By Bryce Williamson
The history of selling irises to the
public in the Santa Clara Valley has a long and illustrious past.
There have always been gardens selling irises here. When I first
joined the
Clara B. Rees Iris Society, Faye and Othellia Scofield
gardened in East San Jose selling irises and herbaceous
peonies. (I was remiss in not learning how they were
able to grow peonies, and all of my efforts have been expensive failures.) By the time I became fully involved in irises, most of the serious iris gardens were found on Bird Avenue in the Willow Glen area.
Clara and Ruth Rees had been growing
irises on Bird Avenue since the 1930's and it became a natural
extension for Ruth to sell to the public. For many years, her
collection of 6 pinks for $5.00 for a standard ad in the
San Jose
Mercury News around Mother's Day. To get to the gardens, we walked through the
small back yard and through a gate with its towering old rose bush.
The garden was divided into
a series of rooms separated by lattice work. That had the
advantage of adding an element of surprise--fixed firmly in my mind is the day I walked beyond one room
and into the next, to find a beautiful stalk of
'Swan Ballet'.
To the south was the “field.” Unlike today when most commercial growers reset all their plants each year, varieties in the Rees garden were grown in clumps—here was my first viewing of such classic irises as
'Cliffs of Dover',
'Amigo', and there was always a drift of
'Snow Flurry' in the garden.
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| 'Cliffs of Dover' |
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| 'Snow Flurry' |
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| 'Amigo' |
Rees creations include these two irises:
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| 'Light and Lovely' Rees |
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| 'Waltzing' Rees |
Bernice Roe was a late addition to Bird Avenue. While the Rees business was mainly carriage trade, Bernice, in my memory, only advertised once for local business and relied on her catalog instead. At one time she sold irises, chrysanthemums, and geraniums on King Road in East San Jose. I've been told that one of her red chrysanthemums was widely used and is a foundation parent for many red varieties in commerce today. She hybridized some real beauties.
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| 'Soft Contrast' Roe |
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| 'Velvet Morning' Roe |
Bernice's Bird Avenue house was a
gem—apparently built by a craftsman, it had a full basement and
attic and special features including windows that dropped out of
sight and finish boards that hinged over the unsightly casements.
Bernice was always interested in all types of irises—her very good
collection of Spurias were against the fences. She was always finding some new and exotic plant for her yard.
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'Fountainflow' Roe
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The final iris garden on Bird Avenue
was Bill Maryott and Marilyn Harlow's place. Bill purchased one deep
lot south of the Rees place and the house next door that had been the
Rees field. In many ways, Bill's nursery was the most successful
carriage trade garden ever in the valley. Around Mother's Day, cars
and visitors would clog the streets for blocks around the garden.
Bill, in his limited space, was able to create lovely irises. Bill
wisely realized the potential of Knopf's
'West Coast' and used it with
great success in creating his oranges. Personally I think his orange
line will be his most enduring legacy to the iris world, although
'That's All Folks' has been his biggest award winner. Bill relocated first to Freedom, California, and then went on to make a successful transition from iris to daylily hybridizing.
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| 'That's All Folks' Maryott Photo by Betty Jacobs |
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Spring in Maryott's Garden
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'Guadalupe' Maryott
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| 'Corona Gold' Maryott |
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| 'Pure As Gold' Maryott |
Recently I took a ride down memory lane
on Bird Avenue. The Rees home is gone, though Bill and Marilyn's
house is still there. What was once iris fields has become Iris Court, a street of million dollar homes, and one of the models is called 'Snow
Flurry'. Bernice's old house remains, much to my delight, but the
backyard has been paved over. The railroad tracks that ran along the
western back of the Maryott-Harlow and Rees properties have been
pulled up and there is debate as to what to do with the narrow strip
of land. One suggestion has was to turn it into an urban linear
parkway with a path for exercise and biking and connect it to the
larger trail system that now stretched from Morgan Hill to the bay. Wouldn't it be nice if irises were planted there?
The carriage trade sales of irises have
now shifted to the eastern foothills where
Nola's Iris Garden is
located. Here are the last places in the increasing dense Valley of
Heart's Delight where there is room to have a large iris garden.
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| Nola's Iris Garden in the rolling foothills |
If you visit the Willow Glen area and drive past Bird Avenue, close your eyes and imagine the iris farms that used to grace the area. Perhaps if you concentrate enough, you will smell the perfume that used to waft in the air.
