By Bryce Williamson
Sometimes, when an iris hybridizer dies, too quickly his or her irises drop
out of commerce and the last introductions often fail to get
awards. Paul Cook did win the Dykes the year after his death, and
Monty Byers is a huge exception—three posthumous Dykes Medals. There are others, however, who are not as well remembered, so I would like to tell you about two Region 14 hybridizers who I miss. This post is on Joe Gatty.
Joe Gatty was a New Jersey transplant
to Northern California. He first had success as a hybridizer when his white tall bearded iris 'Friendship' won the President's Cup. Until his death, Joe produced lovely things
from what was really a small seedling patch. Mary Dunn remarked that Gatty irises can be viewed in black and white because
they are studies in form.
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| Joe Gatty (Photo courtesy of Keith Keppel) |
Joe was also an accomplished breeder of median irises. While I am focusing on his tall bearded iris, I must mention that the famous 'Gingerbread Man' has a Gatty seedling as one parent; and 'Rare Edition', an IB plicata, still looks good and sells well today. The story of Joe's medians, however, must wait for another day.
Just before moving to California in 1969, Joe explained to me how he had made many out crosses (crosses between two named varieties from other hybridizers) wanting to get some new blood into his hybrids.
Keith Keppel explains that "Liz
Aulicky had offered use of her land to grow seedlings, so seedlings from his
1967 New Jersey crosses were planted at Liz's in 1968. His 1968 seeds
were sent to me and were planted in California, lined out in 1969. When
he arrived in California in 1969, that year's crosses were made on what
I was growing....it was with great trepidation that he used such 'tender California stuff' as 'Launching Pad' and 'New Moon', because he
figured the seedlings would not be hardy back east. We had to twist his
arm to get him to put 'White Lightning' on the market. Also
in 1969, Liz sent what she had selected from the seedlings blooming
from his 1967 seed crop. 'Princess', 'Liz', 'Shining Light', 'Vamp' and 'Hooray' were amongst her selections."
Here are a few examples of his wonderful
pinks through the years.
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| 'Princess' |
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| 'Chanteuse' |
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| 'Playgirl' |
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| 'Paradise' |
At last spring's Clara B. Rees Iris Society show, there was a wonderful stalk of 'Fashion Statement', also out of his pink breeding:
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'Fashion Statement' Photo by Riley Probst
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Every time that I see a lovely pink iris, I always judge them against the Gatty pink standard. Near the end of his life, Joe released 'Haute Couture', and with its pleated ruffling, it suggested a different direction in form. To date, it is the only variety that I know with this distinctive deep pleating way down into the falls.
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| 'Haute Couture' |
Joe's first California native Tall Bearded iris was 'White Lightning' and quickly he took the line forward with increasingly
lovely creations. Some of the 'White Lightning' children are pictured below.
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| 'White Lightning' Photo by Keppel |
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| 'Lemon Punch' |
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'Dream Affair'
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Joe was not all soft colors, as the next
two pictures indicate:
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| 'Finalist' |
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'Show Biz'
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Along the line Joe had some good golds,
though they did not seem to attract as much attention as his other
colors.
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'Bold Gold'
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Joe was also generous. He would share
pollen and plants, and two of my introductions had a Gatty seedling a
parent.
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| 'Gauguin' (Williamson)--from a Gatty seedling |
Despite his years in California, Joe never lost his charming New Jersey accent, and he maintained his eye for lovely form. One of Joe's great successes was the white 'Friendship', and one of his loveliest irises still in commerce today is the deeply ruffled white, 'Arctic Express'. Who needs color with form like this?
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| 'Arctic Express' Photo by Superstition Iris Garden |
Although I still grow many of Joe Gatty's irises of lovely form, I failed to get his delicious recipe for cheesecake, which I regret to this day.
Editor's Note: Do you grow any of Gatty's lovely irises? How about you East Coasters?
