Iris Stories: 'April Melody'

By Bryce Williamson

Iris stories can be made up of several related, interlocking, overlapping stories—if the story is about a hybridizer’s creations, there may be stories about the names, why the cross was made, or other issues; less known is that often the hybridizer is influenced by or helped by other people who often are nameless, though those side stories are of interest. That is the case with Jim Gibson’s 'April Melody,' the first good pink plicata and the foundation parent of pink/orange toned plicatas today.

And the story of Jim Gibson and 'April Melody' actually starts in Utah with 'Tell Muhlestein' taking a plicata seedling from Loomis’ 'Seashell' and crossing it with his 'Pink Formal'. 'Pink Formal' was from a Loomis pink seedling and iris 'David Hall.' From that cross, he obtained 'New Adventure' and introduced it in 1953. We now know that the Hall pink irises had plicatas in their background and 'Seashell' certainly had them. 'New Adventure' was an interesting color break—a lavender-pink plicata with a tangerine beard, but, as you can see from the image, it did not have good form.

 'New Adventure' -- image from the Iris Encyclopedia 

When Jim Gibson in Porterville, California grew 'New Adventur'e he realized it had great potential, but it also needed a lot of work on the form. Thus started his quest for a well formed pink plicata. As you can see from the complicated parentage, he made many crosses and brought into the breeding both the best pinks of the day and his own well-formed brown plicatas. And he raised seedlings and then another generation and yet more generations.

During one of my visits to his garden, Jim explained that he thought about giving up—the desired result was not showing up, but he did not give up and finally a flower appeared that met his high standards. As you can see from the parentage, many generations of hybridizing went into the creation of 'April Melody':  ((37-57: (54-55: ('Taholah' x 45-53: ('Ballerina' x (('Gibson Girl' x ('Madame Louis Aureau' x ('Sacramento' x red brown))) x ('Gibson Girl' x ('Tiffany' x 'Siegfried'))))) x (45-53D x ('Ballerina' x 'Happy Birthday'))) x 'New Adventure')   X   (37-57 x ('New Adventure' x 54-55))).

But that was not the end of the story. At that time, the Gibson irises were being introduced by Cooley’s in Silverton, Oregon and they were hesitant to introduce this new colored iris. Enter the stranger in the form of Hazel Stewart of San Jose, a longtime member of the Clara B. Rees Iris Society.

'April Melody' image from HIPS archive

Region 14—Northern California and Nevada—had a spring meeting in Porterville. In the Gibson garden, the pink plicata seedling was in bloom. During the garden tours, Hazel stood by the planting and kept pointing out, “This is good. This is different.” She was right, it was good and different.

When the result of the voting for best seedling from a Region 14 hybridizer was announced, Hazel’s campaign had paid off—the pink plicata was named best seedling. With that award, Cooley’s did introduce 'April Melody.'

And 'April Melody' went on to be a major parent for Gibson and other hybridizers. From 'April Melody,' Jim introduced a series of new plicata colors -- 'Rippling Rose,' 'Summer Silk,' 'Casino Queen,' 'Mod Mode,' 'Porta Villa,' and 'Frosty Blush' are all first generation 'April Melody' children. The second generation produced 'Lilac Love,' 'Pink Ember,' 'Happy Halo,' 'Smoke Rings,' 'Lasting Spring,' and 'Frost Kiss.' In the third generation, along came 'Pink Confetti' and 'Anon,' among others. Further down the line, one of the most important and lasting of Jim Gibson’s iris is the wonderful 'Queen in Calico.'

'Porta Villa' image by Sunshine Iris, Australia

'Pink Ember' image by Glenn Corlew

'Anon' image by Country Delight Iris

'Queen in Calico' image from Iris Encyclopedia 

This is just a partial list of Gibson irises stemming from 'April Melody' and, needless to say, other hybridizers realized the potential of the iris and used it heavily. In fact, 'April Melody' not only opened up a whole new group of color plicatas, but also 'April Melody' appears in the background of so many differently colored irises that it is hard to believe including the 2017 Dykes Medal winner 'Montmartre.'

'Montmartre' image by Schreiner's Gardens

When Jim could have given up on the line, he did not; he continued to work for the goal, finally reaching and not only achieving a wonderful flower, but also a wonderful parent. 'April Melody'’s story also points out the importance of other people in making sure that wonderful and different irises are recognized. While the judges of The American Iris Society did award 'April Melody' an Honorable Mention, they failed to vote it an Award of Merit — a huge oversight on their part. In another blog, I will show how 'April Melody' and its children were used by other hybridizers to produce fine irises.

My thanks to Keith Keppel for reading, correcting, and suggesting ideas for this blog.

IRISES, the Bulletin of the AIS - Fall 2016 Edition

By Andi Rivarola

I hope you enjoy the new edition of IRISES, cover below, which you will receive via U.S. Mail very soon. 

A warm welcome to those who are seeing the gorgeous cover of this issue of IRISES, the Bulletin of The American Iris Society for the first time.  

The Fall 2016 issue of the AIS Bulletin will be available soon for online viewing within the Emembers section of the AIS website. Note: to access this area of the website you must have a current AIS Emembership. AIS Emembership is separate from the normal AIS membership. Please see the Electronic Membership Information area of the AIS website for more details.

Some article display news: page 2 and 3 have some awesomely large pictures of the 2016 Award Winners. It's a welcome change from New Yorker and guest Editor Jane Milliman, who has become the new Editor of IRISES starting with the first issue of 2017. 

Don't miss a wonderful recap of all the activities in the various AIS Sections, such as The Novelty Iris Society, The Median Iris Society, the Species Iris Group of North America, The Reblooming Iris Society and others. On pages 12 & 13. 

What a tender obituary on dear Jean Witt, on pages 14 and 15. If you didn't know her, you will know much more about her after reading this. Don't miss the note about her watercolor work. It's fascinating. The obituaries continue on page 16 on the passing of Rholin "Keith" Cooley, from you guest it, the famous Cooley's Iris Gardens in Silverton, Oregon. 

On pages 18, 19 and 20 you will find a wonderful and very descriptive article by Sheryl Campbell, called, "Shenandoah & Potomac Iris Society Beautifies the Valley" You will be visiting two wonderful gardens, the State Arboretum at Boyce, and the Glen Burnie Gardens at the Museum of Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, both in Virginia. Enjoy. 

"To get to the irises, you walk through the Pollination Garden observing butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds visiting their favorite flowers."

Tom Waters, from New Mexico, knows his Arils/Arilbreds and this impressive article on "Classification of Arils and Arilbreds," will provide you with much information about their nomenclature and perhaps inspire you to grow some in your garden. On pages 21, 22 and 23.

Joe Ghio gives us his take on "Tall Bearded Iris Future," and what will motivate upcoming hybridizers to continue the work as did Joe, Keith and others. Wonderful article, on pages 24 and 25. 

Meanwhile in Virginia, Mike Lockatell writes about reblooming SDBs and how "SDB Seedlings Save [the] 2015 Fall Season." Lovely images of some of his seedlings accompany the article. Don't miss it. On pages 26 through 29.

The 2016 Award Winners are listed commencing on page 31.

Young and wise, Colin Campbell, describes his introduction to iris hybridizing with amazing close up images. From removing pollen from the pollen parent, to placing the pollen on the stigmatic lip of the pod parent iris. You can read about it on pages 38 through 40. Colin's article is called, "An Introduction to Hybridizing Tall Bearded Irises."

"A little bit more about pollen. Exposure to bright sunlight can be harmful to the pollen grains, so it is important to keep your pollen containers covered when you are out hybridizing in the garden."

There's a lot more to see and read in this edition of IRISES, either in digital or print formats. If you are an AIS member know that you will receive the print edition soon (it's in the hands of the U.S. Post Office), or if you are an e-member, then that version will be a available online soon as mentioned above. 

Happy gardening!