will wear signal patches.

One of the Whitehill plieatas, Templar, an exquisite thing, is not large nor tall. The rigid standards open and stand erect. The center rib of the styles is yellow; on each side is a band of clear, rosy purple. Yellow is freely used in the center of the flower, but the petals are largely covered with this bright, yet soft shade of purple. It is a different iris and any description would be in¬ adequate.

Another new and interesting seedling in Mr. White’s garden is Butterfly Wings. The standards are a clear, almost translucent light blue. The falls are yellow and over them is traced in heavy, dark lines a pattern that reminds one of butterfly wings. The falls may be too narrow or they may be just right for this iris. I am waiting impatiently to see it again.

Elena Choosing seems to be one of Mr. White’s most distinct productions. It is a good performer and is different in color.

California Trek is not new, but I was impressed by the fact that even on a small plant, on a short stalk, it is an aristocrat. It has poise, dignity and a fine carriage.

The pogocyclns were unusually lush and vigorous this year, which probably did something to the color. Present, which usually has white porcelain falls edged with bright purple and is decorated by a V-shaped signal patch of the same color, presented a garish appearance with color slopping untidily all over the falls.

Joppa Parrot is a tall, bold, oncobred that represents a true achievement. It has fertile pollen and it sets seed. Several of its seedlings have bloomed. It shows unmistakably its oncocyclus heritage. The. striking splashes of color with which it is adorned remind one of the parrot tulips. While not exactly pretty to me, it is a “gasper.”

DeForest’s Tiffanja- was perfectly able to stand comparison

[28]

with all the other plieatas in Mr. White’s garden. It is tall and nicely branched with beautiful flowers of fine form.

Lady Mohr, grown in quantity, was an outstanding sight. It was very tall with three branches. The standards were light laven¬ der-blue and the falls, a very pale yellow, covered with inconspicu¬ ous veins. The falls were inclined to reflex, a harking back to the oncocyclus, I suppose. The beard was long and of a brown-lavender color.

Two years ago Mr. Carl Taylor shooed his hens out of their yard, spaded it, ridged it, and planted in it the guest iris from Mr. Kenneth Smith together with some seedlings of his own. The result was magical tall stalks, lush foliage, rich colors. All iris seemed to respond, with one exception — I think Loise Blake was incensed at finding herself in a chicken yard for she hardly showed her head above ground. This year, becoming used to the idea (how goes the old saying, “First abhor, then condone, then embrace”?) Louise Blake reached the height of two feet, while the other iris shrank in stature.

Lake George, although shorter and smaller this season, is still very beautiful. In my estimation of the Smith iris, Lord Dongan comes next. Louise Blake has a truly beautiful flower. Ilse Louise reminded me of Blue Shimmer — both have too long falls with a suggestion of a pinch. Violet Symphony has size and substance but lacks distinctive color. White Sentinel does not attract a second glance ; Pink Ruffles is just that — a pretty, ruffly flower. I noticed that the foliage of most of the Smith iris was taller than the flower stalks. Whether this fault was caused by a too-strong diet of nitrogen or whether it is the habit of the varieties, I do not know.

Mr. Taylor bloomed some veiy fine seedlings of his own this year. White Ruffles, out of Snow Flurry, is a large, crisp, ruffled flower of great beauty ; Golden Ruffles, on a 44-inch stalk with four branches, is a very fine, large yellow. Opening Bid is an early yellow that I did not see. The slide showed an iris of un¬ usually beautiful form.

Many of the Oregon iris went on a strike. Lori May, Three Sisters, Tobacco Road, Daybreak, Sonrisa, Icy Blue, Southern Pacific, Copper Cascade, Grand Canyon, and Full Measure refused to bloom. Among the Oregonians which did bloom were

[29 1

Goldbeater, Mexico, Marimba, Shishaldin, Salar, Molly May, Adelanto, Unique, Her Grace and Glowport. As this is their first blooming* in Southern California I cannot say much about them. Goldbeater I have seen in its home garden. In my garden it increased and put up two stalks, short ones, to be sure, but well branched, and the flowers were very bright yellow with a sleek sur¬ face. I was much pleased with it. Mexico was equally short, but the color was all there, and I liked the flat falls with margin of lighter color. Glowport is a dark brown-red from Mr. DeForest. If it were not so late that garden visitors seldom see it, this iris would be in great demand. It is not tall nor large but is a fine iris for the front of the border. I do not know any other iris of the same color. Her Grace, also from Mr. DeForest, is an exquisite iris. My first impression was that it was pinkish ; then I decided there was baby blue In it. It is a lovely blend.

Another beautiful blend is Sunset Haze (Milliken). If you have seen the bank of pinkish haze that lies on the horizon over the ocean at sunset, you will know the color. It is a self. The stalk, branching, substance and form are all good. It is one of the loveliest iris seen this year.

Although Painted Desert is not the bright color of its portrait, I believe it is a good iris. I had but a nubbin, but it increased and gave me a nice stalk of bloom and produced one pod of seed. Its form and substance are all anyone could desire. It may be a useful parent.

One of the best iris in my garden is Chrysolite. I can never see it enough although I can always see in my mind its broad petals of cream, the great flat falls accented with a rich, orange beard. I have yet to see a cream colored iris to equal it.

I was pleasantly surprised by Lucerne. It has so many branches on such tall stalks that it makes a wonderful clump. Old Rose was another pleasant surprise. For a while it was the tallest and largest iris in the garden ; then Pale Moonlight shot above it.

In his comments on his symposium, Mr. Smith remarks that Great Lakes seems to do well everywhere. That is not true of it here. I have seen it in Oregon so I know what it should do and how lovely it can be. There were three lean years in my garden when it did not bloom at all ; then this year, with 25 husky rhizomes, I had one very short stalk of bloom and one poorly branched stalk 40 inches tall.

[30]

Red Valor was new to me and I consider it the best of any red I have seen. Red Amber, more rose-red, is also good. Morocco Rose is as near pink as I care to have an iris go. It has fine form, good substance and lovely, clear color.

The color of Spindrift is raw. It does not belong in an iris gar¬ den.

Elmohr was the most popular iris in my garden and it deserved the praise it received. In spite of the fact that my soil is poor, many of its bloorris measured nine inches. The color is one which contributes much to the garden. Elmohr multiplies rapidly and blooms profusely.

I am making a simple statement of fact when I say that so far as I know Esquire is the only good dark iris with the I. mesopotamica type of stalk. I would be happier in making the statement if the iris were not my own and I will be glad to know if there are others. The I. mesopot arnica stalk is illustrated in The Genus Iris and be¬ cause of its beauty and utility it has been generally accepted as ideal. Denis was producing blends on such stalks in 1912 ; Mrs. Dean, using I. mesopotamica with Crimson King, originated a tall pinkish-lavender in 1921 ; William Mohr crossed Caterina X I- mesopotamica and produced an albino in 1923, and Mr. White had the first really tall yellow with balanced branching in 1934. It was also in 1934 that Mr. Milliken brought out a dark iris with branches in the right places. Now, in 1945, blends on I. mesopotamica stalks are as the sands of the sea; white iris also and yellows (blues are taken for granted as I. mesopotamica itself is a blue-lavender) but dark iris have been very slow to adopt this type of stalk and I would like to know the reason. There have been many rich and beau¬ tiful dark iris but not, so far as I know, any of 40 or more inches in height and branched according to the I. mesopotamica pattern. Es¬ quire measures up to the standard for without pushing it grows 45 inches tall with three or four branches always properly spaced. Through seedlings to bloom (some this coming season), I hope to learn if Esquire will prove to be an open door for other dark iris on such stalks or to find out if it is an individual break as the Milliken iris seems to have been.

Visitors at the garden of Marion Walker, of Ventura, were much impressed by his seedlings and the promise of others to come. Sky Maid was in fine form in both Mr. Walker’s garden and in my own. It is venturing out in the world — one root has even gone across the

[31]

ocean. Mr. Walker has an outstanding medium blue seedling with red brush-marks on each side of the beards.

The need for a trial garden seems to be solving itself in satis¬ factory fashion. It has always been possible to see iris from other regions in Mr. White ’s garden and recently more of them have been found in the gardens of Mrs. Heimer and Mrs. Steutzel. Now we have seen the guest iris which came from Mr. Smith to Mr. Taylor, and Mrs. Steutzel has bloomed some of Mr. McKee’s seedlings. I have quite an array of Oregon iris and choice treasures from the garden of Dr. Graves have come to my garden for trial. At the beginning of the San Francisco Conference, Mr. Randall of Sur¬ rey, England, sent to me by a friend who was attending the Con¬ ference twenty of the better English iris. They came by special plane — probably the first iris by plane from England to California. These are a notable addition to our trial gardens.

As I could not see Mr. McKee’s iris in Mrs. Steutzel ’s garden, I wrote to ask about them. She has given me permission to use her comments. She writes :

“Mr. McKee’s seedling No. 4215, a yellow, bloomed for me the first of May; in color it is much like Spun Gold. The falls were very round and the standards were closed. In size, I would say the flower was about like Spun Gold — its texture was wonderful, the mid-rib very heavy. The whole appearance was crisp and smooth. The stalk measured 38 inches and it had nice branching with eight blossoms. The blossoms lasted at least four days and withstood a heavy wind storm ; the next day with the temperature 104 degrees, they did not wilt. I am looking forward to seeing a nice clump next year.

“Mary Vernon did not bloom. I have three healthy fans so it should do something for me next year. Jomar bloomed late in May. It is a very crisp, cool lemon with creamy yellow center on the falls — in fact, the falls seem to be creamy yellow with the edges of lemon yellow to match the standards. It is slightly ruffled with nice branching and had eight buds. The height was about 34 inches (Mrs. Corey writes it grows much taller), the form was fine and the texture heavy. I am delighted with these results on first- year plants.”

These iris of Mr. McKee’s should be right at home here in Cali¬ fornia as I notice that Sitka (Essig) is the pollen parent of Mary Vernon, and Chosen (White) is the pollen parent of Jomar.

[32]

It is exciting each year to learn of the unsuspected others who are raising iris seedlings. I found a beautiful white seedling in the garden of our retired librarian, Miss Coddington ; another beauti¬ ful white with yellow in the haft was brought to me from Redlands where it had originated in the garden of an amateur; I learned that the supervisor of the grounds at Loma Linda Sanitarium has been raising seedlings in quantity for some time ; a friend at a garden club meeting told me she was growing iris seedlings; and so the little leaven which started not so very many years ago with Miss Sturtevant and Mr. Parr has increased and spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific and is still spreading, giving untold pleasure and comfort to many.

GROWING SPURIAS

Eric E. Nies

■ Frequent inquiries on spurias are concerned with their cul¬ ture, shipping and progress made in breeding

The culture is pretty much the same as that for the bearded iris. The digging and dividing, however, should be done in the fall when the plants have finished making their new rhizomes and are going dormant.

In shipping, care should be taken against too much drying out. In the cold climates, precaution should be taken against winter heaving the first year, because of the lateness of the transplanting. They may be planted deeper than is the usual practice with the bearded kinds.

Follow these simple directions and an abundance of bloom is assured, if not the first year, then certainly in subsequent years.

It is usually necessary to wait a year longer with the spurias than with the bearded in order to get the first flowers from seed¬ lings. When they come into bloom, the routing out of the un¬ worthy ones must be very severe. There are a very few good ones in a patch of many seedling.

In order to make progress, it is necessary to set up certain ideals as objectives. My hopes are for a dark blue of a size in good pro¬ portion to the size of the plant. It has not yet arrived, but if my interpretation of certain of the laws of genetics is correct, a good dark blue is on its way.

The browns are getting better every year. One, Golden Agate, is a rich deep yellow, heavily bordered on the falls with a very dark brown. But due to limited stock, it will not be available for distribution for two or three years.

Lark Song, which has flaring and very frilled falls, has nearly white standards and deep yellow falls, a color pattern much like that of the tall bearded Fair Elaine. I do not expect to improve on it.

Two Opals has very pale creamy standards and creamy falls lightly washed with lavender. It is rather opalescent in appear¬ ance, hence its name. The segments are very frilled. This is one iris that is admired very much or is not admired, also very much.

As to pinks and reds, the idea is not hopeless, but they are not yet in sight. But as with the browns, no one can tell what un¬ expected things may happen. The browns were totally unexpected and resulted from an effort toward blues.

BOOKLET ON BURBANK

■ AY. L. Howard, Professor of Pomology of the College of Agriculture, University of California, announced recently that he would be glad to send a copy of a history study entitled Luther Burbank’s Plant Contributions to all members of the Society. However, because the number of copies published was smaller than expected, Prof. Howard says that the publication will be sent only upon request and as long as the supply lasts. Applications asking for Bulletin 691 should be made to Publications Secretary, Agri¬ cultural Experiment Station, Berkeley 4, Calif.

THE MAN BEHIND ELMOHR

■ Much of the credit for the rapid rise to fame of Dr. P. A. Loomis’ sensational hybrid iris Elmohr, this year’s Dykes Medal

winner, belongs to its introducer, J. D. Long, of Boulder, Colo., the man behind the scenes. The robust¬ ness of temperament that has helped to make the iris so popular has a counterpart in the personality of the man. Elmohr made its official bow to the iris world in 1942; “ J. D.” made his debut 72 years ago, and if the re¬ semblance between the iris and the man may be further projected, El¬ mohr may be relied upon for increas¬ ing performance and appreciation with the passing of years.

After its introduction, Elmohr quickly achieved recognition, winning an H. M. award the year of its introduction; an A. M. in 1944, and its crowning achievement, the Dykes, in 1945. In brief,

“J.D.” in his iris field at Boulder , Colo. [35]

it received the highest honor in the shortest space of time from the date of introduction under the A. I. S. Policy of Awards.

“ J. D. ” has long been respected by gladiolus fanciers for his good judgment in selecting varieties and fine bulbs — and for his “long count” (“J. D.’s” coined expression for ‘those extras that don’t go on the bill”). But almost as famous as the bulbs and the man himself have been his paper broadcasts headed, “J. D. sez, sez ’e, ’ ’ containing pertinent remarks about varieties and grow¬ ing information couched in his own inimitable earthy style.

More recently, “J. D.” has taken to growing bearded iris, to which he has brought the same enthusiasm he formerly devoted to gladiolus. With “J. D.” now in our ranks, we have gained an articulate and stalwart champion of the iris and a jovial, generous friend.

Elmohr’s introducer insists that no magical formula is responsi¬ ble for its success; rather, he attributes its acclaim to three essen¬ tials : a variety of extraordinary merit ; a generous expenditure for its promotion through advertising in type and pictures, and liberal distribution of rhizomes all over the country so that it could be seen in bloom by as many iris lovers as possible. From then on out, it was on its own — a perfect example of the beneficial effect of salutary neglect.

“J. D.” further says that Elmohr is a fast propagator and that his current aim is mass production of it in order to bring its price within the reach of every iris fan as soon as possible.

[36]

PEREGRINATIONS OF A FANCIER Junius P. Fishburn

■ Any flower which puts on a real show in spite of all kinds of adverse weather conditions before and during the blooming season — as most iris in most American gardens did this year — certainly merits the renewed admiration and loyalty of its most enthusiastic boosters. My 1945 weather notes end right here and now — because of our Editor’s frequently expressed aversion to space wasted on the weather.

In spite of lots of crazy weather, however, this was a grand iris season, particularly for me, because in 1944 doctors and hospitals had prevented me from seeing any garden except my own. In 1945, by combining judiciously some essential business travel with a little “catching up” on my iris visiting, I was able’ to see the following gardens: Kenneth. Smith’s on Staten Island; Fred Cassebeer ’s at Blauvelt, N. Y. ; the Nesmiths’ at Lowell, Mass.; Stedman Butt- rick’s at Concord, Mass. ; W. J. McKee’s at Worcester; Dr. Frank¬ lin Cook’s at Evanston, Ill. ; and David Hall’s and Orville Fay’s at Wilmette. Of course, the best chance to see things leisurely and under varying conditions was in my own garden where peculiarities of the weather, to put it mildly, gave me a tall bearded iris season of more than six weeks instead of the usual three. Not everything bloomed, and those which bloomed did not all bloom typically or well, but the prolonged season did add vastly to the enjoyment of the season. Notes from my own garden will be combined with the discussion of color groups later. In the .meantime, the story of some hurried traveling:

I was able to see Kenneth Smith ’g garden under ideal conditions near the peak of the season on May 21 and then to return nine days . later for another glimpse near the season’s end. Incidentally, but for this return visit, I wouldn’t have seen Extravaganza, which alone was worth the second trip. G-eddes Douglas really has some¬ thing in this iris, if he can. find a way for any one to see - it, blooming as late as it does. Kenneth had a larger and more effective display of iris than ever and his fine bloom showed fewer signs of winter and spring weather injury than any other garden I visited. Par¬ ticularly striking in large and effective mass plants were Elegans,

[37]

Katy, Violet Symphony and Sally Ann. Yellow Jewel was good, although somewhat outclassed by some of the newer yellows. Louise Blake was rich and effective on its intermediate stalks. Lord Dongan proved to be a shy bloomer here and elsewhere this year. Caroline Burr, one of his best introductions, was very, very bad here and elsewhere in this year of queer weather. Lake George, his newest, showed signs of winter injury on my first trip, but looked far better toward the end of the season ; it is an effective and appealing iris and, for Kenneth, has proved to be the source of very fine seedlings. I didn’t care for Rajah, although it is the earliest variegata to bloom and has a remarkably long blooming season.

There were many fine varieties other than his own blooming well in Kenneth’s garden. Among them were three grand ones from Dr. Graves — Lady Boscawen, Helen McGregor and Mrs. Jack • many of Kleinsorge ’s, particularly his new and fine Cascade Splendor, and then Icy Blue, Golden Fleece, Snow Carnival, Black Ban¬ ner, Copper Pink, Mulberry Rose, Red Valor, Sonrisa, Sierra Snow, Gay Troubadour, Painted Desert, Mary Clotilde and many others.

But the chief source of interest in Kenneth’s garden lies in his seedlings. If he seemed to suffer a lag in the success of his hybridiz¬ ing after a brilliant start six or eight years ago, he seems back up front with a bang this year, with a great many fine seedlings in a wide variety of color classes. The most outstanding seedling of this year, in my opinion, was a large and beautifully shaped light blue, No. 521 (since named Blue Valley), one of many fine blues com¬ ing from a very successful cross of Lake George and Great Lakes. Compared with Great Lakes, Mountain Sky and a number of other good light blues in the garden, this was definitely more blue than any of them. A sister seedling, No. 5-23, seemed still bluer to my eye but was less interesting and striking in form. A darker sister seedling, No. 5-22, not quite so distinctly blue, was admired by many garden visitors and was named Neighbor, which, unless I’m wrong, is the affectionate nickname for Mrs. Blake used by many of her friends in Spartanburg. Other crosses produced many more excellent blues too numerous to mention, except for two, No. 5-38 (a Smith blue seedling X Great Lakes), which is a big ruffled flower, and No. 5-14 (Lake George X a Smith blue seedling), the most flaring, ruffled deep blue flower I have ever seen.

[38]

In the white class, there were several good ones among the 1944 and 1945 seedlings, only one of which particularly impressed me. It was Freedom (Katy X Caroline Burr), ruffled, flaring, and quite distinctive. Thunderhead, a sister seedling, was an all- around good white. Innocence and The Bride (The White Senti¬ nel X Cathedral Dome) were nice smaller whites.

A large number of seedlings from Matula X Orange Glow were colorful and of unusually high quality, all being more or less in the red blend class. The one I liked best, No. 4-58, he has named Roa¬ noke. Kenneth had registered the name of my home town, appar¬ ently on the supposition that I would never have a seedling worth a name ; probably he is right. Roanoke, however, is a grand iris — a more colorful, smoother and ruffled Bronzino type. Fall Days, another from the same cross, is just about as good. Some visitors liked Fort Ticonderoga best of those from this cross. I didn’t see realty good bloom on this iris but it seemed to be a redder, smoother Casa Morena of more intense coloring. Another from this cross was named Adirondack Chief last year; it has fine stalks, good color and is more of a self than the others, but the flowers seemed to be a little small. A much lighter seedling than any of these four named ones was No. 4-20, which I liked very much and thought would make a very fine garden clump. Staten Island, No. 5-29 (The Red Admiral X City of Lincoln), is a very fine one in the variegata class, a class which I don’t like. No. 5-6 is a nice red bi¬ color from Valentine and Orange Glow. His Excellency, No. 3-11 (Rajah X Marinella), considered by some a better Louvois, is a handsome iris but seemed a little dull to me. No. 4-2 (Golden Spike X Sally Ann) was a nice flaring iris in light tan and pink tones.

In the yellow class, to which Kenneth Smith has already made many contributions with Yellow Jewel, Yellow Glory, Katy, Elegans, Sally Ann and others, there was a baffling array of fine seedlings. To me the best of these Avas No. 5-20, named tentatively Chinese Gold, from a Smith yellow seedling, No. 1-53, and Spun Gold. This was a bright, smooth, flaring, medium yellow. A sister seedling, No. 5-39, looked just about as good. Another huge, smooth, medium yellow with very wide, rounded falls has been named Ad¬ miration and is quite handsome and impressive.

In the color class roughly of Elsa Sass and Golden Fleece, there Avere many interesting and fine things. No. 4-54, iioav named

[39]

Marion Vaughn, favorably noticed last year by Geddes Douglas and others, looked fine. It is a paler Golden Fleece and a different color tone from Elsa Sass. A sister seedling, No. 3-26, was less in¬ teresting. Cinderella, a much more heavily colored Golden Fleece, from plicata breeding, looked very fine as far as individual flowers were concerned but the clump effect was none too good. Two others, in roughly the same color range, Nos. 4-11 and 5-27, produced much better clump effect. No. 5-26 (Sally Ann X Elegans) was a taller Elegans and I liked it a lot. No. 4-68 (Katy X Golden Spike) is a big, handsome, ruffled yellow, on which the standards may open somewhat too much. No. 5-10 (Katy X Cool Harbor) is a lovely cream but this year of questionable substance. All in all, there were an avalanche of interesting and promising yellows of real garden value.

I Ve reserved until last a class I don ’t particularly like — plicatas. Kenneth had a garden full of them, too many and too many deeply colored ones. In the main they went back one or two generations to interesting crosses between the Sass yellow plicatas and some of the last Cayeux plicatas to reach us before the war. Anyone inter¬ ested in plicatas should go to Staten Island ! Edith Rorke (Valen¬ tine X Florentine) is a conventionally marked blue and white plicata which made one of the most effective clumps in the Smith garden. No. 4-105 has very flaring falls and is so heavily marked that it is almost a dark self ; this interested me more than most of them. In the more lightly marked color range, I liked two flaring- blue and white ones, Nos. 5-17 and 5-28. Lovely Melody (No. 4-10) in the pink plicata class is dull as a garden clump, except from a close-up view, but a cut stalk in the house was very lovely under artificial light. As a garden clump, I liked No. 4-45 (Ilse Louise X Orloff), another better pinkish one. From a wide range of reddish plicatas, heavily colored, roughly of the Firecracker type, No. 4-74, heavily colored red but with a white rather than a yellow base, seemed most distinctive. Nos. 4-17, 4-46 and 5-24 were in this same color range. No. 4-61, named Wonderful, was the hugest of all and quite handsome, although of more conventional white and purple marking with brown traces at the haft. Dongan Hills, a sister seedling to this, is so deeply colored that it is simply a very dark self, a little dull to my eye, but notable for its late bloom.

All in all, a startling lot of new things for one hybridizer ; they should be seen again before final judgment is passed but in all

[40]

probability some six to ten of those mentioned should merit intro¬ duction and should add distinction to several color classes.

Our Editor’s garden at Blauvelt is always notable for its beauti¬ fully grown plants. Here this year, in addition to fine tall bearded iris, I saw the most effective planting I’ve ever seen of Siberian iris, a class which too many of us neglect.

Mr. Cassebeer has a few' distinctive and fine tall bearded seedlings. I thought the best was No. 101 — Royal Diadem — which I had watched over a long period in my own garden this year. This must be classed, I suppose, as a variegata blend; it reminds one somewdiat of Extravaganza, although the stand¬ ards do not so nearly approach vdiite. The distinction of this iris is in the unique, glowing color of the falls in a bright, low' sun; on a dull day, unfortunately, it is simply another iris. But this was much admired in my garden and in his and merits intro¬ duction. He likewise had a group of fine blues from Cybele and Great Lakes — nearly all very flaring and distinct in color. One of these, Pirouette, looked very fine on a short stalk. I liked best a bicolor, No. 70, which he has named Blauvelt. A taller one, less flaring, No. 59, has been named Tappan and is an effective garden iris. Nos. 75, 60 and 50 from this cross were also good.

He had a number of fine Nicholls seedlings blooming beautifully — Black Banner, a very deep purple leaning toward the reddish side, and Blue Glow, a really glowing dark blue one, being the best of these. They were very, very fine. Kleinsorge ’s Alpine Glow is a grand pink blend, as it bloomed here. Others particularly fine in this garden were Spindrift, Great Lakes, Mount Washington, Remembrance, Jewelite (his own introduction, which makes a fine pink mass in the garden), Melitza, Icy Blue, White City and the older French one, Favori.

I really should be ashamed to attempt to discuss Mrs. Nesmith’s wide range of fine iris, after having spent only some two hours in her garden. However, I did see many fine things and these are my hurried impressions : although I did not see all of her 1945 intro¬ ductions for various hybridizers, those I saw were of very high quality and I liked them very much. I saw only a fine cut stalk of Mr. Knowlton ’s lovely large new plicata, Suzette, but I like it per¬ haps better than any plicata I’ve ever seen. Jesse Wills’ Carillon made a: nice, pleasing garden clump. Mrs. Lowry’s white Mount Hermon, while not spectacular in either form or size, looks like a

[41]

most satisfactory iris. .iSousun, from Prof. Essig, made one of the finest garden clumps I saw on my trip — more about his yellow and cream seedlings later. Lake Breeze, while perhaps not so good here one one-year plants as I had seen it in my own garden and at Mr. Fay’s previously, again looked fine. I particularly liked Desert Moon from the Washington garden. It is not large, but it is neat, flaring and late-blooming, in the color range of Fairy .-.Lustre, one .of my early -garden favorites. Three unintrodueed. seedlings from our president, Jesse Wills, showed up well here. They were Russet Wings (No. 57-43), reported to me to be fine at Spartanburg and very excellent a few days later in Dave Hall ’s garden ; Snow Crys¬ tal, a flaring and white plicata with very lovely single flowers, apparently a somewhat shy bloomer ; and Sundial, somewhat like Fortune, more flaring, a little smaller and very effective in a clump. A fourth fine Wills seedling, Tournament, a medium red bicolor, had been thoroughly fine in the Cassebeer garden the day before. Chivalry everywhere looked to be a world-beater, the best first introduction I’ve ever seen from any hybridizer. Likewise, three from Dr. Graves, which had been fine in Kenneth Smith’s garden, were' even better here : Helen McGregor, one of the loveli¬ est of all blues ; Mrs. Jack, a most interesting yellow blend ; and one of the best whites seen anywhere, Lady Boscawen. Three fine new things from Henry Grant also put on a show : Golden Epau¬ let, a yellow with shaded falls somewhat on the order of Fair Elaine ; a very nice white, Mont Blanc ; and a fine numbered blue, No. 44-4. There’s no opportunity here for discussion of the many previously introduced varieties. However, a word about Lady Mohr, which I saw in three gardens : it was best -by far here, a very unique and; striking addition to the growing ■ group of William Mohr seedlings.

With .the Nesmiths, Jesse Wills and Geddes Douglas, I had the privilege oof' visiting the garden of Mr. S ted man But-trick at Con¬ cord. Mr. Butt rick grows iris better and displays them more effec¬ tively than anyone else I know. His lovely, home and garden, in its unique and’ attractive setting, deserve a whole article. There ’s space here to mention only a few things which were outstanding : Mary Vernon, Vision Fugitive, Snow Flurry, Bronzed Copper, Blue Zenith, Black and Gold, Sharkskin, L. Merton Gage, Copper Pink,-' Rio Gro, Orange Glow, Song of Gold, .Alba Superba, Mul¬ berry RosA/Snow Carnival and The Capitol. Mr. Butt rick had a

[42]

fine white seedling of his own, No. S-26, which, with the exception of Priscilla, in the whitest white I ’ve ever seen. Its branching was none too promising this year, although all the other seedlings from this cross had fine branching. If this one develops branching, Mr. Buttrick will have what many people have been looking for in a white.

Hurriedly, again, I stopped by Mr. McKee’s in Worcester, to find a great many iris enthusiasts grouped around a very colorful lot of Miobelle seedlings. The best of them seemed to me to be No. 4507 — a blend on the reddish side, very striking in color and beautifully branched. A fine soft, medium yellow with broad falls has been named Moontide and is a distinct addition to the yellow class — perhaps somewhat blended like Treasure Island rather than a clear yellow like his fine Francelia. Mary Vernon looked grand in its home garden, and Mr. McKee ’s new one, Redwyne, looks like a nice addition to the red self class. I hurried away for a Chicago train, fully resolved to spend more time in New England next year, if possible.

Wilmette, of course, means David F. Hall, and David F. Hall these days spells “pinks” and more “pinks.” I had been in Mr. Hall’s garden in 1942 when the whole range of “flamingo pinks” opened for the first time. Last year I had missed the next genera¬ tion of this pink breeding ; hence the real thrill in the Hall garden this year was seeing the 1944 pinks. I don’t mean to imply that Mr. Hall has nothing but pinks, but rather that his present breeding work is predominantly in this color class and that he is pretty nearly at the head of the pink procession. I have many favorites among his introductions in other colors; it would be hard to find more satisfactory iris in my garden or anywhere else than The Admiral, Nightfall, Remembrance, Stardom, Tapestry Rose, Firecracker and Sunshine, to name a few of his many good ones. But with the frantic race for pink iris, it is natural that just now attention in his garden does center on his “flamingo” range. Many of the ’44 seedlings are far better than the ’42 top ones — Overture and Dream Girl. I liked best this year Cherie (No. 44-01), larger and finer form than any others in this new color class. The form and size of this one will satisfy the most critical judge. The color is good, though not so intense as in several other ’44 seedlings. The one with the deepest pink tones last year, Courtier, No. 44-17, which received an H. C., had been divided and was not in bloom.

[43]

No. 44-16, named Hit Parade, looked like the tallest and possibly the largest. Floradora, No. 44-08, was one of the best in color, and No. 44-37 and others had practically self pink beards instead of the typical intense tangerine one. There were a dozen others in the ’44 crop, all interesting, including No. 44-23, which Mrs. Whiting par¬ ticularly liked, and a very pale one of very fine form which I liked — No. 44-50. This pink breeding line has given Mr. Hall some very fine things in off-pink colors : Chantilly, introduced this year, an orchid pink with very unique ruffling or crimping both on stands and falls ; Premier Peach, one of the smoothest, best formed and handsomest of all his seedlings; and Fantasy, a deep lavender with a startling tangerine beard. The latter two may be ready for intro¬ duction in 1946. There were newer seedlings in deeper tones than Fantasy, two in particular, Nos. 44-60 and 44-32, and two more flaring lavenders with “that beard” in the ’45 lot — Nos. 45-02 and 45-03. I thought the lighter of these two, No. 45-03, was probably the most promising of the ’45 seedlings I saw, although Mr. Hall preferred the deeper one.

Along with pinks Mr. Hall has been crossing for red tones to his liking. He had some good red ones in the ’44 crop, but several of the ’45 ones, which came from Premier Peach crossed with several reds, looked like he really has something in red.

Other named or numbered things which may be headed for intro¬ duction include : Tip Top, a neat blue and white plicata which in other years has had so little coloring in the falls as to be considered a reverse amoena. In this cold year of dull weather, all coloring was far deeper than usual.

Golden Russet, No. 4201, a perfectly huge iris in tannish and apricot tones, somewhat the color of Nightingale, holds its shape and color in all kinds of weather and, incidentally, has huge buds which are so striking that they alone would make it worthy of intro¬ duction.

Lynn Langford, No. 43-17, is a clear, cool orchid pink with a rich yellow center. This will be well liked.

No. 39-99, an older seedling, is always fine in various gardens. It is grayish lavender of fine form and substance and distinct from any other iris I know.

No. 40-27 is a very striking reddish purple which you can see a mile away. INre always thought it a little coarse but nearly every¬ body he'ads'fof It and wants it. ” : r

[44]

Dr. Graves ’ flamboyant light blue, Cloud Castle, one of the parents of the much-talked-of Helen McGregor.

No. 40-85, now named Pastella, is a huge lavender blend.

No. 40-52 has been the clearest variegata in my garden for sev¬ eral years.

Sea Otter is a very dark, very rich and very late-blooming varie¬ gata blend.

No. 41-52, named Silvertone, a blue with fine form and broad falls, is not quite so blue as Bandmaster, a sister seedling, but it has far better shape and is a swell garden iris.

So there are plenty of fine things coming from the Hall garden while stock is being built up on Cherie and the other ’44 pinks. Next year should be a big seedling year in Wilmette. Very few seedlings bloomed this year, so this holdover crop will bloom and, in addition, there will be another generation of the pinks, the crosses from the best of the ’44 seedlings. If the 1946 pinks show as much improvement over those which bloomed in ’44 as these latter showed over the ’42 range, the pinks really will have arrived.

Orville Pay, a relatively new addict of hybridizing, now heads up

[ 45 1

toward the top of the class. In a very small garden, he showed a remarkably wide range of very fine seedlings. Perhaps I liked them all the more because they were in the clear colors I prefer and not additions to the already too numerous class of blends. With Katha¬ rine Pay, a grand clean hardy white, and Lake Breeze, a very lovely flaring, ruffled light blue already to his credit and with some fine yellows, particularly Gold Medal, very early, and No. 41-22, a late really yellow yellow, already shown in a number of gardens, he has now gone ahead in these color groups. For good measure, he has added at least two fine pinks — with the help of some of Dave Hall’s “flamingo” pollen in 1942. The best single new one is New Snow, No. 44-24, a large beautifully ruffled clear white from Snowflurry and a sister seedling of Katharine Fay. With its fine ruffling and fine growing qualities, this seems to me to be the best white I ever saw.

At least four or five yellows, from a cross of Spun Gold and Mr. Fay’s own No. 41-22 (which, incidentally, is a Golden Hind seedling) are as deep in color and as fine in shape as one could ask. No. 44-13, I liked best for color. No. 44-45 was a little larger and of practically as good color. No. 44-12, I didn’t see, but David Hall and others said it was the best of the yellow range. There were others from this cross, including one, No. 44-39, which while not the best color of all, had the best branched stalk I ever saw on an iris, with seventeen well spaced buds showing, and heaven knows how many more coming along. I predict that the best of this group — or perhaps the next generation of the same line — will prove to be one of our very best-liked deep yellows. Then there is a lovely cream, No. 44-47, a Snowflurry X Golden Eagle seedling, which has fine substance, grand shape and nice ruffling.

The best blue, No. 44-44, a Gloriole seedling X Sensation, is somewhere between a light and medium blue. It is very flaring, very ruffled, very trim and neat and is bluer perhaps than quite a few others. A very light blue, No. 44-4 — almost a blue white — like¬ wise was fine.

Mr. Fay’s pinkest pink, No. 44-1, has been named Pink Cameo. It comes from No. 42-07, one of the Hall ’42 “flamingo” pinks, from which Overture and Dream Girl were named, and a Fay seedling (Morocco Rose X Hall No. 40-24, a blend similar to Re¬ membrance). I didn’t consider Pink Cameo superior to Hall’s ’44 pinks but it is right in a class with them. Then a decided apricot

[46]

pink, No. 44-21, also from the Hall “flamingo’7 line, made a strik¬ ingly colorful garden clump.

Lastly, a very smooth, striking deep blue purple, No. 43-4, which I had already seen at Mrs. Nesmith’s and which came from Dymia X Narain, appealed to me greatly.

Here in this one small garden : one grand white, two unique lighter blues, a darker blue purple, one particularly fine cream and another almost as good, two unique pinks, and enough fine yellows to round out at least a dozen fine things. Watch this Pay man in the next year! He has already gone places, and he is still going strong.

Prom these feAV gardens visited this year it is apparent that the war has not diminished either the quantity or quality of American hybridizing.

CROCHET DESIGN OF IRIS

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Elmehr , depicted in filet crotchet by Mrs. Plough. Design mea - siwes 23 inches wide by 2lV^iinches high. This is the center piece, of an antimacassar set J or a davenport or large chair.

[47]

NOTES ON TWO GARDENS

John Dolman, Jr.

■ It would be hard to imagine two iris gardens more diverse than those of Myron E. Douglas, Woodbury, N. J., and Kenneth D. Smith, Dongan Hills, Staten Island, N. Y.

Both are spacious gardens, beautifully landscaped, with broad lawns and good background plantings of trees and shrubbery in pleasing contrast to the many colorful iris beds. The Douglas gar¬ den is on fairly level ground (as befits South Jersey), while the Smith garden slopes downward from the house, affording a magnifi¬ cent view over the roof-tops of several Staten Island towns and across The Narrows to distant Gravesend Bay. Both gardens are impressive as seen from their owners’ houses and both houses are well placed and attractive as seen from the gardens. But there the similarity stops.

A.I.S. members who visited Mr. Douglas’ garden after the Wil¬ mington meeting in 1937 will recall that at that time he had one of the largest and most up-to-date collections of bearded iris in the East. Mass plantings of all but the very newest varieties were worked into the landscaping, while specimen plants of the latest introductions were being grown four feet apart each way in an acre of test garden behind a tall hedge. There were also a few rows of his own seedlings in the test garden and on either side of the back lane were great drifts of older varieties in broad masses of solid color.

Since 1937, however, there have been great changes. For several years Mr. Douglas went in for hybridizing in a big way, making hundreds of crosses with the best iris parents in existence at the time. Then he was interrupted by personal and family illness, pressure of war and lack of adequate help. In the last few years he has added almost no new introductions to his collection. His display garden, therefore, while still lovely, is somewhat behind the times. On the other hand, he has developed his own seedlings, and has hundreds of good ones, filling the whole of the test garden and most of the space formerly given over to the older varieties. Many of his best seedlings are from crosses made four or five years ago and may be seen in large clumps or long rows showing full

[48]

growth and typical bloom. As tlieir originator has been unable to visit other gardens and has not had a visit from an Accredited Judge for more than three years, he naturally has kept some seed¬ lings which have been well matched elsewhete and which he prob¬ ably would have discarded had he been more familiar with the progress others have made. At the same time, he has some things that I am sure most of our judges would think very fine. Many of them are distinctly different from anything I have seen in other gardens. There are fifteen or twenty that I would rate at 87 or better, and three that, in my judgment, deserve the H. C., and would get it if enough judges could see them.

There is a tall yellow called Glee Maiden, which is Happy Days made hardy, reliable and floriferous for eastern gardens. There is a very dark blue-purple with clear haft named Black Majesty. There is Lalique, a lovely, ruffled medium blue with wide hafts and a misty gray-buff epaulette. There is Golden Touch, a deep metallic yellow, a bit like Gayoso but heavily ruffled. There is White Radiance, a rather low-growing ruffled blue- white with the widest falls I have ever seen. There is La Donna Yelata, a pale yellow of medium height and good branching with large, firm flow¬ ers, extremely broad-petaled. There are many yellows, many bi¬ colors out of Amigo, many dark purples and many blues which are not so different in color from their parents but which seem more vigorous and floriferous. And for those who like oddities, there is Rare Ben, which might be described as Moonlit Sea without the moon.

But the three best, all of which deserve introduction, are Flor- delice, Colonel Bogey, and Lovesome.

Flordelice is a soft, misty, old rose blend with a slight coppery undertone in the falls. It is paler than Rosy Wings or Mary Geddes but it has a delicate, mystic quality that suggests refinement rather than fading.

Colonel Bogey is a large, tall variegata, with rich yellow stand¬ ards and deep crimson falls. It has no haft markings and has the smoothest silk-velvet sheen I have ever seen in a variegata. The flower is firm, semi-flaring, not so massive as City of Lincoln, but infinitely more finished and refined. Though newer than the others, and not so well established, it appeared to be a vigorous grower, with strong, well branched stalks.

Lovesome is, in my opinion, the bluest light blue I have yet seen.

[49]

Bandmaster is close to it; so is Mrs. Whiting’s Blue Rhythm ; so is Kenneth Smith’s new Blue Valley (of which more later). Blue Rhythm, by the way, is a corking good iris ; it bloomed in my garden this year on a one-year plant, with a perfectly branched, 40- inch stalk, large semi-flaring flowers, clean hafts, smooth texture, and substance that stood heavy rain, wind and sun. It is very blue but it has a silvery overcast like that of Exclusive — a refined blue but not so clear a blue as Bandmaster. Lovesome is a half-shade lighter and, if I may hazard an opinion without having seen them side by side, a half -shade bluer than either Exclusive or Bandmas¬ ter. It is of medium height, with moderately large flowers, broad petals, fair branching and good substance and is extremely florifer- ous when established. A good many judges have seen Bandmaster, Blue Rhythm and Blue Valley but they have missed something in not seeing Lovesome.

Kenneth Smith’s garden is also rich with its owner’s seedlings. Because he does introduce some of them, the older ones at least are well known and as many judges visit his garden, even the newest seedlings are given some well deserved acclaim almost from the moment they bloom. The day I was there, for example, President Jesse Wills, Geddes Douglas, Mrs. Louise Blake, Mr. Stuntz, Dr. Casselman and several other visitors were present. Mrs. Thomas Nesmith, Junius Fishburn and others had been there a day or two before. Mr. Smith also gets around, sees other gardens and keeps his own collection up to date, so he is not working in solitary con¬ finement as Mr. Douglas is. What one sees in his garden, therefore, while most exciting, is not so unexpected.

The first thrill is, of course, that of seeing his earlier, but still scarce, introductions grown in mass plantings, and grown to perfec¬ tion. Here Yellow Jewel and Yellow Glory are practically part of the landscape, while Violet Symphony, Stella Polaris, Lord Dongan, Pink Ruffles and Elegans may be seen in great blocks of color. Violet Symphony, undoubtedly the finest iris in its color class and a strong candidate for the Dykes Medal, generally is ap¬ preciated either in the clump or on a single stalk; but those who have seen Elegans on just two or three short stalks would be astonished at its floriferousness and charm when grown to its full height in a four-by-six block of scintillating color.

Mr. Smith knows how to grow iris and succeeds in getting good bloom on varieties that some of us cannot seem to grow. Why

[50]

Easter Morn grows the way it does for him is one of the major mysteries of the iris world; it gave me two bloom stalks in four years, one stunted, the other magnificent. His Prairie Sunset, though short-stemmed, was a mass of bloom; mine had one stalk on 11 fans last year, made only two increases and failed to bloom at all on 13 fans this year, although other varieties in the same bed were blooming beautifully. There is room enough in the Smith gar¬ den to make crowding unnecessary, and that undoubtedly helps; so does the morning mist from the bay. But, apart from a “green thumb,” chief reason for Mr. Smith’s success is, I believe, his well drained soil.

Among the newer varieties from other growers which he had on display were Lady Mohr, Sharkskin, Snow Carnival, Garden Flame, Mexico, Joan Lay, Painted Desert, Copper Pink, Tif- fanja, Peach Glow, Gray Daze, Helen McGregor, Daybreak, Calderilla, Cascade Splendor, Black Banner and many others.

Lady Mohr is a real novelty, more like one of Mr. White ’s ‘ ‘ onco- breds” than like other members of the Mohr family, and, to me, more attractive. According to the descriptions, the standards are gray, but they seemed to me to have a slight flush of pale rose, con¬ trasting pleasantly with the soft olive yellow of the falls. The falls are very broad, slightly veined and decorated with a dark signal patch at the end of the beard.

Snow Carnival and Sharkskin looked better than I had seen them elsewhere. Garden Flame was small, and not at all bright, but had an interesting and unusual color — it was dark crimson with a copper undertone, and the two tones seemed independent rather than blended, though both cover the same area. Mexico was not well established, and not impressive ; it is one of those you can like if you study the individual flower at leisure but it seems a bit dull in the garden. Like Grand Canyon, it is very true to its published color plate but is less brilliant seen against the dull green foliage than against the pages of a catalogue. Perhaps it would pay us to cut some of these catalogue pictures from their pages and hold them against the iris leaves in the garden for a more accurate idea of the things we are tempted to buy. Painted Desert and Calderilla also have rich and subtle coloring on close inspection but are dis¬ appointingly dull to the careless glance.

Tiffanja, on a one-vear plant, was clean, well poised and well branched, living up to the high praise it has had. Helen McGregor

[51]

and Peach Glow were short and not established. Daybreak was darker, and better, than I have seen it before ; and Black Banner. which I liked very much at Roanoke last year, was taller. Copper Pink was stunning’ in the morning with two huge flowers open on a fine stalk, but by mid-afternoon they were wilting. Gray Daze is an oddity, almost like an oncobred. The new English introductions were not well established and only Joan Lay looked at all impres¬ sive. It is rather small-flowered, but bright, floriferous and well branched. Perhaps the best new thing in the garden, apart from the Smith seedlings, was Cascade Splendor, the latest Kleinsorge in¬ troduction. On a one-vear plant it was not very tall but the stalk was sturdy and well branched, the buds very attractive, and the flowers large, flaring and beautifully ruffled ; the color was a blend of golden tan shades, a little lighter and yellower than Prairie Sunset but with the same sort of glowing iridescence.

To catalogue all of Mr. Smith’s seedlings worthy of mention would over-crowd the Bulletin. Among the outstanding ones, Lake George, Ilse Louise and Louise Blake were excellent in small clumps. Rajah was bright and attractive, a low-growing but opu¬ lent variegata. Oh Suzanna, a sister seedling, was striking in an isolated clump — a tall yellow with heavy brown veining high on the falls. His Excellency is a taller, richer Louvois, a smooth, finished iris with nothing dull about it. Edith Rorke is a blue and white plicata with clean-cut, rather heavy edging, good form and sub¬ stance, not very novel in color but exceptionally well-behaved in growing habits. Roanoke is a coppery blend of graceful flaring form and rich coloring. Adirondack Chief is similar in color but drooping in form, inferior as an exhibition stalk but probably bet¬ ter in garden value. Admiration is a big, vigorous yellow of flaring form with extremely wide hafts. Wonderful is a big, flaring, heavily marked plicata; it justifies its name, but the color is not one which appeals to me. Dongan Hills, a sister seedling, is a huge, flaring, dark purple, which shows its plicata blood only in a curious blaze of white, veined purple, on the falls.

Among the 1945 seedlings wrere several good yellows, the best of which was a velvety one of semi-flaring form and amazingly tough substance. The color was deep golden yellow, suggesting its pollen parent Spun Gold (which, by the way, is the one iris that seems to perform as badly for Kenneth Smith as it does for many other

people). The branching and placing were good for a first stalk and this iris may be heard from.

But the sensation of the Smith garden for 1945 was his row of blues, from a cross of Lake George X Great Lakes. No less than ten of them were of distinguished quality and at least three were among the bluest I have seen. They ranged from medium to light. No. 5-24 was beautifully branched, with well placed flaring flowers, resembling both parents, darker than Great Lakes, bluer and smaller than either — although it may be as large when established. No. 5-4 was much like Lake George, perhaps a bit larger. A darker one, also very blue, is to be called Neighbor in honor of Mrs. Blake; I believe it was numbered 5-22, but am not quite sure. Most of the visitors settled on No. 5-24 as the best of the lot, but my own pref¬ erence Avas for No. 5-21, to be named Blue Valley.

Blue Valley is a lighter shade than most of the others — about the shade of Great Lakes, Castalia, Frosty Blue and Bandmas¬ ter. It is fairly large, semi-flaring and beautifully ruffled. Its ruf¬ fling appeals to me more than the stiff, horizontal type of flare. When you want to compare blues for blueness, try squinting at them through your eyelashes. By this test Blue Valley was the bluest in the row and much bluer than Great Lakes. I believe it is the bluest iris I have seen, with the exception of Lovesome, and I must repeat that I have not seen these two together. It gave me the nearest approach to blue that I haA^e been able to get in a Kodachrome slide; so-called “blue” iris usually go a dirty gray- lavender in Kodachrome. In any case, it looks to me like a most distinguished addition to the list of garden iris.

IRIS AT INGERSOLL, ONT.

F. C. Biehl

■ I have just returned from the iris garden of Mr. William Miles of Ingersoll, Ont. For years Mr. Miles has been breeding iris, at first at the iris gardens which used to be a feature of Simcoe, Ont., and of recent years at his own Surryhurst Farm near Ingersoll.

In his breeding he has kept abreast of the new material from such American hybridists as the Sasses ; yet he has not let these newer introductions interfere with his own lines, which he has kept running for several generations. While Mr. Miles has a keen eye for color in iris, he has never been satisfied with color alone. From

[53]

The Canadian Iris Monty, named in honor of Field Marshal Montgomery.

his iris he has demanded substance and performance — not the kind of substance that we have been getting lately in some of the new blends but the same sort of body that one expects in a husky young lettuce or a crisp cabbage. I have seen Mr. Miles take the heel of his hand and ruffle the standards of an iris back and forth several times. If an iris can take this manhandling, it can stand most of what wind and rain have to offer. In performance, unless a two- year clump can throw up half a dozen or more spikes, into the com¬ post heap he throws it.

I saw Mr. Miles’ garden toward the end of the season, and after three days of wet weather — ranging from drizzle to downpour. During these same three days in my own garden I had watched Prairie Sunset open three lovely blooms in one afternoon, all of which dissolved into mush by the following evening. I had seen Spun Gold’s standards flop over and give up almost as soon as the

[54]

flower opened. Here in Mr. Miles' seedling patch, all five of the flowers about which I wish to report had the texture which we ex¬ pect in a market garden, but not in; a garden of iris.

As a result of several generations of breeding for purer blues, Mr. Miles has a light blue absolute self which he has named Vanda. I compared Vanda cheek to cheek with a bloom of Great Lakes. They are of about the same shape, height and branching, but Vanda is even purer in hue, both in sunlight and shadow, has no white at the haft and is quite free from the overall venation which is noticeable in Great Lakes. I have never seen so good a light blue.

To me, the iris that dominated the garden was a blazing clump of seedling No. 38/3B. In general effect this iris is a bigger, brighter Radiant. It is a large, bold bicolor with domed standards of 'buff-pink and wide, rounded, semi-flaring falls of light orange- red, with a bright garnet-brown overlay. Because of its fiery per¬ sonality, its originator has christened No. 38/3B with the name Monty. Monty is fragrant, 40 inches tall, and this clump which had been transplanted last fall bore twelve spikes.

No. 38/8 is another flower of cabbage-like substance. It is the smoothest, nearest self I have yet seen in a yellow. Standards, beard, and falls are all of the same glistening purity. This fragrant giant will be introduced under the name Gold Shimmer. In a clump measuring about 30 inches square I counted 21 spikes 40 inches tall. And the morning's downpour seemed to have had about as much effect on this nugget as it would have had on a healthy cucumber. Next year I am going to grow Gold Shimmer in my own garden with :Spun Gold, Golden Majesty and Golden Spike.

VIoe-Regal is purple-violet, according to the Repertoire de Cmdeurs. It is a rich, glowing, velvety self of about the same color as old Professor Mitchell but with a wide brown haft free from reticulation and no veining in the falls. I know of no modern iris with which to compare this glowing gem. Usually flowers of this richness are small and low-stemmed but Vice-Regal is 36 inches tall and about the .size of a wide-throated The. Red Douglas.

A first-year seedling of great charm was the golden-brown Nancy Biehl. It had tight-domed standards, style-arms of fawn gold, and wide-flaring rounded falls of the same color fading to ivory at their centers. What helped to give this iris its unique personality: was. the pure brown heavily brushed in — not veined — at the hafts. ..... . ..

[•55]

A VISIT TO THREE OAKS

J. Marion Shull

■ Last year I had the pleasure of seeing Three Oaks, Mrs. Louise Blake’s garden in Spartanburg, S. C., at the height of its bloom on May 3. This year when I was assured that the garden’s peak period for iris would be April 25, I booked plane passage a full month in advance to be sure that I would reach there around that time. Thus it happened, weather vagaries being what they are, that my visit this year got only the latter end of her blooming period. While the garden was still lovely with much good bloom, it did not have that pristine freshness that tempts one to make many Kodaehrome pictures or to linger long over rating and note¬ taking. This will serve to explain the meagerness and somewhat detached character of the notes that follow.

Solid Mahogany presented rich color but was not well enough established to warrant rating.

I find it difficult to understand the high popularity of Tobacco Road as reported by Kenneth Smith for to me, as it appeared at Three Oaks, it had little to give but oddity of color, a purplish brown.

Duet is an unusual flower in color — purplish-tan standards bor¬ dered lighter tan; falls bright light purple with nearly one-fourth inch border of tan. There are plenty of branches and the foliage is good but the one stalk on display at Three Oaks was impossibly twisty and procumbent. I would want to see it again and in larger quantity before fastening this fault upon it as a permanent demerit.

The Capitol is a fine large white with heavy substance.

There was opportunity in Mrs. Blake’s garden to compare a num¬ ber of iris varieties that are obviously descendants, in appearance if not literally, of Clara Noyes of more ancient fame. Among these were Hall’s Nightingale, a warm blend of Prairie Sunset order but somewhat warmer and of a cheerier yellow. It is not very tall as seen this year at Three Oaks, but about the same as Prairie Sunset, with a better formed flower.

Of Prairie Sunset, now that we see it with a little greater per¬ spective, through less of the western dust cloud of high-pressure glamor, we must say that it is not quite such a masterpiece as it was

[56]

at first acclaimed. The form of the flower with its open, hesitant standards, leaves a good deal to be desired. I like Nightingale better.

Then there is Copper River whose somewhat variable, shifting color is more nearly like that of Prairie Sunset, but it has better and wider falls.

Finer, in my judgment, than either of these is Wills No. 57-43, as grown among Mrs. Blake’s “Debutantes.” It is more purely a self than either Prairie Sunset or Copper River, Falls and stand¬ ards are broad, well formed and well carried. I do not hesitate to pronounce the flower itself greatly superior to the others mentioned. The one stalk of it at Three Oaks does not give sufficient material for assaying its growing habits, floriferousness, and other qualities, but, judged by the flower alone, it is quite outstanding.

A number of Mrs. Whiting’s seedlings now in “Pink Dawning” at Three Oaks are apparently likewise ancestral beneficiaries of this same Clara Noyes type, but Clara Noyes was chiefly notable and desirable for its pleasing novelty color ; it had little to offer in the way of form, size, branching, etc., but the color appeal was great.

The three iris that I shall mention under number are so close in garden value that it is not easy to pick out with certainty which is best. They are all lovely medium blends with rather good form, but good garden practice would hardly call for having more than one of the group. This problem comes to every extensive breeder of iris — or of any other flower, for that matter — and if he gives the good but not supreme best to a friend or admirer it presently turns up in a flower show or somebody’s garden demanding recognition and a name. What to do ! What to do !

By number these beautiful things of Mrs. Whiting’s are, accord¬ ing to my notes :

“No. 4117W, rich blend; very lovely.

“No. 4313W, probably the best of the group; darker standards than in the preceding.

“No. 4195W, not quite so rich in color as either of the other two.”

Only slightly removed in color from these yellow blends is Three Oaks as blooming at Three Oaks. There is more red in the color make-up. The form relationship is still there but the flower is more broadly built, a magnificent flower with broad petalage and charm¬ ing color. It was so lovely, in fact, that it hurts to have to mention the fact that the huge buds toe-in to the stem about as badly as anv-

[57]

thing I have ever seen, no doubt in remembrance of some remote ancestor, perhaps Dominion. But there will be many who will like the form and color so much that they will overlook this one great fault.

April 25 was fully a week, perhaps ten days, too late for seeing Mrs. Blake’s garden either as a prolific source of rating or for the taking of many color pictures, both of which I had hoped to accom¬ plish in my longer visit this year. But even past its peak of bloom Three Oaks is still the wonder garden of American irisdom, and I envied the owner’s privilege of still asking in all innocence, “What does iris borer work look like?” In what must be several acres devoted mainly to iris, I could find no example to use as illustration of its nefarious operations ! May her good fortune last indefinitely !

I returned to Mamdand in time to visit two local gardens in good bloom, gardens which, like my own, habitually bloom a little later than those about Takoma Park. These were the gardens of Dr. J. W. Palmer at Arlington, Va., and of our secretary, Mr. Howard R. Watkins at Somerset. These two gardens are at the moment best equipped to serve as display gardens of the better and newer varie¬ ties in the Washington area, and though Dr. Palmer had been hos¬ pitalized during much of the time he would normally have spent among the iris, his blooms made a fine display. He had the best clump of Prairie Sunset I have yet seen, Bast or West.

Both Dr. Palmer and Mr. Watkins had many fine seedlings of high quality that not many years ago would have set the iris world agog. Fortunately, both men are keen judges of merit and are well acquainted with better and best varieties so they are not easily carried away by extravagant paternal admiration. Therefore, I take it they will not add greatly to the recent egregious flood of new introductions, despite the very high average quality of their products.

The severe drought of last year throughout Region 4 resulted in scant volume of iris bloom in most gardens of this area and the extreme temperature abnormalities of this spring made forecasting for show purposes almost impossible. So far as I know, the small showing of iris staged by the Takoma Park Horticultural Club on May 2 and 3 at Takoma Park was the only formal show set up this year in Region 4. I was not able to attend the show because the dates conflicted with my previously arranged visit to Three Oaks.

NEW ENGLAND GARDENS

William J. McKee

■ Weather conditions in New England were not ideal this sea¬ son but notwithstanding there was an unusual amount of good bloom.

My first visit was to Mrs. Lowry’s garden in Newton, Mass. Motji^t Hermon, a large white of ideal form, a Lowry creation, was blooming beautifully in a large clump and was easily the highlight of the garden. A seedling bed of dark purple crosses was interest¬ ing and several were marked to watch another year. A number of Professor Essig’s iris, both named varieties and those under num¬ ber, were blooming beautifully on tall stalks. Among them were :

Sierra Primrose, a soft yellow-buff flower of heavy substance on a 46-inch perfectly branched stalk that did not require staking.

Mission Madonna, a soft cream white of heavy substance. Both standards and falls have picotee edging.

Easter Candle, a stately large white with a bright yellow flush in the throat. A fine iris and appropriately named.

Coloma, a large, striking, pale yellow with white spot on the falls, edged with color of standards.

Sousun, a large lemon cream with lemon haft; very impressive.

Easter Gold, a medium-sized golden yellow; a very smoothly finished flower.

Seedling No. 167742A, the deepest rich yellow; medium-sized flowers of fine form with flaring falls. Excellent branching and good placing of flowers on a 40-inch stalk. A very fine iris.

DeForest iris were Tiffanja, very fine on several tall stalks; Casa Morena; Sonrisa ; Pretty Penny; Patrice (a new and pleasing plicata) ; Marimba, L’Luvia d ’Ora ; Mollie May; Lori May; Vision of Mirza, a bold and heavily washed plicata; and the new and lovely Lake Shannon.

Two light blues which were unusually good were Mountain Sky and Blue Delight. Others performing nicely were Cloud Castle, Mary VerNon, Pink Reflection, Indiana Night, Oregon Trail, Black Banner, Style, Jomar, Brown Thrasher, Miobelle and Syringa.

At Mr. Barker’s garden in Newton, the outstanding varieties in

[59]

bloom were Chivalry, Sonrisa, Francelia and Tobacco Road. Mr. Peck’s Sylvan Belle was unusually good. Mrs. Tobie’s Reveille was performing beautifully. Moonlight Madonna, although short, showed good possibilities. Deep Velvet, Lord Dongan, Chicory Blue, Shannopin and Icy Blue were excellent. Matterhorn had the best blooms in several years. Mary Vernon was exceedingly brilliant this year. McKee seedlings Nos. 4210 and 4220 were ex¬ cellent on first-year plants. Three seedlings of Mr. Barker’s which caused the most comment were :

No. 4503 (Buckskin X Brown Betty) with warm buff stand¬ ards and blended light vinaceous cinnamon falls. Its branching was unusually good.

No. 4506 (Lancaster X Daybreak) with golden standards and falls of strong pink, edged with wide band of golden yellows. Heavy substance and fair branching.

No. 4516 (Golden Majesty X Prince of Orange), deep orange- yellow, with good substance and branching. Stood rain and wind exceedingly well.

A visit to Mr. Knowlton’s garden in Auburndale at iris time is always a pleasant one. Suzette, his fine plicata seedling, was the center of interest. It performed even better this year than last, when it was considered most outstanding. It is the best plicata I have seen. Mr. Knowlton also had a pink plicata named Suzabelle, which seemed to be distinctive and quite different in color and form from Suzette. There was a seedling No. 3955, named Purple Plush, a large blue bicolor, that attracted considerable attention. No. 4257 a (Snow Flurry X Easter Morn) seedling, was a large ruffled white of excellent substance. In addition to these seedlings, there were many named varieties performing beautifully. Day¬ break, Snow Flurry, Blue Velvet and Bryce Canyon were ex¬ ceptionally fine.

Our next visit was to the garden of Mr. and Mrs. Merry of Need¬ ham. This garden was newly planted last year but we found many of the newer varieties blooming beautifully. The iris planting was largely in beds in which roses had been grown, and the results sug¬ gest that an old rose bed can be a good place in which to obtain quick results from a new iris planting. Sable, Sea Blue, Deep Velvet, Spun Gold, Copper Pink, California Peach, Snow Flurry, Birchbark and others were in fine fettle.

Notes on our visit to Mr. Gage’s garden in Natick were :

A-bednego, the deepest variegata I have seen ; a large flower with heavy substance.

Blue Zenith, a very fine light blue, tall and well branched. I like this iris very much.

Brown Butterfly, a very clear light brown with a light violet flush.

Copper Rose, an unusual blending of several colors. Fine.

Copper Frills, a medium-sized dainty coppery blend which I liked very much.

Favorx, a rich, pansy violet which is one of my favorites. Well named.

Grace Ballard, a blending of pink, cream and apricot ; good- sized flowers and well branched.

Gypsy Baron, a sort of marbled colored plicata (dark purplish) which may appeal to some.

Hoosier Sunrise, a very striking blend of buff and pink. One of Mr. Lapham’s best.

Indiana Might, one of the best of the deep velvety purples and a very good grower.

L. Merton Gage, a light pink of good form; was performing beautifully in the garden of the person after whom it was named.

Mount Hermon, one of the loveliest of the new whites; large flowers of heavy substance, very smooth texture and wTell branched. Early.

Med LeFevre, onionskin pink, flushed with lilac; grows in popu¬ larity every year.

Pink Reflection, one of the daintiest in the pinkish tones ; beau¬ tiful. Mr. Gage says its one fault is that when it blooms you can’s find a rhizome much bigger than a hickory nut.

Shamumga Bronze, a very fine brownish color tone. Difficult to describe but worthy of introduction.

Spindrift, the chief of the seashell pinks. The substance is like leather and the tangerine beard brings out the color effect most effectively.

Tiffamja, one of the finest of the new so-called yellow plicatas and the first one, in my opinion, to deserve to be called real yellow.

Wakarusa, bright orange and vivid red, very velvety, a good bloomer.

Mr. Peck’s garden at Framingham contained a large number of interesting seedlings, several of which were marked for future ob

[■61 3

servation. The highlight of his garden was his fine white, Sylvan Belle. The blooms are large, well formed and pure white. The stalk is 40 inches. It has excellent branching and is an outstanding white.

Mr. Buttrick’s spacious gardens at Concord have been referred to frequently as the iris show garden of New England. The iris plantings are beautifully arranged in borders and beside winding paths. Mr. Buttrick seems to get more height in bloom stalks than do most New England growers.

Sharkskin was, in my opinion, the best clump in the garden, closely followed by Chamois, Mission Madonna, Vision Fugitive and Alba Superb a.

In the yellows, Song of Gold was exceptionally fine. Etoile d’Or in deeper yellow tones was blooming beautifully on 40-inch stalks and Ola Kala was fine. Orange Glow in the coppery tones has the brilliance of a sunset glow. Black and Gold performed nicely but it is a little on the dull color side. Rio Oro is a honey- yellow with a brown undertone. The Admiral is a clear medium blue with smooth finish. The Sentinel is a brilliant burnished copper color that carried well in the garden. DeForest No. 1-41 is a very bright yellow-tan blend. Mr. Buttrick’s seedling No. S-26, a snow white, attracted considerable attention and was tagged for further observation. r

Mrs. Corey ’s garden in Reading was newly planted in 1943 and the two-year clumps were unusually fine.

Of the newer varieties; Sunny Ruffles, Indiana Night, Pink Reflection, Azure Skies, Prince of Orange, Ranger and Snow Flurry gave A-l performances and Tearose had very strong, fine growth and; good bloom. Prairie Sunset has always done well for Mrs. Corey. Mrs. Lowry’s Syringa was lovely. It has all good points and a most graceful stalk. Mrs. Corey’s Nobska Light and Cliquot, which is very late, were very nice. Black Banner, Storm King and Style did very well, as did Rio Oro, Mount Hermon, Miobelle, Mary Vernon, Ellen and Elmohr. White Spire of Mr. Milliken ’s was nice. Red Gleam on tall, well branched stalks, L. Merton Gage, a fine increaser, and Yellow Jewel were other noticeable clumps. Sheriffa and Far Cross also bloomed.

The seedling beds, although the late freezes shortened bloom stalks, had some interesting things, particularly blends. A rounded, flaring flower of gray-blue over velloV and a bright blend of orange, yellow and pink, particularly interested me.

[62]

The New England group of The American Iris Society held their midsummer informal meeting on Ma}r 30 at the Nesmith gardens at Lowell and about 50 members were in attendance. We were honored by visits of President Wills, Vice President Fishburn, Mrs. Louise Blake of the “Hall of Fame” garden and Mr. Geddes Doug¬ las. Mr. Wills gave an interesting talk on “Iris Seen in Southern and Eastern Gardens.” An unusually large number of varieties were in bloom and brief notes taken were as follows :

Chivalry, a clear dark bine with heavy substance and ruffled form; one of the best deeper blues.

Sousun, a clear pale lemon yellow with a frosty, ice-like finish; charm¬ ing and very floriferous.

Lake Breeze, a large ruffled light blue with a faint suffusion of pink in the center of the standards.

Suzette, the center of attention in the plicata class; outstanding not only for its exquisite coloring but for perfection of form and branching.

Lady Boscawen, a large ruffled pure white, tall and stately.

Helen McGregor, the largest flowered and bluest iris I have seen, a beautiful iris in every way.

Bryce Canyon, a great favorite with all garden visitors ; a very colorful golden brown blend.

Red Majesty, a tall, commanding rose red iris with a glowing yellow heart; is late flowering and has superb branching.

Saint Regis, a very pale blue of extremely heavy substance, trim neat form and a sparkling finish.

Vision Fugitive, such a late flowering variety that many garden visitors miss seeing it, but this year it was in full flower; a cool cream and white with flaring form and especially firm substance and excellent branching.

Russet Wings, a flaring flower of rich glowing russet with a sparkling finish.

Lady Mohr, the most distinctive iris in the garden; large rounded flow¬ ers in a fascinating color; tall sturdy stalks that withstood rain and heavy winds to a marked degree.

Shishaldin, a bright glistening brown and gold with most skillfully blended colors ; tall and well branched.

Chamois, well named for it has the soft rich coloring of fine chamois; a large rounded flower with many blooms on tall sturdy stalks.

Mount Hermon, a cool silvery white of very firm substance and excel¬ lent branching.

Desert Moon, a tall beautifully branched pale yellow; very late flower¬ ing.

Overture, a very pale pink with a bright tangerine beard.

Summertime, a rich deep yellow with flaring falls and velvety finish; tall and late flowering.

Sundial, a blended flower of golden yellow flushed with sparkling bronze.

Amandine, a large very ruffled flower of palest cream with heavy sub¬ stance, late flowering, lovely in every way.

Miobelle, a large rounded flower, deeper in color than Aubanel with more even blending of the colors and superb branching.

[63]

Nancy Hardison, a warm blend of pink and gold, giving a very pink effect; late blooming.

Redwyne, a smoothly finished flower of glowing red with great garden value.

Exquisite, a lovely pink of medium size and smooth even color with no venations.

No. 42-1B (Nesmith), a pale peach apricot self; even the beard is the same color; quite different and charming.

Carillon, a wrarm blend of pink and honey yellow with very heavy sub¬ stance.

Sousun, a large lemon cream of beautiful form, a grand performer.

Sukey of Salem, a blended self of Van Dyke brown and rose, with an ochre flush enveloping the whole flowers. This variety, blooming for the first time, was one of two of the most outstanding seedlings seen in New England gardens.

Kearsarge, a tall and stately lavender self with a silvery sheen through¬ out the flower, a trifle darker in color than Helen McGregor.

Azalea, a lighter pink than Exquisite with tangerine beard, smooth flower with no venations.

Ranger, a very brilliant red.

Azure Skies, more lovely than ever.

Casa Blanca, a very pure white.

Cloud Castle, very large flowers of wistaria blue with ruffled falls.

Down East, a dark yet very brilliant purple.

Elmohr, a very large spectacular flower of reddish mulberry, an onco hybrid.

Etoile d’Or, a velvety yellow with large flowers; very floriferous.

Extravaganza, the best arnoena, very late flowering.

Firecracker, the most brilliant red plicats.

Fran celia, a very bright chrome yellow with excellent carrying quali¬ ties in the garden.

Franconia, a very pure white, tall and with marvelous branching.

Golden Spangle, a very floriferous white and yellow, excellent effect in the garden.

Ilse Louise, a late flowering plicata of white heavily marked with deep lavender; good garden value.

Jasmine, a large beautifully former yellow with a velvety sheen on the falls; excellent branching.

Java Sky, a most colorful blend of terra cotta and Hortense violet.

Louise Blake, a full flower with chicory blue standards and velvety deep voilet falls ; medium in height.

Mary Vernon, exceptionally good and colorful.

Melitza, very tall, well branched and with more pink color than usual.

Nightfall, one of the best velvety dark purple iris.

Red Amber, more rose than red; always attracts a great deal of atten¬ tion.

Sequatchie, a brilliant blend of rose, metallic violet and coppery brown; very late flowering.

Sharkskin, one of the largest and most dependable whites.

Snow Carnival, a white of bold, flaring form; always a great favorite.

Tiffanja, a very popular plicata of cream and golden brown; large flowers, splendid branching.

Tishomingo, a very heavy substanced flower of cool wistaria blue; late flowering, tall and well branched.

[64]

White Wedge wood, a lovely blue- white with a blue beard, large flowers, tall with good branching.

Cotillion, a very lovely white, tall and well branched with a long sea¬ son of bloom.

No. 43-4 (Fay), a deep medium blue self with no haft markings and a blue beard.

No. 44-1 (Carpenter), a very colorful blend of similar tone to Bryce Canyon but with more life in the color and a more rounded flower.

Dr. Graves’ garden in Concord, N. H., suffered very severely from late frosts which destroyed many bloom stalks. The highlight of the doctor ’s garden was his fine variety, Helen McGregor. This light blue surpasses in clearness of color any blue iris I have seen. The blooms are large, beautifully ruffled and gracefully displayed on 40-inch stalks. This is the best light blue and the most outstand¬ ing iris of the year in New England.

Cloud Castle, Helen McGregor’s pollen parent, was blooming beautifully near by and there wras a noticeable similarity in form.

Lady Boscawen and Franconia, two large whites, were unusu¬ ally good.

Seedling No. 43-5, a large ruffled white edged with bright gold, was very attractive, a Snow Flurry X Flora Zenor cross. This seedling has been named Lady Louise.

Seedling No. 43-47, a large medium light blue with wide, slightly ruffled falls, was very attractive. This one has been named Kiltie.

There were numerous nice seedlings in bloom. The doctor likes wide falls and his breeding produces a very large percentage of seedlings with extra broad, well rounded falls.

Following luncheon, Mr. Robert Allen of New York spoke on the highlights of iris seen in his travels in other regions of the country.

My garden in Worcester, due to cool weather, bloomed over an unusually long period of time. Several of the newer varieties were very fine and I would head the list with Bryce Canyon ; on a one- year plant it gave a grand performance. It is a very colorful iris. Another newcomer that I liked was Master Charles, a rich mul¬ berry color with a sheen ; emphasis on form and finish.

Admiral Nimitz, a large white propagated by Dr. Graves, was the most outstanding clump in the garden, with Daybreak a close sec¬ ond.

Katharine Fay, a large, ruffled white, bloomed beautifully and was much admired by visitors who like large blooms.

Two reds, Lights On and Frank Pugliese, from Mr. Lapham’s garden, are fine additions to this color class with the latter one

[65]

having a slight edge on form and finish.

Garden Glory, Mrs. Whiting’s Bordeaux red, although of me¬ dium size and height, has most attractive form and finish. Another one from the Whiting garden that added a distinct pink color tone to the garden was Tea Rose, a splendid performer.

In the yellow color class, Etoile d’Or, a deep yellow self, Berke¬ ley Gold, a very deep golden yellow, and Francelia, a chrome yel¬ low, were the most outstanding. Firecracker put on a real show. Tiffanja, a splendid performer, is a fine plicata.

There were several seedlings that were interesting : No. 4385, a rich golden yellow, named Moontide ; No. 4507, a blend of wine and fuchsia red, named Miogem, and No. 4517, a reverse bicolor with cream standards and white falls, named Beleek.

Mr. Carruth’s garden in Worcester had a large collection of the newer varieties blooming beautifully. In the seed beds there were three interesting seedlings of distinction — No. 43-9, a large deep golden yellow of good form and finish, a Sweet Alibi X Spun Gold cross ; a large white and blue plicata with edge stitching, and No. 91, a large white with broad flaring falls, a Great Lakes X Easter Morn cross.

Mr. Butterworth’s garden in Worcester had a collection of choice varieties that bloomed on the tallest bloom stalks that I saw in any New England garden. He also has several seedlings of note. A few of the fine clumps blooming were Copper Pink, Blue Zenith, Bal- mung, Golden Majesty, Stardom, Sable and Spun Gold.

My last garden visit in New England was to Mrs. Tobie’s in Portland, Me. Here there was a wealth of bloom and many new varieties. In the newer pinks Nos. SQ-71 and SQ-72, Dream Girl, Spindrift and Leilani, all light pinks with tangerine beards, were a fine collection. Cook’s Dream Castle and Harriet Tiioreau are both on the orchid-pink shade with the latter one the better color and form. Others growing particularly well were Tea Rose, Master Charles, Jasmine, Orange Glow, Royal Scot, Shark¬ skin, Java Sky and Solid Mahogany. Mrs. Tobie’s Reveille, a delicate pink ; Down East, a fine deep blue, and Silver and Gold, a blended yellow and white, were all blooming beautifully.

[66]

TWO 1945 AWARD OF MERIT WINNERS

Nightfall , a deep pur¬ ple bitone, is richly colored and a healthy grower everywhere.

Azure Skies, Mrs . Pat- tison’s lovely ruffled powder blue, is always much admired.

[67]

NOTES ON KANSAS AND MISSOURI GARDENS David R. Kinish

■ This season was the worst iris season we have had in years. The months of April and May were exceptionally wet, with few warm, sunny days. In late April we had a freeze that injured about half of the bloom stalks on one-year plants and also a large per¬ centage on established clumps of the varieties that come into bloom in early mid-season. Strangely enough, some of the reputedly ten¬ der varieties such as Happy Days and China Maid came through very well and produced good bloom stalks although they had had no winter protection beyond wind-blown leaves that lodged among the clumps, and even these had been removed when the freeze came. During the blooming season, which this year extended from about May 10 to the end of May for the tall bearded iris, we had several rain storms accompanied by high winds that were quite damaging to bloom stalks.

These notes were made on iris bloom as I saw it this season in four gardens besides my own. They were the gardens of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Ulrich, Atchison, Kans. ; Dr. and Mrs. H. W. Schir- mer, St. Joseph, Mo. ; Mr. Carl Schirmer, St. Joseph, Mo., and Mrs. Ella Callis, St. Joseph, Mo.

Whites

Most whites that I saw in bloom this season were rather dis¬ appointing. Gudrun still seems to be the best and most dependable of the lot. This season it had very large blooms and stalks that were much taller than usual, some of them more than 38 inches. Of the others, Crystal Beauty is very dependable. White City is a good bloomer, but the bluish cast is a bit objectionable. Mount Cloud was better than usual but still it was not a good performer and in cloudy weather it carried a pronounced bluish cast. Matterhorn was quite good, but there it has the appearance of a creamy white. In some of the gardens Snowking did well, but I have yet to see a really perfect bloom on it, Carl Schirmer has a fine white seedling that I hope he will introduce in the not too distant future. It is a pure, cold white of good size, with fine broad segments and excellent form and substance. It has good height, is well branched and per¬ formed well on a two-year clump. White Goddess and Snow

[68]

Belle, though they have heavy bloom stalks, did not stand up well in the wind and rain. Many of the stalks were so tender they snapped off even before the blooms opened. Neither of them is a very free bloomer.

Plicatas

Coritica, Balmung, and Ruth Pollock were outstandingly good. These and the older Tiffany are very heavy substanced and stand, rough weather much better than many other iris. Of the white ground plicatas I saw this year, I still liked Los Angeles best. Unfortunately, I did not get to see Blue Shimmer again this season, but as I remember it from two seasons ago in Mrs. Callis ’ garden, it seems a bit too heavily marked. Madame Louis Aureau, Ariane, and Gypsy Baron are nice for a close-up view, but from a distance they convey no note of white in the garden picture.

Y ellows

Ola Kala was the standout yellow in Carl Schirmer’s garden. Its color, branching, texture, substance, are all that one could want, but it could be a little larger. Spun Gold was a splendid performer this year, with gloriously fine blooriik that make one think its Dykes Medal was well deserved. But, like many another relatively receiit introduction, its stalks are too weak to stand the rugged weather of our midwestern gardens without staking. Breeders could well pay a little more attention to stronger bloom stalks. Klondyke Gold was particularly good in Dr. Schirmer’s garden. Buttercup Lane was beautiful, but on a one-year plant it appeared a little short. Gayoso is as rich a yellow as one could want, but the falls carried more markings than I care for. The unusual season may account for this because many yellows that normally show no flecking had some this year. Prince of Orange is a definite improvement oyer Naranja and many of its seedlings that I have seen. Golden Treasure was, as usual, very fine this year. It is an always-depend- able bloomer and very prolific. It deservedly won the grand prize at the St. Joseph, Mo., flower show with a stalk carrying three fine open blooms. Golden Touch does not seem to be a very great im¬ provement over Golden Treasure, and, in my opinion, Golden Treasure is still preferable.

Both Dr. Schirmer and his brother, Carl, raise a good many yellow seedlings and both have some very promising ones. Dr. Schirmer has a flaring yellow that is very good. It has excellent

[69]

substance ; the standards are well domed, light yellow ; the falls are considerably lighter than the standards in the center but have a wide edging of the color of the standards. This one comes from a line of seedlings that have no Dykes blood. Carl Schirmer has a bright yellow seedling of enameled texture that is really a standout. Its fluted standards are well domed and rigidly held by the strong midrib. The falls are pleasingly frilled and are broad and rigid. It is a large flower and I am sorry not to have seen this one on the plant, but I am told that the plant habits are excellent. It is from Midwest Gem X W. R. Dykes and even in this unusual season it showed no flecking.

Pinks

China Maid was the best pink iris I saw this year. I liked the beard and the standards of Flora Zenor, but the falls are not too good. The Loomis seedling No. V-20, on a one-year plant, was good. It has excellent substance, coming through a heavy gale with blooms only slightly torn while almost everything else in the garden was shredded beyond recognition. And three days later some of the same blooms were still good. The stalk is not very tall on one-year plants and the form and size of the bloom could be better, but it still seems to be a notable advance in the pink class. Angelus is a pink I shall keep for many years. Salar, as I saw it in Dr. Schir¬ mer ’s garden, made me mark it down as one I shall want to buy, and Daybreak, in the same garden, also was quite good.

Blends

Prairie Sunset is still the outstanding iris among the blends. It attracted as much attention as any other iris in my garden this year. Carl Schirmer had a very fine clump of it in his garden in his Dykes Medal row. Near it he had a sister seedling which was also fine — the one thing that seems to have kept it from being intro¬ duced is that the flowers crowd the stem a bit. Midwest Gem is still very good in this class, the frilled edges on both standards and falls giving the blooms a very distinctive touch. It could be a better per¬ former. Platinum Beauty is a good bloomer and a very good grower. I don’t know whether Matula belongs among the blends or among the “reds, ” but it is a fine iris that I shall want to keep for a long time.

Reds

The reds never impress me very much. It is still hard for me to see any advance toward purer red in any of the new^er ones that

[70]

are supposedly steps in that direction. The falls on old King Tut still seem to me as red as any of the others. In my estimation, Christabel and Garden Magic are as good as any of the larger reds and all that I have seen could do with a little more size and taller bloom stalks. Gallant Leader, though not at all among the 4 ‘ reddest, ’ ’ is none the less a standout for size and form and it has very good stalks and good substance — attributes which seem very much to be lacking among the reds. Spokan appears very attrac¬ tive because of its good beard and its warm, brown tones. Radiant, if it would stand up better in ; our high winds and if it were a better grower, would be my favorite among them all. Mrs. Ella Callis is breeding a line of red-purples that is quite good. She has several seedlings that are remarkable for size and form. On several of those that I saw in bloom the branching could be wider and the substance could be better. Her Shimmering Velvet from this line of breeding is quite good, although particularly on one-year plants, the flowers tend to crowd each other. In general, it seems to me that most of the reds, except those that approach red from the purple side, lack the substance we want in a modern iris.

Blues, Purples, Violets

Always dependable Missouri was fine. Great Lakes had remark¬ ably large blooms this year, but the bloom stalks were very poor because of frost injury. Unfortunately, none of the gardens I visited had in bloom any of the newest blues such as Lake George, Lake Breeze or Tishomingo. Gloriole is always an indifferent per¬ former for us and this year, although it had more bloom than usual, the flowers were all pinched at the haft and were very unattractive. The very large blues and the lavender-blues like El Capitan, Buechley Giant and Paulette, lack distinction though they are worth growing for their size. Buechley Giant, in spite of its large size and weak-looking bloom stalks, always stands up well. Paulette is almost impossible with us because of its snaky stems that invariably go down in the wind. The same is true of Sierra Blue, which always needs staking here. Missouri Night is a fine medium blue that seems to have been somewhat overlooked out here in the Midwest. It has about everything that one could want in an iris — strong, well branched stems, good color, nice finish and good form. Violet Crown and Violet Symphony were both fine. Mul¬ berry Rose I saw only after a wind storm had done considerable damage to the bloom but it looked impressive even then.

[71]

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SEASON

Harold I. Johnson

■ Cool weather throughout most of the blooming period pro¬ vided Northern California growers with a late but prolonged and highly satisfactory season. The late season extended to the southern part of the state. Milliken Gardens, which I visited on April 16, a date when normally there is a fine display, had hardly an iris yet in flower.

I was more fortunate at Mrs. Pollock’s beautiful garden at Sacra¬ mento, which by May 2 had reached a peak of bloom. This garden, which contains a finer display of good iris each year, was particu¬ larly noteworthy for well grown novelties and clumps of other re¬ cent introductions.

Among newer iris seen here were :

And Thou (Graves) — Finer here than when I saw it in Massachusetts two years ago. White with a blue tinted beard, good size, height and branching, this iris impressed me again when I saw it nearly two weeks later at Prof. Mitchell’s in Berkeley.

Moonlight Sea (J. Sass) — Apparently will be only scraggly and poor in California. This year I remarked its similarity to the old-timer Summer Cloud, which is probably a better iris.

Solid Mahogany (J. Sass) — Seen here and at Salbach’s, this is an im¬ provement on The Red Douglas, but it is darker in color.

Firecracker (Hall)— The gardens of hybridizers using Orloff as a. parent show a large number of similar flowers. Surely this cannot be the ultimate in color, pattern or form.

Royal Scot (Hall) — This is one of the brushed types of plicatas, of which considerable numbers are now appearing in breeders’ gardens. Prof. Mitchell terms them “fancies.” One could also coin the word “striatas” to describe them. Royal Scot is a large and colorful example of the type in a reddish shade.

Bertha Gersdorff (J. Sass)— To my mind, the best and most novel of the “fancies” or “striatas” so far developed because it also includes the characteristics of a bicolor and, in addition, has a pleasing and bright color arrangement.

Sea Blue (Whiting) — Ordinary in comparison with California blues.

Chicory Blue (Douglas) — Very disappointing after the fine build-up it received from Southern California. Perhaps future years will result in increased height of stem for this blue.

Chivalry (Wills) — This medium blue has style, height, color and every¬ thing one could wish for. Easily one of the three best iris I saw for the first time this year.

Azure Skies (Pattison) — So far I have not been impressed with this blue and would leave it in the “another blue” category unless it develops more character in future years.

r 72 ]

Cloud Castle (Graves) — A mediocre blue-white in its first year here.

Jasmine (Grant) — I am sorry to report that this yellow seems devoid of distinction.

Gay Senorita (Salbach) — Although I do not care for the color of this iris, the good stalk and bloom size of this semi-variegata should make it valuable for hybridizing. The- standards are clear deep yellow, and the falls are heavily veined with brown.

Alba Superba (J. Sass) — The first time I have seen this variety grown up. Nevertheless, it continues to be such a plain white that I find it un¬ interesting.

Flora Zenor (J. Sass) — The pleasant effect produced by a massed bed of 50-or-so stalks in bloom made me think a bit more highly of this variety.

Sunset Serenade ( J. Sass) — Belonging to a similar color group includ¬ ing Nightingale, Mellovtglow and Prairie Sunset, this one, to me, has the most appeal because of its brighter color. Unless superseded too quickly, it should be a popular iris.

Violet Symphony (Smith) — Outclassed here by California old-timers such as El Capitan. However, I still remember that this was particularly outstanding in the East, so it deserves its high rating.

Tishomingo (Caldwell) — As it grows here, this lavender-blue lacks char¬ acter.

Golden Spangle (Cassebeer) — Not quite so tall nor, to me, so distinc¬ tive as Golden Fleece, which it resembles. However, it performs well.

Golden Fleece (J. Sass) — A clump of this hes established itself very well. The stems were tall and the flowers beautiful.

Spun Gold (Glutzbeck) — I am mildly astonished at its high award, but I suppose some yellow had to receive it eventually.

Sass No. 42-50 — A brighter Golden Fleece seen on a short one-year stalk. If it grows up, as Sass iris have a habit of doing over the years, it may become one of our best iris.

Sass No. 40-349 — A fresh rosy pink, also seen on a short stalk. The clarity of color is a desirable feature.

Carillon (Wills) — An apricot and tan blend which shows promise.

Caroline Burr (Smith) — Unimpressive in California. Has too many of the faults of Easter Morn, and few of the virtues. A large clump is sprawling and not pleasing.

Remembrance (Hall) — One of the largest flowers in the pink class, but plain in form and not particularly distinctive.

Vision Fugitive (War eh am) — Its performance here is not too good, and the elusive colors which it had in Massachusetts are missing.

Peachblow (H. Sass) — A windblown, pinkish plicata with long falls. However, it provided an impressive clump.

Bloom in my own garden was at its best about May 7. The fol¬ lowing were new :

Chamois (Kleinsorge) — A huge flower of a deep honey shade wTith haft markings overlaid by color so as to be concealed. This one should be very good planted adjacent to such blues as Great Lakes.

Harriet Thoreau (Cook) — An absolute self of a light purplish pink. Probably the best individual bloom on a new iris I saw this year. A report on its general performance will have to await another year.

White Spire (Milliken) — An excellent addition to our local white iris. A late bloomer of huge size, with gold haft markings and leathery sub-

[ 73] ]

0

stance. Probably too tender for more continental climates.

Goldbeater (Kleinsorge) — As smooth as Ola Kala, but a true golden yellow.

Melanie (Hill) — A fairly good pink, but haft markings detract. Should provide an excellent clump.

Sunny Ruffles (Waters) — A most pleasing flower. No haft markings and the single swirl or ruffle in the falls provides considerable distinction.

Berkeley gardens were even later in reaching full bloom, and a visit there in the middle of May found flowers both on early and late bloomers. The following newer things deserve comment :

Sultan's Robe (Salbach)- — -With Tobacco Road form, Dut larger in size, this has coppery wine color with a blue blaze on the falls. One of the best introductions of this grower.

Blue Zenith (Whiting) — An unimpressive blue.

Pacific Sunset (Salbach) — This bright, well branched blend improves on acquaintance. A very desirable iris from the breeding standpoint, too.

Rubient (Whiting) — The best variety I have seen from this hybridizer.

Magic Carpet (Schreiner) — So far this is the largest and most colorful of the “fancy” type of plicata that I have seen.

Lady of Shalott (Schreiner) — Not much to this one as it grows here.

Tobacco Road (Kleinsorge)- — This is one of the most distinctive iris of recent years.

Bryce Canyon (Kleinsorge) — A colorful iris, but lacking in substance.

Duet (Grant) — Excellent in form and branching. However, tan and lavender bicolors, and blends seem to lack popular appeal. I would rate this very high but recommend it to connoisseurs.

Coral Mist (Grant) — Rather awful here, but I have seen it quite pre¬ sentable in the East.

Bronzed Copper (Kleinsorge) — The narrow falls detract from this one, but the color is outstanding. Another iris with a blue blaze on the falls.

Red Amber (Loomis) — A big flower with weak substance and too appar¬ ent haft markings.

Casa Morena (DeForest) — Another big flower with the same defects in substance and too obvious haft markings.

White Wedgewood (Grant) — Not nearly the performer that And Thou is.

In addition, I saw two of the newer pinks — a Loomis “seashell” seedling and one from David Hall — -but my notes fail to indicate whether it was Overture or Dream Girl. The Hall introduction appeared to be a pleasant bit of color on a tall stalk, but the size and form of the bloom left much to be desired. The Loomis seedling apparently was suffering from some first-year disorder because color was its only virtue. Spindrift did not bloom in its first year, although it was growing in three gardens.

[74]

IRIS MEMORANDA FROM TEXAS

Guy Rogers

■ The 1945 season was indeed excellent. It was altogether as good as last year was abominably bad. Although the varieties bloomed some ten days earlier than usual, still no late freeze damaged even the tender of the early varieties. The heat of summer did not oppress the very late blooming varieties. There was only enough wind, rain and sun to test the stamina of the various iris. Rot and other diseases continued absent. Up to July 15 there has been 23.59 inches of rainfall this year, 9.25 inches falling before the opening of the blooming season, 3.74 during the eight weeks blooming season and 10.6 thereafter during the period of growth after bloom. Due to good stock planted and favorable growing ’conditions, 93% of all first-year plants bloomed.

From the opening of Snow Flurry on April 4 to the folding of the last bloom of Extravaganza on May 27, there was profusion of bloom in the garden. Those varieties that performed well under adverse conditions last year performed even better this year under favorable conditions. Vatican Purple, Rose Top and Tishomingo neither bloomed nor increased last year, but this was not the fault of the varieties but rather of stock planted as the identical rhizomes bloomed beautifully this year. Their increase was three for Rose Top and four each for Vatican Purple and Tishomingo.

Alba 'Superb a, Franconia, White Wedgewood and Snow Carni¬ val are excellent, the standard of comparison for whites. Snow Velvet, Sierra Snow and Arctic clamor to meet that standard. Snow Flurry and Mount Washington have proved too tender locally to be included in a favorable comment, although each was lovely this year, as was White Goddess. Mary E. Nicholls, al¬ though small and low, is nevertheless lovely. Patricia and Pris¬ cilla are excellent border whites. Katharine Fay did not bloom but has five for its increase.

Katharine Larmon, a lovely blend of many colors, is intriguing in many ways. Looking down through the foliage near the ground, a striking color with good form can be seen on Louise Blake. Red Valor is still a good red, proved so for three successive years. Grand Canyon is excellent, Lancaster bloomed profusely. Flora

[ 75]

Zenor performed admirably but I can do without it. Ruffled Chivalry is excellent in every way, with good height, form, sub¬ stance, branching and color. Bandmaster has less violet and more nearly approaches true blue than any variety in the garden. It, too, possesses all the attributes of a good iris. Hall’s No. 41-35 is a bit lighter in color, slightly ruffled, more daring falls, but good, with three5 large, well formed dowers open at once. Golden Spangle, although sturdy with height and a good iris in its own right, was ambitious to enter the held where Golden Fleece still maintains superiority.

Tishomingo bloomed at 48 inches on a sturdy stalk with large blossoms and with much lavender but altogether it is a good iris. Cloud Castle and Azure Skies are grand and with Spindrift planted between them the color of each is accentuated. I will wait another year to judge Sequatchie as to size and height but its form is nice and its blended colors delightful. Casa Morena is extremely large and has very rich color and drm texture. Old Rose is highly branched but is large with good color. Worthington is excellent. Rio Oro is a smooth dower and is very doriferous. Display did just what its name indicates and more. Vatican Purple is happily named, with large, daring dowers, whose standards nearly closed. Pink Ruffles is a lovely intermediate for the border.

For sheer loveliness, Blue Shimmer stands out distinct in the garden among the plicatas. Tiffanja is larger with carrying power, excellent branching, color, form, height and substance. Patrice, a variety introduced this year, has good form, three branches with terminal, nine large dowers, three open at once, with low, well spaced branches. Coritica, although comparatively small, is never¬ theless lovely. Royal Scot must not be overlooked. Firecracker, the last plicata to be mentioned but the drst in striking color, de¬ mands and receives attention. Katy is a lovely, creamy yellow and multiplies rapidly. A rhizome planted two years ago has produced a clump of 26 fans that must be divided. Rubient has failed to bloom for two successive years, a dereliction which I can stand but one more year. California Peach and Salar have the same general color effect and I believe, if planted in a proper setting, would dis¬ close pleasing colors. Daybreak, as usual, was grand, among the dnest varieties regardless of age. A drst-year bloom on Harriet T fiore au was on a stalk dedcient in branching, as was Rose Top on a two-year plant. Ola Kala is an exceptionally nice, deep yel-

[76]

low, with flaring* falls. It is medium in size in this locality, not small as it is sometimes reported from other sections. I like it. China Lady is large, tall and lovely.

Sally Ann is a clear yellow with very low branching. Hall’s No. 43-17 approaches lavender from the pink side, with large flowers, good form and a yellow splotch on the haft. Storm King and Spun Gold sulked again, although neither was divided. Fortune’s Favor is very large, flaring and well branched, with substance and a blending of colors that make it truly a remarkably good iris.

Pretty Penny is that, and more ; it is folding money to me. The tendency of Mollie May to droop in the falls detracts from an ac¬ ceptable color. Several of Mr. Hall’s 1940 pink-toned seedlings bloomed exceedingly well, and it can now be seen how difficult it was to select Remembrance therefrom. The decision, however, was correct, for Remembrance is a large, flaring, sturdy and colorful flower that is outstanding in the garden.

Tobacco Road has lovely color and fine, flaring form and would be excellent if it would but develop height. Redward and Captain Wells are low but both are colorful. Mulberry Rose is excellent. Chantilly, Overture, Spindrift and Hall’s No. 40-04 are decided advances toward the pink we hope to grow. Berkeley Gold, Divi¬ dend and Golden Spike are large and lovely. Golden Spike is re¬ ported erratic in some sections but it has bloomed and performed for three successive years in this locality. Elegans and Lord Don- gan perform well. Elmohr is deserving of the Dykes Medal it won this year. Sheriffa, very lovely in color on a slender stem, propa¬ gates well and is floriferous. One of the rhizomes planted last year sent up five bloom stalks and still has nine for its increase.

Fort Knox is a good light yellow and quite floriferous. During the winter one rhizome apparently had four for its increase. How¬ ever, the parent and all four of its increase threw up bloom stalks. Were it a descendant of I. Kaempferi, I should have thought it had thus committed hara-kiri. However, shoots are beginning to appear, while the other rhizomes of Fort Knox have the normal increase. Seedlings of DeForest, Nos. 9-43A and 9-43B, out of Rio Oro, were lovely browns with good form, height and substance. They both performed well, No. 9-43 A being more flaring, with slightly better branching.

Shishaldin had a wide appeal in the garden, so appealing that a thief in the night purloined it along with such carefully selected

varieties as White Wedgewood, Solid Mahogany, Elmohr and others. Painted Desert bloomed at 47 inches, with four blooms open at once, four-way branching with terminal, and with a blend of lovely colors. It was quite distinctive and valuable in the garden.

Among those varieties that still maintain their place in a garden of much more recent varieties are Buttercup Lane, Elsa Sass, Fair Elaine, Golden Majesty, Flora Campbell, Cameroun, Gloriole, Red Valor, Treasure Island, The Admiral and Arctic. Among the best of the dark varieties to bloom are included Deep Velvet, Nightfall, Bonsor and Ace of Spades.

Violet Symphony, Yellow Jewel and Caroline Burr con¬ tinued good in three-year clumps. Indiana Night did not bloom and seems backward with four for its increase. Moonlight Ma¬ donna continued for the third year to be very lovely indeed, as also did Lori May. Solid Mahogany is excellent in every way.

That distinctive yellow, Dividend, and that striking amoena, Ex¬ travaganza, with standards tending toward cream and falls of red, definitely extend the blooming season for a substantial period in this locality, only the last blossoms of Full Measure, Display, Pretty Penny and a few others remaining in the garden when it opened on May 18. In this locality of variable weather, such very late-blooming varieties are a decided advantage, as we have alter¬ nate periods of growing weather and freezes, beginning the latter part of January and extending through March. The freezes often come late enough to nip the early varieties and injure others. We need more of such very late-blooming varieties and I trust that breeding for them will continue.

THE IRIS OF CEDRIC MORRIS N. Leslie Cave

■ It was not until the appearance of a short, unassuming article in the Year Book of 1943 that iris lovers in England realized they, had been harboring, all unknowingly, a new hybridizer in their midst, a hybridizer, moreover, who was producing notable iris. That article was printed only by chance. The editor had asked Mr. Angus Wilson to contribute a few words on his plicatas, one of which, you may remember, gained an award in Rome some years back. Angus Wilson passed on this request to his friend Cedric Morris, who mod¬ estly let the cat out of the bag.

In this article Mr. Morris told how, fired by the beauty of Wil¬ son’s plicatas, he began, at first in a desultory way, to cross-fertilize iris. This was in 1934. He soon discovered that the iris he was using as parents were the wrong ones and thereafter concentrated on inter-crossing Sacramento, Madame Louis Aureau, San Fran¬ cisco and their offspring. The only other named varieties he has used are Golden Hind and Mary Geddes, except that in some very early work he utilized Shiraz, a small plicata with oncocyclus fore¬ bears. He also made several attempts to induce Purissima to yield plicatas, but with no success.

After a while, Mr. Morris began to get 80% plicatas among his seedlings and found that the characteristics of the parents he had used were causing strongly marked traits to appear in their de¬ scendants, with the result that these divided themselves up into several “lines.” In these “lines” even the form of the blooms re¬ mained more or less constant — for instance, in one they were rounded ; in another, square ; in another, oval. Madame Louis Aureau produced rather sanded flowers ; San Francisco gave neat edgings but in no color but blue, but by the judicious use of San Francisco and Sacramento he was able, gradually, to obtain the more delicate markings he sought. From the Mary Geddes- Madame Louis Aureau-Sacramento line he obtained yellow pli¬ catas. He did not, until fairly recently, mix his lines, but when he finally linked the yellow plicata line with another, he secured his pink iris. The by-products (i.e., non-plicatas) from his plicata in- breeding are interesting. Apart from some very fine seifs and blends, which I will mention later, he obtained many red-purples. These are not remarkable in themselves but have, of course, plicata parents and grandparents. As a further line, Mr. Morris has begun to inter-cross these reds. I saw the seedlings from the first crosses, and all were red. This line is being pursued and it is possible that later generation will contain a new sort of plicata.

Cedric Morris is an artist — I first met him at an exhibition of his paintings at the Leicester Square Galleries^ London. I admired his pictures as much as, afterwards, I admired his iris. He is well known for his iris pictures and was in the habit of painting his seedlings each year. His range in art is wide, embracing still-life scenery and, in particular, birds. He grows his iris in the garden of a fine old house at ITadleigh, Suffolk, where he and Mr. Lett- Haines, the water-colorist, conduct a school for art students. Be-

[79]

sides the tall bearded, he makes crosses between species, and grows the difficult oneocyclus really well.

Members may remember that last year I was unable to see many of his seedlings in bloom, owing to the ravages of the late frosts. This year the fates were more kind and the plants were in full flower at the time of my visit. He gets extraordinary growth, some two-year-old clumps being simply enormous. This may be because he lives on the “dry side” of England. I again noticed how tall and well branched the majority of his seedlings were. The yellow plicatas are not perhaps quite so tall as the others but they are by no means short-stemmed. Those which have been named are being introduced by Messrs. Wallace and Co., of Tunbridge Wells. Here are descriptions of some of the finest:

Benton Diane. A tall, beautifully formed plicata with cream base, etched, not too heavily, with red-purple. I could find no fault with it as I saw it. Branching was excellent.

Benton Helen. An orthodox plicata notable for the bright blue etching. Large.

Benton Daphne. Standards, cream heavily suffused old rose; falls, broad, deep cream with a wide margin of old rose. Beard, yellow with a white flash below it. A fine pink plicata.

Benton Aurora. Standards, yellow lightly suffused tan; falls, deeper yellow etched tan-grown, and with a white blaze. The marking is delicate and is applied in the same way as in the better orthodox types.

Benton Persephone. A colossal white which arose from Morris’ at¬ tempts to breed a plicata from Purissima. It is pure in color, with a pale yellow beard, and is extremely tall — a giant.

Benton Apollo. A very large, shapely deep yellow which, many genera¬ tions back, traces to Golden Hind. It has semi-flaring falls and is of medium height. This and Mr. Chadburn’s latest yellow, Grace Tetley, were easily the best yellows I saw anywhere this year. Grace Tetley at the Royal Horticultural Society show had a very tall stalk, with unbeliev¬ ably good branching. If it lost a couple of inches to Benton Apollo, both would perhaps benefit.

Benton Baggage. A huge dusty pink. Standards, russet-pink; falls, deeper, with a blue flush, and dark crimson at the haft. Exceptionally sturdy stems.

Benton Duff. A plicata blend. It has pale coffee-yellow standards, while the falls are white edged the color of the standards, and with an inner band of mauve speckling lightly applied. This is a beauty which repays close examination. It grows well and flowers very freely. It is one of my personal favorites.

Benton Ankaret. Another plicata blend and most distinct. The stand¬ ards have reddish purple reticulations all over the cream ground, while the falls are lined and speckled violet. At a distance it gives the effect of a red-purple and violet bicolor. The flower is oval.

Benton Asphodel. A new break over here, being lemon or sulphur yellow. It came from a cross between two yellow plicatas as, I believe, did Elsa Sass. Mr. Morris’ seedling is of medium size, well shaped, and has

Benton Apollo, one of Britain’s leading candi¬ dates in the deep yellows .

substance. The falls have dabs of keen lemon on each side of the beard. The color has a luminous quality. Cool and clean-looking.

Benton Pearl. A very tall white with a bright rosy-mauve flush be¬ neath the brilliant orange beard. Although so tall, it holds itself up.

I have left until last what I consider the most unusual seedling. This came from a line which, many generations ago, originated in the use of .Shiraz. Until this year no seedlings had shown any onco- eyclus influence, but now most of them suggest their ancestor in their looks. One had olive-green-gray standards with falls suffused and lined violet, and with an edging of olive. I have never seen anything like it. It is lovely as well as unique. Its form is good also. A sister seedling was white, completely covered with spots of violet, an all-over plicata, and another break. The markings were

[81]

definite spots, not flecks, and while perhaps not so dainty as the other plicatas, it will most likely lead to a different type.

As a side line, Mr. Morris has been playing about with Peace¬ maker and has been getting a number of blue seedlings, often with a touch of green. He hoped that one day he might produce a true blue iris with a green flush and he has very nearly succeeded. The seedling I saw was of unusual shape, the falls descending and then widening and flaring in the lower half, and the green tinge is most attractive. Another good blue was a tall medium one, of which Mr. Morris thinks highly. I saw a spike at the show and admired it but would have preferred to see it growing. It bloomed too late for my visit to Hadleigh.

Yet another seedling from plicata in-breeding was one with soft orange standards and falls overlaid red-brown. This was quite handsome. Among the unnamed plicata seedlings were several with standards of pink or yellow, falls edged the same color, and with an inner band of mauve polka dots. This seems to be the ‘‘hall-mark” of his plicatas, and very pleasant it is.

The pink seedling has been named Edward Windsor. It was not quite so brilliant this year, and the grayish markings on the falls which had been hardly perceptible last year were now a little too much in evidence. It may be that this was due to the weather, which had certainly been unkind enough, and that next season it will regain its lustre. I fear, however, it may be a breeder’s iris but it should be most useful as a parent. We shall see.

VISIT TO RENE CAYEUX

(Excerpt from letter of Sgt. Clifford W. Benson of St. Louis , to Kenneth D. Smith, dated July 6, 1945)

■ Upon my return to Germany from Paris, I found awaiting me about 40 letters, including yours, and I must say it was really chock- full of excellent iris news. When I think of all the new varieties which have been produced by American breeders that I’ll have to get acquainted with when I return — well, it just makes my head swim.

First, I was in Paris for two weeks attending school at the Uni- versite de Paris. If I don’t remember anything else, I will always have a spot in my memory for my wonderful visit with M. Rene Cayeux and his family while I was in Paris.

[82]

Bene Cayeux and Sgt. Clifford W. Benson.

After having my noon meal at the University, I packed my musette bag with articles I knew M. Cayeux and his family had been without since the Nazis entered France — cigarettes, soap, gum and chocolate bars. I took a metro to the end of the line and then the fun began. I walked and walked and still walked and finally, after about two hours, came across 24 Rue Camille Groult, the home of Rene. I took a picture of the shop where he conducts part of his business and then walked in the courtyard. Rene was out in his vast garden. He was certainly a surprised Frenchman when I told him who I was. I was the first American to pay him a visit since the war, although a major from England had recently purchased a few of his new varieties. Mme. Cayeux came running out to see what an American soldier was doing there. After she found out the particulars, she immediately invited me to stay for dinner. I did. The meal was delicious and took about one hour. We started with champagne and ended with cognac. Among other things, I tasted my first delicious strawberries since leaving the States. They were right out of the garden.

We were having a little difficulty understanding each other until Jean Cayeux, M. Rene Cayeux ’s 19-year-old son, came home from swimming in the Seine. Jean speaks very good English and we pro¬ ceeded with our iris news and views.

Cayeux is well known in France for his dahlias, more so I think, than for his iris. Jean’s favorite is not the iris, but the peony. Dahlias are planted by the thousands in peacetime; in fact, I was told that about 100,000 tubers normally are planted.

I 83 J

The iris at the Cayeux home were being propagated — the bulk of his plants being on his 60-acre farm about 40 miles distant. Due to transportation difficulties, we did not make the trip out there.

Rene was elated over the fact that I had brought along the pack¬ age containing cigarettes, soap, gum and chocolate bars. Also he was really interested in the 1944 Cooley catalogue I had also brought along, despite the fact he can read little English. This catalogue, to¬ gether with the November issue of the Bulletin, I left with him, for he informed me that he would be extremely happy to learn of the new varieties in America and also of the comments in the Bulletin. In time, Jean would be able to translate all of this good reading into French for his dad.

The Cayeux family consists of Mme. Rene Cayeux (Genevieve Serouge) ; Jean Cayeux, age 19, a soldier in the French Army; Anne Marie, age 18, an accomplished pianist; Remy, age 14, who nlso plays the piano superbfy ; Daniel, age 9 ; Claude, age 4, and Claire, 1% years of age. Rene’s father, Ferdinand, resides in Paris proper and Rene asked me to return so he could ask his father to be present at another meeting. However, due to the un¬ certain conditions which prevailed while I was attending the Uni- versite, it was impossible to make any definite plans. I would have enjoyed meeting the French originator of Depute Nomblot, Pluie d’Or and the many other iris he was responsible for introducing. He is retired now and Rene has taken over the reins.

Although I had intended to get a list of iris parentages, I ob¬ tained only three. We became so interested in different iris gossip that we just broke in and just talked and talked. Here is what I obtained: Louvois, Jerusalem X Vivandiere; Louise Aureau (a new one), Purissima X Iceberg; and Corinthe, Ciiimene X Do¬ minion. This last variety is the last one to bloom in my garden. It w^as interesting to find out the parentage of it. For some reason, the pedigree of many of Cayeux varieties does not appear in the Check List. Yet, M. Cayeux has two thick notebooks just chock-full of the pedigrees of his productions. His records, I might say, are extremely accurate, and he usually can tell the names of parents from a certain cross without effort.

Rene says he gives only bonemeal to his iris and never waters them during the hot summer months. Guess he has found out by experience that he obtains excellent results from such treatment.

The time came for me to leave, so Rene gassed up his motorcycle

[84]

and off we went through the streets of Paris to the XTniversite. I had never even thought I ;d go motorcycle riding through the streets of Paris with Rene Cayeux, but I did. My visit was most enjoyable and instructive. I shall continue to write to both Rene and Jean, and by so doing, can find out the latest iris happenings from France.

OUR MEMBERS WRITE

American Iris in England

■ Perhaps a description of the impression created by the first sight of the new American iris would be of interest%to ATS. mem¬ bers.

Besides those sent by Mr. Kenneth Smith to Mr. Randall, I was able to have a little show alb to myself, thanks to the great kindness of Mr. H. M. Hill, and Mr. Claude E. Rudy, of Overland, who gave me some plants. Mr. Randall ?s plants reached him a week after leav¬ ing New York. Mine, after baking in the sun for three weeks, took two months to cross the Atlantic. So there was very little to choose between them as to growth. Almost all were, as was to be expected, on short stalks, and I cannot therefore remark on habit, branching or growth.

In Mr. RandalPs garden, the iris which caused the most excite¬ ment was Orange Glow. What a brilliant flower this is! To say that it is an improved Radiant is an understatement. I had never imagined it would be so vivid. Its color is also beautifully smooth. This smoothness is an excellent quality, and I notice that several of your new iris possess it. Orange Glow is a knockout.

Almost as much stir was created by Lake George and Elmohr, the first for its remarkable blueness, and the second for its unique form. As some of your judges have said, it is nearer the oncocyclus in form than any other descendant of William Mohr. It appeared to be a good grower. Lake George is by far the bluest iris I have ever seen and I am eager to see it next year when it has “grown up.”

Among the whites, Stella Polaris was impressive for size, and White Wedgewood, in spite of being on the shortest of stems, looked charming. It will be most interesting to see how this com-

pares with White City later. Snow Carnival opened too late for me to see it, but Mr. Randall spoke well of it, as he did of Katy, Elegans and Violet Symphony.

1 saw Prairie Sunset twice — at the R. H. S. Show where it was selected for trial at Wisley, and as a cut stalk. Its color was not quite so vivid as reports had led me to believe it would be but it is very lovely. I liked the golden sheen over buff-pink and am eager for my plant to bloom. Daybreak was also selected for trial at Wisley. The flower I saw of this was a little past its best, so I do not know how good it is. Great Lakes came, was seen, and con¬ quered. What a beauty it is — as fine as I expected, which is saying a lot. We shall have the pleasure of seeing it at Wisley in due course. Another which looked very promising was the pink plicata, Lady of Shalott.

In my own "garden, the star turn was Starless Night. This brought every visitor to a halt. It is by far the darkest iris I have ever seen, its falls appearing really black. It is delightfully velvety, too. It grew a little taller than most and its branching looked good. A very rich flower. So is The Red Douglas, which again is very, very smooth. Its behavior was rather odd. The first bloom that opened was lightish