Irish Irises Are Smiling

By Griff Crump


Éireann go breá!  Yes, it's St. Patrick's Day, so why not take a look at some of the many irises that have an Irish flavor to their names?  For a start, here's 'Isle of Erin', (F. Gadd, R. 1985).

'Isle of Erin'

One of the earliest Irish-themed introductions of which a photo is available was 'Irish Linen' (Fay, R. 1954):

'Irish Linen'

In 1962, Alta Brown registered her miniature dwarf 'Irish Doll'.  Whereas most of the Irish-themed irises tend toward a greenish hue, the falls of this one are certainly more yellow.  But that's okay.  In ancient days, the preferred color for Irish raiment was yellow.  The color was obtained from the pollen of crocuses.  Imagining how many crocuses it would have taken to produce enough dye to color even one woolen cloak, and thus the cost, one can figure the social status of a wearer who could afford such a garment!  Later, Irish milliners found a less expensive source of the color in saffron imported from India.  The wearin' of the yellow ended, however, when Elizabeth I, having consolidated her rule over Ireland, prohibited the native Irish from wearing their traditional woolen cloaks and the color yellow.  (A culture-eradicating tactic as insidious as those pursued by the Soviets of the 20th Century.)

'Irish Doll'

Betty Wilkerson registered 'Tara's Choice' in 2002  --  the hill of Tara being the place a bit north of Dublin where Ireland's ancient kings were crowned.

'Tara's Choice'

Ireland has long been known as the land of saints and scholars, but to that we would certainly have to add poets and musicians.  Gordon Plough in 1978 introduced 'Irish Tune'.

'Irish Tune'

And the late George Sutton introduced his standard dwarf bearded 'Irish Chant' in 2001.

'Irish Chant'

While looking at SDBs, I'll add my own 2009 SDB 'Bradan Eolais' (Salmon of Knowledge), so named because of its gold-washed salmon coloring.  The Bradán Eolais was a magical fish whose great powers were accidentally acquired by the mythical Irish hero Finn MacCool.

'Bradán Eolais'

From Keith Keppel in 2005 came 'Irish Jig'.

'Irish Jig'

 Many of us are familiar with L. Noyd's 'Pride of Ireland' registered in 1970.

'Pride of Ireland'

 Larry Lauer gave us 'Irish Gold' in 2004.

'Irish Gold'

And sure, when Irish gold is around, can a leprechaun be far away?  R. Fothergill introduced a Pacific Coast Native as 'Leprechaun' in 1959, but no picture is to be found!  Well, now, is that surprising, after all? And Hooker Nichols' 1982 'Leprechaun Kingdom' was similarly elusive.  Again, perhaps, too close to home.  Barry Blyth claimed to have found the big one, 'Leprechaun's Gold', in 1982, but again, no picture to be found, at all, at all. But other things leprechaun-ish do abound.

John Weiler introduced SDB 'Leprechaun's Delight' in 1987.

'Leprechaun's Delight'

C. Boswell presented a 'Leprechaun's Eyelash' for inspection in 1989, winning an HM in 1991and an AM in 1995 .

 

   'Leprechaun's Eyelash' SDB

Barry Blyth's 1993 'Leprechaun's Kiss' has also proven elusive.  A stolen kiss, perhaps?  Or could this image found in our Iris Encyclopedia under another file name be it?

 

'Leprechaun's Kiss'?

Chuck Chapman found a 'Leprechaun's Purse' in 1999.

'Leprechaun's Purse' SDB

Jim Hedgecock had a 'Leprechaun Fantasy' in 2012.

'Leprechaun Fantasy' Spuria

And, finally, I must admit that I am somewhat partial to the little people, since my great-grandfather Thomas Bernard Weadick (MacMhadoc) was born at an estate in County Wexford known as Parknashogue.  At least, that's the way the English rendered the name.  It was, in the Irish, Páirc na Sióg, which translates as Fairyland.  Here is Fairyland today: (The county government won't let them cut down the two ancient trees.)

Do you think a leprechaun might be found here?

Tenting tonight

By Griff Crump

"The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow . . ."  I forget who wrote that, but it was what the weatherman forecast for yesterday.  And, is so often the case, he was wrong.  No snow, after all.  BUT, he also forecast temperatures in the mid-20s for last night.  That, I had to take seriously.  Sad news for the several reblooming seedlings in the garden and for others which had stalks up but hadn't yet bloomed.  They'd be frozen by this morning.

Such early freezes are unusual here.  We had a lighter one a week ago, but socks on buds protected everything.  Last night, however, we faced the grim reaper.  So, I reluctantly cut a handsome stalk of sdlg 092U15, which I have already seen in bloom, and brought it inside to grace the table, but there were stalks up, in the garden, of two other seedlings which I have yet to see in bloom.  These, I wanted to see, if possible.  So, I tried a trick I've used successfully in the past: tenting.

In case any of you want to try it, here's how it works:

To cover a plant, I take a conical wire tomato frame, place it over the plant and anchor it in place with bricks.  (Alternately, one can snip off the circular base wire, leaving the vertical wires as prongs that can be stuck into the soil.  That's particularly practical if the foliage of your plant and its neighbors doesn't leave enough room for the bricks.)

Next, I take an old hooded sweatshirt and place it over the tomato frame, after having bent down the top wires so that the hoodie clears the top of the stalk and fits all the way to the bottom of the frame.

That done, I slip a sturdy plastic trash bag over the hoodie.

I then run an 80-foot outdoor extension cord from the house (or any other electrical source you might have in or near the garden), to which I attach a string of Christmas tree lights, with only three sockets containing bulbs.  (You may want to wrap each empty socket in plastic wrap to keep moisture out, or fill those sockets with dead bulbs, if you have that many.)  I place the three bulbs around the base of the plant, trying not to touch the foliage.  Then I plug in the cord (or flip the switch, whichever).  And, voila!  Heat!

Yes, the garden may look like Halloween, but the plants will be happy.  Notice, in the next photo, how the bags have partially puffed up as a result of the trapped heat. 

In the morning, when temps have risen above freezing, remove the plastic bags and unzip the hoodies so that the plants receive light. 

What the well-dressed iris wears for those cold nights.

So that's it, until the next freeze is forecast, when I zip up the hoodies and put the bags back on.  In the meantime, I leave the lights lit until the flower blooms.  

If you try it, let me know how it works for you!

Planning and Luck In The Iris Garden

By Griff Crump

Not all good results come from planning.  Sometimes, they are just gifts.  But in either case, we should be grateful.

Looking around among my seedlings, I find instances of both, sometimes in combination.

When I first saw 'Lumalite' (J. T. Aitken, R. 1995) at an iris show, I was so taken by its glowing appearance that, with the exhibitor's permission, I took it outside into the daylight to see if the effect lasted.

'Lumalite'

I acquired it as soon as I could, and crossed it with, among others, 'What, Again?'. 

'What, Again?'

I confess that I had no plan at this point --  just curiosity to see what the glowing effect of one combined with the curious color composition of the other would produce.  What I got was a gift: 'Elfin Sentinel'.

'Elfin Sentinel'

I was delighted with the flower and registered it, but it had a shortcoming (literally) that caused me not to introduce it:  The bloom barely topped its foliage.  Looking at its brilliant colors and clear patterning, however, I wondered what a back-cross to its parent 'Lumalite' would bring.  For one thing, I wondered if the slight blotchiness of 'Lumalite''s falls could be erased.   And it worked!  The new seedling retained 'Lumalite''s glowing heart, cleaned up the falls almost entirely, and added ruffles.  I introduced it as 'Bright Sprite'.

'Bright Sprite'

'Tis said that ignorance is bliss.  I can attest to that.  At a meeting of one of our iris societies several years ago, two good long-time hybridizers of my acquaintance were discussing the rebloomer 'Best Bet' (Schreiner's 1988) and the difficulty of keeping it alive (at least, in our area).  Both agreed that they would never use it in hybridizing, because of that fault.  I said nothing, since I already had a cross from 'Best Bet' that hadn't yet bloomed.  When it did bloom, it was a perky, hardy little border bearded amoena that, because of its colors and its parent's unhappy reputation, I registered as 'Against the Tide'.

 'Against the Tide'

Because of 'Against the Tide''s hardiness, I never feared to use 'Best Bet' in my breeding, and it is in the background of a number of my introductions, including  'Deep Purple Dream', the rebloomer 'Haunting', Ranks of Blue', 'Royal Pageantry' and a very prolific 2013 offering, 'Night Bird':

'Deep Purple Dream'

'Haunting'

'Ranks of Blue'

'Royal Pageantry'

'Night Bird'

And if one looks in the Iris Register at the 64 other entries involving 'Best Bet', it's obvious that many other hybridizers, as well, were either unaware of or undaunted by 'Best Bet''s bad press.
 

Another example of when the planning worked was the crossing of Barry Blyth's 'Knighted' (1987/88) with seedling 962N: (952Y3: (Champagne Elegance x 93L1: (Wabash x yellow Wabash sdlg.)) x Best Bet).

'Knighted'

Sdlg 962N

With strong amoena heritage on both sides of this cross, I looked for an amoena outcome, and wasn't disappointed.  Besides 'Royal Pageantry', which we have seen above, a near twin, Seedling 02S2, was produced.  I hesitated to introduce two such similar flowers, but have reconsidered, since garden visitors want it.  So, I plan to introduce it shortly.  Two photos of 02S2 follow:

Sdlg 02S2

Of course, a plan doesn't always work.  I had great hopes for the cross of 'Aura Light' (Blyth, R. 1993) by 'Romantic Evening' (Ghio, R. 1994).  The broad, flared, well-ruffled falls of both, with their heavy substance and bold colors, and the heritages suggesting the possibility of an amoena . . .

'Aura Light'

'Romantic Evening'

. . . and yes!  The cross produced amoenas 01S2 and 01S3, so alike that I can only tell them apart by keeping their plantings well separated, with rich, overlapping broad mahogany red falls  ---

Sdlg 01S2

Sdlg 01S3

--- BUT . . . 'Aura Light', for all its spectacular bloom beauty, is just a tad short in stature, and it passed it on to its kids, so that, in my estimation, these two seedlings don't have quite the proportion of height to bloom size that they should have for introduction.  But, with planning and and a bit more luck, do I hope that they'll still figure in something beautiful?  You betcha!