STARTING OVER

by Dawn Mumford

Part of the Mumford Iris Patch

I wrote a blog for this AIS blogspot September 26th, 2016 by using my right index finger on my Kindle Fire tablet. I used only one finger because both my arms were broken and I had a sling on each arm. I sat at the table and braced my right arm on the table and did the hunt and peck method because my right index finger was the only one strong enough to push on the keys.  This is the link if you want to read it.  A New Perspective.  A few blogs later I wrote my last blog until today.  It was written July 3rd, 2017.  Please read that if you want the whole story.  Here is the link, A Fond Farewell to Tall Bearded Irises.

I feel the need to update you on the things that happened after that last blog.  Our property and home that my husband and I built were put on the real estate market.  They sold in 2017.  With both my arms broken I needed to go somewhere to heal .  We stayed three weeks at one sons house with his family.  Neal and I then moved to a Senior Living cottage.  The kitchen staff brought three meals a day to our apartment.  That was necessary because of the arm slings and Neal's Alzheimer's disease.  Three months later we moved to another city where another son had purchased a home but wasn't going to move into it for another six months.  Then on his arrival we went back to the Senior Living Cottage.

It was now near Christmas time in 2017.  We celebrated as a family knowing that this would be Neal's last Christmas with us.  On Christmas Eve we celebrated the birth and life of Christ.  We took family pictures, had a wonderful dinner, and reenacted the nativity with the grandchildren acting out the parts of shepherds, angels, wise men, Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus played by the youngest great grand baby. Neal's eyes reflected that fact that he was fully conscious for the first time in months.  He felt the love of his children, grandchildren, and one great grandchild surrounding him.  It was on Christmas Eve 4 hours after the family picture was taken that Neal passed away.  It actually was a peaceful season for that to happen. It was bitter sweet.  I had been his caregiver for seven years and he and I were both tired.

Wise men, baby Jesus, and shepherd boy

Now I was a widow after having been married for 49 years.  My dream home and property had been sold.  My irises were no more.  The hardest part of the irises is that the couple that bought our property didn't tell me until too late that their plans were to disc under all the irises.  (I can hear the collective groan as you are reading this)  It was, by then, too late in the year to move them.  We were expecting a hard frost any day.

This was the home and property that I had to sell. 

Willard Bay is the body of water to the west.  It was in northern Utah.  The boundaries of the 5.5 acres are in red and the dormant iris patch is in green.

I am still living in the senior living cottage while my son and I remodel a home next door to his home.  It has room for just a super small number of iris when I am ready to start over.  I plan on moving there some time in the next 6 months.  

That is the update and now it is time to discuss irises.  I plan on talking about my favorite yellow irises.  Yellow in the garden is beautiful.  Your eye is drawn to the yellows.  It is a happy , sunny color.   

It is easy to track the yellows with your eyes in your garden.

Creamy soft yellows can be calming.  Some yellows can overpower like an old iris I had that was called Dazzling Gold.

'Dazzling Gold' D. C. Anderson, 1977, Historic, may be obsolete 

This irises' color is so intense that it can effectively block other blooms from being seen.  It can be used in small quantities and perhaps used in a small somewhat shady area or perhaps subdued by other bold plants around it.  It is beautiful however.

'Gold  Trimmings' Schreiner's, 1973, Historic

This one is very old but I find it warm and calming.  It has a large, graceful bloom.  

'Salzburg Echo' Schreiner's, 2009, heavy substance

This is probably my favorite yellow and I got it by mistake.  I had ordered a group of Dykes Medal winners and got this instead of 'Splashacata'.  The well known vendor I got it from corrected their mistake and said I could keep this one.  I love the heavy substance, which means the petals of the standards and falls are thick.  It is believed that the heavier substance allows the bloom to last longer.  It withstands the wind and rain better.  The form is lovely.  

'Expose' Joseph Ghio, 2003, Honorable Mention 2006, Award of Merit 2008

This iris is unique.  We had over 600 different irises but while walking in the iris patch I never had to look at a list or map or marker to identify this iris.  This iris is interesting and fun in the garden.

'Golden Panther' Richard Tasco,  2000,  Honorable Mention 2002, Award of Merit 
2004, Presidents Cup at 2004 AIS convention,  Wister Cup in 2006, Dykes Medal in 2009

Beautiful in every way.  This iris looks different in different lights.  Highly recommended by me.  

'That's All Folks' William Maryott, Joseph Ghio, 2004, Honorable Mention 2007, Award of Merit 2009, Wister Medal 2011, American Dykes Medal 2013

Just perfect!  Whenever an iris wins the Dykes Medal you know it is a good one.  It is healthy, strong, disease resistant, able to grow in multiple climates around the country and many other criteria.  Only one iris per year wins the Dykes Medal and it is the top award of the American Iris Society.  Irises are eligible as a Dykes Medal candidate for three years following winning a classification medal.  Only AIS accredited judges may vote for the award. 

'Tiger Honey' Brad Kasperek, 1993, broken color 

This is still one of my favorite broken color irises.  This iris has nice form and colors.

Notice all yellow's catch your eye in the photograph above.  

'Golden Legacy' Gerald Richardson,  2013

This iris is one that I only had for a couple years before I moved.  It spaced itself nicely on the stem.  It is a little more muted in color than I usually go for.  Nice form.

'Sky Hooks' M. Osborne, 1979, Historic, Space Ager because it has horns on the end of the beard

This was one of the first irises I bought back in the 1980's.  I liked the hooks on the end of the beard.  Again a nice form too.  

When I first decided to write on yellow irises, I thought I didn't have very many.  I had 16 other yellow iris with nice pictures that I could have added.  I mostly looked in the photographs taken in the last few years.  It has been a pleasure to think and write about irises again.  I hope in the future to write about my favorite oranges and reds.  What are your favorite yellows?

Collage created for this blog as an extra

Year in Review

As the editors of The World of Irises blog look back on 2017, these were the most viewed posts. To view the email, just click on the title of the blog and it will take you to the post.

 In first place was Dawn Munford’s “A Fond Farewell to Tall Bearded Iris."

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Image by Dawn Munford

The second most viewed blog was Suzanne Holland Spicker’s "’Talking Irises’ TALL BEARDED IRISES: COMPANION PLANTS for PINK, RED, and PURPLE IRISES.”

'Red Skies' (Ghio)--image by Suzanne Spicker

That blog was followed by Chad Harris’s “Colors, Patterns of Japanese Iris."

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Image by Chad Harris

Dawn Munford occupies the Number 4 spot with “MOREPHOTOMONTAGES OF TALL BEARDED IRISES.”

Image by Dawn Munford

Rounding out the top five, Suzanne Holland Spicker’s “GardenMagic Fills My Soul.”

Image by Kat Zalewska

Next up is Tom Waters’s “Growing Irises From Seed.”

Image by Tom Water

One of our new bloggers occupies the next spot with Hooker Nichol’s “Louisiana Irises.”

'Great White Hope' (Haymon)--Image by Robert Treadway

Bonnie Nichols wrote about cultural problems in “Bloom Out in Bearded Irises.”

Image by Bonnie Nichols

In ninth place, Bryce Williamson posted “I’m Singing the Blues.”

'Absolute Treasure' (Tasco)--Image by Bryce Williamson

The final blog in the top 10 is Chad Harris’s “FlowerForms of Japanese Iris.”

Image by Chad Harris

You can be automatically notified of all new post by going to the top left of any blog and filling your email address in the box and then clicking on submit. With the wide variety of content in this blog, you don’t want to miss a post.

And the editors look forward to 2018 and many more exciting and interesting posts.

"Talking Irises" DISPLAYING IRISES Using a variety of flowers, vases and arranging styles to beautify our homes

By Susanne Holland Spicker

     (Irises from l to r) 'EXTRAVAGANT' (Hamblin'84), 'JUMP FOR JOY' 

(Hager '99), 'CELEBRATION SONG' (Schreiner '93), 'POEM OF ECSTASY' 

             (Hager '97) with giant allium, ruffled poppy, roses and lupine make

              a colorful floral piece to beautify and bring the garden inside

I have found growing tall bearded irises to be very satisfying. The beauty they bring to the garden beds, the excitement felt when a new cultivar blooms, or the magic that happens when the rhizome planted a few years earlier is now a clump can't really be described--and displaying irises inside brings that beauty and thrill into our homes.

 Tall bearded iris 'LULLABY OF SPRING' (Schreiner '87)

with peony, lupine and columbine

The graceful blooms enhance any home or office, as the flowers lend themselves well to a variety of aesthetically pleasing displays. Here in zone 6, TB irises start to bloom when the late bulbs and the early flowering perennials are in bloom, making it easy to use a wide variety of companion plants in bouquets.

Early blooming tall bearded iris 'GLOBAL CROSSING' (Van Liere '12) 

with late blooming spring tulips, bergenia and English bluebells, 

and early blooming tree peony, clematis, and lupine  

'SUPREME SULTAN' (Schreiner '88) Photo at the home of Dawn Mumford

Dawn Mumford proves that a lone iris stem can be spectacular to behold in her magnificent display of 'Supreme Sultan'. 

'JESSE"S SONG' (Williamson '83)

A simple arrangement is also beautiful, using just one variety of 'Jesse's Song' in a tall, crystal vase, using the entire stem for height.

A variety of vases, containers, and arranging styles provide a myriad of ways to add interest in iris displays, as seen here in the collage of some of the ways Dawn Mumford has used in her home, as she arranges blooms from her flower garden in these lovely iris florals. For more about Dawn and her amazing iris garden, please visit ("Talking Irises" MUMFORD TALL BEARDED IRIS GARDEN - A LOVE AFFAIR).

Debbie Hughes uses space and greenery to make this stunning focal piece with TB's

Karina Gonzales makes a bold statement with this beautiful arrangement from her flower garden

Pictured below are a few of the favorites I've made using a variety of color palettes.

Tall bearded irises top to bottom: 'QUEEN'S CIRCLE' (Kerr '00), 'CLASSIC LOOK' (Schreiner '92),  'DUSKY CHALLENGER' (Schreiner '86),
  'ALTRUIST' (Schreiner '87) with various Dutch irises and lupine

'LONG EMBRACE' (Van Liere '10) with Pink Hawaiian Coral peony

'QUEEN'S CIRCLE' (Kerr '00), 'PROUD TRADITION' (Schreiner '90), 
'NO COUNT BLUES' (Schreiner '09) with lupine and 'snowballs'

Iris Societies around the globe give the opportunity to enter irises in floral displays. If you're interested, contact your local iris society for details. The following pictures from the Utah Iris Society show how creative one can get when choosing a vase, container, or prop for displaying irises. The variety of form and symmetry/asymmetry of the arrangements show how versatile a floral display can be. NOTE: Names of entrants and irises used weren't available at the time of publication. My apologies to those individuals and my congratulations for their beautiful displays.

Utah Iris Society, 2014 Awards

Utah Iris Society, 2014 Awards

Utah Iris Society, 2014 Awards 

Utah Iris Society, 2014 Awards 

Unlike a show where the display is being judged at a precise time and the blooms are at their prime, irises for arrangements needing to last up to a week or more should be chosen with the future bloom in mind. 

Some tips to remember when preparing and arranging flowers:

• Pick stems early in the morning, before the sun is out, or, if necessary, late in the evening, when their sugar content is at it's lowest level. 
• Cut the stem and then re-cut under water. This will keep the channel in the stem open for water to get to the bloom and keep it hydrated. 

'EAGLE'S FLIGHT' (Schreiner '86) 
with assorted purple alliums, lupine and 
Coral Hawaiian Pink peony in bud or just opening stage

• Choose stems that have buds showing color, or ready to open. 
• Keep in draft-free areas, out of direct sunlight. 
• Use a floral preservative, changing the water every day or two, if possible. 
• Deadhead spent blooms when necessary. 
• Keep in mind where future blooms will open to insure a pleasing display, as shown in these examples. 

Day 4 of the arrangement 

 A formal display of early blooming TB's.  Plicata 'LEANNA' (Meininger '97) 

and luminata 'DAUGHTER OF STARS' (Spoon '01) go well with beardless 

Siberian Iris Caesar's Brother, peony Yoshina Gawa, giant allium and lupine.  

 Beautiful true blue 'BABBLING BROOK' (Keppel '66), and

white, flounced and lovely 'MESMERIZER' (Byer '91), with dutch iris, 

peony, allium and lupine.

 'JESSE'S SONG' (Williamson '83)

The first iris to bloom this particular year with the late daffodils and tulips

Simple sprays ready for the grave site on Memorial Day. 

Voluptuous 'WEDDING BELLE' (Keppel '07), plicata 'EPICENTER' (Ghio '94), 

and velvety dark self 'SPECTACULAR BID' (Denny '81)

The complimentary colors of blue 'ABSOLUTE TREASURE' (Tasco '06) 

and luscious coral 'SOUTHERN MORNING' (Metler '11) 

with English bluebells and lupine

A harmonious informal spring bouquet of tall bearded irises, from left bottom to right: 'JENNIFER REBECCA' (Zurbrigg '85), 'SWEETER THAN WINE' (Schreiner '98), 'LATIN LOVER (Shoop '69), 'RASPBERRY WINE' (Schreiner '01), 'CLOSE UP' (Tompkins '72),

'LADY FRIEND' (Ghio ''81), 'CUPID'S ARROW' (Ghio '90)

There is no limit to what you can do when preparing a display of your irises. From the smallest miniature bearded irises to the tall bearded irises, or the stately Japanese irises, and every other iris variety, with hundreds of thousands of color combinations, companion plants, vases, and containers or props, formal arrangements, a stem in a vase, or a spring bouquet--the possibilities are endless!

Do you like to display your irises at home? If so, I'd love to read your comments and see what you are doing with your iris blooms.

A Fond Farewell to Tall Bearded Irises and Other Dreams

By Dawn Mumford

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

This blog is my "goodbye blog". I'm starting with some lyrics sung by Carrie Underwood. The songwriters are Angelo T. Petraglia and Hillary Lee Lindsey.

   Press here to hear Carrie sing the song: 

It is the chorus to that song that really spoke to me:

“I guess it’s going to have to hurt,

 I guess I'm going to have to cry,

And let go of some things I've loved

to get to the other side,

I guess it's going to break me down,

Like falling when you try to fly,

It’s sad but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,

starts with goodbye”

The following is a bit of my history with the blog, my irises and the reason for making this choice to stop writing this blog.  I’m at the crossroads and I have to make a choice.

I have so many wonderful memories of growing irises and sharing information with other growers. I have had irises in my garden since 1970. The oldest picture I could find to show you is of my irises was in 1974. The quality of the photo is not what we have come to expect with today’s technology.

This is a picture of skinny me showing my third child, Zane, the pretty iris.

This is Zane now as a 44 year old grandfather. 

In 1977 my husband got his first real job as a PhD organic chemist. He was hired to be a rocket scientist by Thiokol. We moved from Sandy, Utah to Brigham City, Utah about 70 miles to the north. We bought a home on about a quarter acre lot and started our iris collection in earnest then. My next door neighbor was already addicted to irises and I caught the bug from her although I had already been dabbling in them. My neighbor and I would order various different irises from Schreiner's and Cooley's and in 2-3 years when we divided them we would share with each other.

Early pictures of the Brigham City garden.

Early pictures of the Brigham City garden.

By the time we moved again in 2005 we had a pretty large  collection. 

In 2000 we bought a piece of property seven miles south of us in Willard.  It was 5 ½ acres and included peach, cherry, apple and plum trees.  It also had unlimited room for irises.  I made my husband promise we would build a house there.  He needed to retire first.

We put three rows of irises in the field but the house was not yet started.  The rows were 75 feet long.

The irises flourished in the orchard soil. It had lots of drainage and other nutrients. 

Intermingled with the iris story is the story of our dream home. In 2003 we started building our dream home. It was the ultimate Do-It-Yourself project.. I did not know how difficult it would be so not knowing any better we took the plunge. We worked on the house eight hours every day except Sunday for 18 months until we finally moved in with the main floor finished on January 5, 2005. Our house in Brigham sold a year later and that is when we brought all the starts that we could find to the new place in Willard.

Digging up the irises from the Brigham City garden took a lot of effort.

Here is a picture of the back of the house before Neal put the rock and stucco on it.

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This is the back of the house after the rock and stucco were added.

 This is after we had moved all the irises from the yard in Brigham.

The finished courtyard and water feature in 2016.

 

This picture was taken in 2009

As you can see this photo was taken in 2011 when we had been in our home about 6 years.

This picture was taken in the front yard looking through the iris at our house.  It is one of my favorite photographs. 

Another picture of our dream home taken at the golden hour.

People always comment on the mountain backdrop.  It really does make a pretty setting.

These are the 3 peaks that are east of our house.  This is the view from the front porch. Our iris are at elevation 4,329.

In 2010 something happened that drastically changed our hopes and dreams. We had planned on staying in our home for the rest of our lives. That is now called "age in place". As you all know life doesn’t always go as planned. In 2010 my husband was diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Neal was only 64 years old at the time. We were stunned. What would we do? How could I possibly watch and help my beloved husband as he slowly lost abilities and memories? Besides that he was the sole person who took care of the 350 orchard trees. There is a saying by Bob Marley that "you don't know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice". Well we kept plugging along for six more years. We finished the basement and all the little things that weren't quite done on the house. We hired a landscaper and a contractor to build a courtyard in the back yard with a water feature and to put in sprinklers and trees, shrubs, and lawn in the back yard. This time we didn't do the work ourselves. We got everything just how we wanted it. Neal still worked in the trees and the irises and I ordered, cataloged, planned color beds etc. for the irises. In 2014 I started writing about irises for the American Iris Society Blog.

We tried to do a lot of things together  as a family to enjoy Neal while we could. This is my children and a couple of grandchildren putting together the gazebo.

The courtyard and fountain after they were finished.

Back view from the air looking east.

In 2016, January, I slipped on black ice and broke my right arm up by the shoulder and a fracture about 2 inches down from the socket.  It was a bad break and didn’t heal right so in August I had surgery to repair a rotator cuff and take out bone chips and clean up other damage.  2 ½ weeks later I fell at home and broke my left arm in exactly the same place as my right arm.  Now I was helpless and in two slings.  Three days after falling our son came and took us and our suitcases to stay with him and his family for three weeks. I couldn't drive for four months during the 2016 year. We then went to a Senior Living Center into a small apartment where I could heal.  It was there that we realized that life in Willard and our Irises and dream home were too much work for us now.  We decided to put our home up for sale.  It was something we never planned on doing but we would live closer to our kids for when I needed help. 


Our dream home is currently on the market and we will be looking for something to live in south of Salt Lake probably in Alpine.  We will downsize and hopefully find living a bit easier.  

The finished dream home

Four months ago Neal qualified for Hospice care so a nurse comes in once a week and an aid twice a week to help me.  I am grateful for their support and the support of my children and grandchildren

I am not writing this to whine. We have had so many blessings and have received love and encouragement from family and friends. This blog is just to explain why this will be my last blog for a long while. I guess there are some things more important than irises…but not many.

I am grateful that Renee Frazer and Andi Rivarola asked me to write about Tall Bearded Irises.  Irises have been a joy for us and it has been fun to get to know other iris lovers.  I have worked with many other fine vendors and consider them my friends and appreciate their work in hybridizing and selling their creations. I especially want to thank Phil Williams from Rocky Top Iris Gardens for his words of understanding and encouragement.  They helped more than he will know.  Finally I want to share favorite pictures of irises through the years. 

'Gypsy Lord' Keith Keppel, 2005, Dykes Medal 2015 (Gitano in the background)

'Embrace Me' Robert Van Liere, 2008

'Stairway To Heaven' Larry Lauer, 1992 , Dykes Medal 2000

'Aphrodisiac' Schreiners, 1986.  This was taken at at 6:15 p.m. and so there is more pink color than usual.

'Bravery' Joseph Ghio , 2011. Dramatically beautiful!

'Daughter Of Stars' Donald Spoon, 2000, Bloomed for me in May and again in October and though I didn't document it , I think it bloomed a couple of other months too.

'Happenstance' Keith Keppel, 2000 Perfect!

'Edith Wolford' Ben Hager, 1984, Dykes Medal 1993.  This photograph is probably my favorite that I have ever taken.  It won Runner Up in the photo contest for 2016. I love the light coming through it making it shimmer.

The iris patch with the mountains in the background. This photograph was one of the winners in the photo contest in 2016.  I felt very honored.  


I don't know where we are going to finally settle.  I don't even know if we will have irises anymore.  Paul Auster said goodbye better than I can: "and now we get to the hard part, the endings, the farewells, and the famous last words. if you don't hear from me often, remember that you're in my thoughts.” 

I can't say it any better.  Happy gardening.