"Talking Irises" - THE 2018 TALL BEARDED IRIS BLOOM SEASON: A SPECTACULAR SHOW!

By Susanne Holland Spicker

(picture of the garden bed in 2016)  'GARDEN BRIDE' (Chapman '98) and 'BOLD EXPRESSION' (Ernst '03) are pictured, center

"I have found enduring happiness from the beauty found in the flower garden and from the joy that the love of a garden gives." 
                                                  Doris Day 

                                                                                                                                            
The 2018 tall bearded iris bloom season, although later than usual, has put on a spectacular show in the top of Utah, zone 6. One complaint, however, is that a week of above normal temperatures reduced the  bloom time of the stalks as they sweltered in the heat.  Many later varieties haven't bloomed at the time of this post, but here are a few of my favorites as I took a stroll around the garden beds. I love these varieties because of their beauty, reliability and their fabulous colors.

(top l to r) 'PERSIAN BERRY' (Gaulter '77), 'PLUM PRETTY WHISKERS' (Spoon '03), 'PRIVATE EYE' (Johnson '10), 'EYE FOR STYLE' (Blyth '06), 'MING LORD' (Blyth '06), 'QUEEN'S RANSOM' (Van Liere '12), 'ROMANTIC GENTLEMAN' (Blyth '02) 'OXFORD COUNTESS' (Blyth '07) I love this bed--it has some of my all-time favorites!

  'LEANNA' (Meininger '97)  A favorite plicata

'LENTEN PRAYER' (Schreiner '98), 'TORONTO' (Johnson '01), 'APHRODISIAC' (Schreiner '86), 'GIGOLO' (Keppel '84), 'NAPLES' (Johnson '01). Color galore--this bed has it!

'DAUGHTER OF STARS' (Spoon '01)  Always among the top three to bloom--it was the first tall bearded iris to bloom this 2018 season.

 'DARING DECEPTION' (Johnson '12) Stunning--breath taking beauty!

 'FLAMINGO FRENZY' (Johnson '12) The unusual colored beard is fabulous on this blue-pink beauty

 'EDITH WOLFORD' (Hager '86) Always a garden visitor favorite

 'ABSOLUTE TREASURE' (Tasco '06), 'DESIGNER LABEL' (Ghio '03) Both are exquisite

 'MIDNIGHT TREAT' (Schreiner '06), 'THORNBIRD' (Byers '89) A visual treat--unique

'CENTER ICE' (Ghio '10), 'GITANO' (Keppel '07), 'WINNING EDGE' (Ghio '97). 'PHOTOGENIC' (Ghio '06), 'LOUISA'S SONG' (Blyth '00), 'IN THE MORNING' (Ernst '04), 'LIMERENCE' (Blyth '09), 'MIDNIGHT REVELRY' (Schreiner '05). Outstanding color!

(t l to r) 'CITY LIGHTS' (Dunn '91), 'FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES' (Ghio '07), 'PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE' (Schreiner '84), 'MILES AHEAD' (Schreiner '10), 'NO COUNT BLUES' (Schreiner '09) A single rhizome of  each of these irises were just planted last summer, and I was thrilled that they all bloomed.

'EMBRACE ME' (Van Liere '08), 'BUBBLING WAVES' (Ghio '06), 'TICKLE 

ME PINK' (VanLiere '11), 'QUEENS CIRCLE' (Kerr '00), 'PROUD TRADITION' (Schreiner '90), 'HEATHERIDGE' (Gatty '85), 'NIGERIAN RASPBERRY' (Kasperek '95), 'SONG OF NORWAY' (Luihn '81), 'CROWNED HEADS' (Keppel '97), 'EVENING TIDINGS' (Schreiner '09), 'ABOVE THE CLOUDS' (Schreiner '01), 'MAGICAL' (Ghio '07), 'RUFFLED BALLET' (Roderick '75), 'SOCIETY PAGE' (Ghio '10).  This established bed never disappoints.                                                                                                            

'CENTER ICE' (Ghio '07), 'PURPLE SERENADE' (Schreiner '05), 'GITANO' (Keppel '07), 'LOUISA'S SONG' (Blyth '00) 'FLORENTINE SILK' (Keppel '05). There are many irises still in the bud still to bloom in the coming days.

'LACED COTTON' (Schreiner '80) A laced iris that always opens up nicely


How has your tall bearded iris bloom season been?  What were your favorite blooms this year?  I'd love to hear from you!

"Talking Irises" LOOKING FORWARD TO SPRING - Tall Bearded Irises With Spring Companion Plants

By Susanne Holland Spicker

I love experimenting with different color combinations in the beds. By combining a variety of companion plants, as well as complimentary, or harmonious combinations of tall bearded irises, the beds provide a nice palette of color, as well as a long bloom season by using early, mid and late bloomers that flower at the same time as other perennials in the gardens. The beds are always a work in progress--I evaluate my beds each year at this time and make changes where I want to replace older varieties with newer iris hybrids or add any favorites from my long "wish list." 


I love the colors in this yellow, pink and blue bed: Tall bearded irises 'Skywalker' (Schreiner '96), 'Tulip Festival' (Clough '75), 'Edith Wolford' (Hager '86), 'Aegean Wind' (Schreiner '08), and 'Out of the Blues' (Van Liere '10) with companion plants Singing in the Rain Itoh peony, assorted lupine, hybrid tea rose New Day, clematis Josephine, assorted pansies and petunias, and herbaceous peony Mons. Jules Ellie.

Striking colors of tall bearded irises and companion plants: 'Salzburg Echo' (Schreiner '09), 'Spiced Custard' (Weiler '87), 'Supreme Sultan' (Schreiner '88), 'Dazzling Gold' (Anderson '81),  'Taco Supreme' (Ernst '87),  'Throb' (Weiler '91),  'Flamenco' (Keppel '77), 'Mulled Wine' (Keppel '02),  and 'Tiger Honey' (Kasperek '94), with companion plants early gladiola, lupine, daylily Bela Lugosi and various daylilies and Harlem poppy.

Bold and beautiful!  Tall bearded irises 'Bold Expression' (Ernst '03), 'Dreamcake' (Ernst '02), 'Close Up' (Tompkins '02),  and 'Ringo' (Shoop '79) with companion plants rosy purple pulsatilla, Caribbean Crush verbascum, Fascination hybrid tea rose,  poppy Queen Alexander, America climbing rose, and lilac.

A favorite bed of subtle yellows and blues: Tall bearded irises 'Good Hope' (Moldovan '69), 'Absolute Treasure' (Tasco '06), 'Grecian Skies' (Brown '84), 'Edith Wolford' (Hager '86), 'Bertwistle' (Innerst '90), 'Lavender Luck' (Ernst '88), 'Wedding Candles' (Schreiner '82) and 'On Edge' (Schreiner '86), with companion plants assorted pansies, Blue Star columbine, yellow, blue and white lupine, Crystal Fountain clematis, dwarf Snow Lady daisy, Konigskind clematis, tradescantia, High Noon tree peony, Silver Beauty Dutch iris, and hybrid tea rose Sunblest.

This bed always stands out: Tall bearded irises 'Aristocracy' (Keppel '06), 'Artist's Time' (Schreiner '74), 'Ever After' (Keppel '86), and 'Bubbling Over' (Ghio '92),  with companion plants Elisabeth variegated phlox, pansies, single late tulip Don Quixote, heartleaf bergenia, Jacob's Ladder, bleeding heart, and assorted pansies.

I love these rose and apricot colors together: Tall bearded irises 'Discretion' (Boushay '78), 'Naples' (Johnson '01), 'Mystic's Muse' (Schreiner '93), 'Magharee' (Blyth '86), 'Aphrodisiac' (Schreiner '86), and 'Role Model' (Denny '88), with companion plants assorted lupine, and Itoh peony Singing In The Rain.

Do you like experimenting with your flower beds? What are some of your favorite combinations?  I'd love to hear from you!

Wister Winners: Three Beauties Top the Tall Beardeds in 2013

by Evey Blalock

Please join us in congratulating the winners of the 2013 John C. Wister Memorial Medal: 'Absolute Treasure' (Tasco 2006), ‘Elizabethan Age’ (Baumunk 2005) and ‘Ink Patterns’ (T. Johnson 2007).

The John C. Wister Memorial Medal is the highest award given by The American Iris Society to irises in the tall bearded (TB) class. This medal was first awarded in 1993, recognizing one tall bearded iris annually. Beginning in 1998, the selection process was changed to recognize three tall bearded irises each year. On the AIS website, Clarence Mahan provides this information regarding the medal's namesake, John C. Wister (1887-1982): "John C. Wister led the organizing meeting that created the American Iris Society and became its first president, a position he held for fourteen years. He guided the society through its formative years. He was widely recognized as a man of rare management skill, leadership ability, and the highest ethical standards. R. S. Sturtevant wrote of him: 'Probably few current members realize that the AIS started through the efforts and initiative of one man, John C. Wister....' "  (Photo of award courtesy of Rick Tasco.)

Let’s take a closer look at this year’s winners!

‘Absolute Treasure’ is registered with the following descriptive information: 42" (107 cm), mid bloom season. Sky blue self, style arms slightly lighter toward back, falls slightly lighter centers; beards white, tipped golden yellow in middle and throat, frosty white at end; heavily ruffled; slight sweet fragrance. 'Sudden Impact' X 'Color Me Blue'. Superstition 2006. Honorable Mention 2008, Award of Merit 2010; Wister Medal 2013.

Rick Tasco, hybridizer and co-owner of Superstition Iris Gardens, shared the following comments about his lovely iris: “I'm very proud of ‘Absolute Treasure’ since it is the culmination of over a dozen years work, tracing itself all the way back to my very first introduction, ‘Ruffled Goddess’. One of its parents is ‘Sudden Impact’, which is a product of ‘Ruffled Goddess’, thus the lineage. When ‘Absolute Treasure’ was in our seedling patch, before introduction and before it was even named, several well-known AIS Judges, whom we respect very much, promised us great things for this sky blue iris.”

Rick Tasco surrounded by his aptly named 'Absolute Treasure'

(Both photos of 'Absolute Treasure' courtesy of Superstition Iris Gardens.)

‘Elizabethan Age’ is registered with the following descriptive information: 33" (84 cm), early to mid bloom season. S. apricot, washed with translucent purple infusion except at edges; style arms apricot with slight purple highlighting; F. white with apricot rim and hafts, heavily overlaid dark purple in luminata pattern, apricot and white veining showing through white area around beards; beards tangerine, more intense in throat. 678A: (Cheating Heart x PDFF-1: (Prize Drawing x Flights of Fancy)) X County of Kent. Iris Colorado 2005. Honorable Mention 2007, Award of Merit 2009.

Lowell Baumunk, hybridizer, is also a talented photographer. Below is a photographic work by Lowell that combines his iris and the inspiration for its name.

 

When asked to comment about this beautiful iris, Lowell responded with the following: "When ‘Elizabethan Age’ and its siblings first bloomed, in 2001, I was pleased with their look and their diversity as well as their strong growth habits. There was a range of luminatas (like 'Elizabethan Age'), lumi-plics, glaciatas and plicatas, all with pink or apricot in the ground color. I right away wondered whether 'Elizabethan Age' might have been my prettiest TB to date. The intensity and complexity of the colors and pattern somehow seemed to reflect the same aspects in the work of Shakespeare and the other Elizabethans. And one of its parents, ‘County of Kent’, also has an English-themed name."  

Lowell Baumunk now offers his iris introductions through Stout Gardens. You can see more of his photographs in his online gallery.

Award-winning photograph 'Self Portrait' by Lowell Baumunk

'Ink Patterns' is registered with the following descriptive information: 36" (91 cm), mid to late bloom season. S. and F. white, strong blue-violet stitched edge; style arms dark blue-violet, ruffled; beards white tipped violet blue; slight fragrance. 'American Classic' X 'Royal Estate'. Mid-America 2007. Honorable Mention 2009; Award of Merit 2011; Wister Medal 2013.

A stand of 'Ink Patterns' growing with 'Sharp Dressed Man' and closeup  .

(Photos courtesy of Thomas Johnson, Mid-America Garden)

Thomas Johnson, hybridizer, wrote this about his creation on the Iris Encyclopedia website: “Exuberantly ruffled white flowers have indelible inky blue stitched plicata bands around falls. Standards have wide washed and stitched plicata bands with dotting inside them and lines up midribs. Styles are wonderfully contrasted, inky, dark indigo. A clump of 'Ink Patterns' in the garden is unforgettable. It is sure to catch the judge's eye at shows.” You can see more of Thomas' creations, and perhaps meet one of his friendly and furry garden greeters, at Mid-America Garden.

 

A complete list of this year's AIS award winners can be found on the Iris Encyclopedia website.