Jean and I

by Kevin Vaughn

Jean at her 92nd birthday party together with her 3 daughters.

When Jean Witt passed in 2016 it marked the end of a 50 year correspondence and friendship.  Jean put this then 12 year old in an elite MTB robin that included the likes of Dorothy Guild (who became another long time pen pal), Mary Louise Dunderman, and Walter Welch.  In those days, MTB pods were few and far between. The original Williamson plants, excepting Nambe and Widget, were close to sterile, so that a good crop of seedlings for a year’s effort might be 20-30. Of those seedlings, fewer might qualify as MTBs because of a too large stalk or flower.  With encouragement of Jean and the other robin members, I was able to introduce three of my MTB seedlings that met the class and were improvements on the existing MTB cultivars of their day.   Jean introduced the last two, ‘Real Jazzy’ and ‘Tammy’s Tutu’.  ‘Real Jazzy’ still finds favor in my eyes for its intense coloration and fine form.

For 30 years, I lived and gardened in MS, where bearded irises were risky and the diploid MTBs hated the lack of cold, but a move to Oregon 2010 allowed my program to start and it was time to rekindle a relationship with Jean again.  It was such a pleasure having Jean visit my garden twice during MTB peak and go through the seedling patch with me.  Even in her 90’s she had very definite opinions on MTBs and where the class needed to go.  She convinced me to save a few things that were not a perfect fit for the class but that added important genetic material to the MTB “stew”.  Jean was excited that I was again doing MTBs and gifted a number of seedlings for me to use in breeding.  Among these were several pastel variegata blends from a lavender plicata seedling that she had dubbed “Persis”: (‘King Karl’ X ‘Rhages’) crossed with ‘Jazzy Décor’.  One of these seedlings, now named ‘Jean Witt’, was a genetic powerhouse, and the first crop of seedlings from (‘Sun Dream’ X ‘Jean Witt’) produced an incredible series of seedlings from variegatas, amoenas, maculosas (yellows splashed with violet), and broken colors.  Best yet the X54 series seedlings were all perfectly formed, in-class flowers with high fertility.  I look forward to seeing the first seedlings from crosses with the X54 seedlings next spring.  Many of these had what Jean had described as the “fall flip”, not quite a ruffle but an undulation of the falls that imparts a bit of grace.  It started with 'Real Jazzy' and Jean found that addition was better than ruffling in terms of keeping the MTBs more like their diploid ancestors.

Vaughn Seedling X 54-3 with the "fall flip"

Vaughn seedling X54-1 with the "fall flip"

Clump of Vaughn X 54-3

Vaughn seedling X54-6 (maculosa)

Vaughn seedling X 54-8 (erratic)

When Jean passed, her daughters dug many of the plants from the garden for me to grow on to see if anything would be introduced or useful for further breeding.  Besides the plant we had already named ‘Jean Witt’, there were several that commanded attention at the Region 13/ TBIS meeting this spring.  One that was blooming its head off that first day of tours is a most unusual dotted plicata with the dotting only in the center of the falls.  This has rather nice shape including the fall flip that Jean liked.  Unlike many other MTB breeders that just crossed MTBs to MTBs, Jean wanted to incorporate the best of the diploid TBs into the stew.  Such was the case with this seedling. ‘Rhages’ is an all-over dotted plicata TB and a beautiful pattern. No MTBs existed in this pattern. However, this dotted seedling was a much daintier and beautiful edition of ‘Rhages’.  It doesn’t have pollen but is a sinfully easy pod parent. It is being registered as ‘Just a Dusting’.   Another related seedling that Jean had nicknamed “Sanded Epaulettes” is a Tea Apron type plicata with the hafts heavily peppered on a white ground but no markings elsewhere.    One that Jean nicknamed “Icie” is a lovely flower of clear white standards and falls strongly lined and dotted medium blue-purple.  It has lovely form and is sinfully fertile in both directions.  It is on the shorter side for MTBs, ~18” tall but still manages 7-8 buds/ stalk.  Besides these three plicatas, there were several nice smooth lavender blues, a brown plicata, and a very odd one she had nicknamed “Yellow Stripe” as it was a pale yellow- cream flower but with a yellow belly stripe on the falls.  These were also considered but none seemed either a perfect fit for the class or were the level of advancement in their class/ color that would have pleased Jean.  Several of these have been used as parents.

 'Just a Dusting'

Just a Dusting (clump)

 "Sanded Eppaulettes"

Jean had been working with red MTBs for some time and her Redrock Princess has been a most popular introduction of hers, garnering an AM and being widely used as a parent for MTBs.  Included in the plants dug by Jean’s daughters were ones designated Witt Red #1-3.  These have the unlikely pedigree of ‘Little White Tiger’ X ‘Wawona’ (an unintroduced rusty red) but  ‘Little White Tiger’ was chosen for its form (the fall flip) as well as its nearly perfect MTB proportions even though it was not red.  #2 and #3 were both blooming on the weekend of the tour. Both are pretty much the same size and rust reds with sort of yellow infusions and had the same size and proportion as Little White Tiger with lots of buds on both.   We have chosen #3 of these to be named “Resplendent Redhead” that Jean wanted to use for a deceased granddaughter who had red hair and this one has the color from the orange side, much like human red hair.  When Witt red #1 bloomed I stood before the flower just shocked. It was REALLY red.  Jean had found malvidin in some of the variegatas, the same pigment that makes LA iris red, and this flower had that color of I. fulva in the falls.  I danced a little jig right on the spot (well I am Irish after all!). Then I took the ruler out to measure the stalk. Right at 28” in a year when stalks were often shorter than normal and this seedling was blooming from smallish rhizomes.  Jean would kill me if I introduced a MTB of hers that was too tall! The good news is that it is easily fertile, setting pods on ‘Austin’ and several seedlings of mine and setting seed from pollen of ‘Austin’ and ‘Bold Imp’.  After Jean made such progress on red color I hope that I can get one in those colors with the requisite shorter stalk.  This shade of red is not only a break for the MTBs but for all bearded irises so it needs to be used with abandon!

 "Resplendent Redhead"

Witt Red #1, incredible red coloration, reddest I have seen in bearded iris

Jean passed before she could plant her last seed crop so I also planted these.  Of course we were all hoping for a breakthrough there but only two seedlings of consequence bloomed, both from a bee pod on “Icie”.  One is most interesting flower sort of a gray color with standards edged yellow and falls more lavender, a new color pattern.  A plicata sib that was like a more intense version of “Icie” was also saved.

Grey/ lavender with yellow rim on standard from "Icie"

Besides inheriting the plants and seed, 10 huge boxes of correspondence and notebooks arrived that included the MTB robin letters all the way back to 1952. This was a fascinating read over last winter and shows just how frustrating the MTB class was at their beginnings and what these workers had overcome to bring us to our present state of MTBs.  Jean had quickly found that crossing the original Williamson MTBs with each other just repeated the patterns of the originals.  Even early on, Jean used a number of diploid TBs and BBs such as ‘La Neige’, ‘Mrs. Andrist’, ‘Extempore’, ‘Meadowlark’, and ‘Rhages’ as well as the species I. variegata var. reginae and I.astrachanica in crosses with MTBs.  Not all of these crosses were successful in generating MTBs but they served as parents for further seedlings that did.

 From the correspondence it was clear that Jean was a great “instigator” of trying to interest others in the cause of breeding iris, as she shipped seeds and plants to people all over the world.  When I came across letters between Bee Warburton and Jean in the late 70’s, I had a great chuckle.  Bee wrote “I think the hosta people have kidnapped our Kevin” with Jean responding  “and how do we get him back?”  Both Bee and Jean were involved in “finding jobs for good candidates” and in general encouraging new people to take up the cause.  I hope that both Jean and Bee are pleased that I took up the MTB cause again.

One of the highlights of the 2018 season for me was being visited by all three of Jean's daughters and sharing the excitement of working through Jean’s seedlings for possible introduction.  Jean obviously had some good genes herself as her daughters and grandchildren were all just great people and I felt an almost immediate kinship with them.  I am happy that several of the seedlings that her daughters rescued will be sent onto Terry and Barbara Aitken for introduction.  Aitken’s Salmon Creek had introduced a number of MTBs for Jean and will handle these last introductions for her too.

So thank you Jean for spending a lifetime working with MTBs, introducing unique diploids and species into the genetic stew, and creating a line of highly fertile plants that the rest of us are the beneficiary.  Job well done!

Developing New Pacifica Iris Hybrids

Kathleen Sayce

January 1, 2017

This could be titled the Frustrations of Developing New Hybrids. 

The current issue of Pacific Iris came out two weeks ago, and it includes sadness:  well-known irisarian Jean Witt died in 2016. Jean cast a very long shadow over many decades of iris breeding, including PCI and wide crosses between PCI and Sibiricae species. This issue celebrates her life, including decades of her work hybridizing, guiding generations of irisarians, and looks at the future of iris hybridization from the viewpoint of several current growers.

The last time we spoke, Jean told me that the world of iris breeding is still wide open. As much has been done, we have only scratched the surface, she said. New patterns, new colors, and new genetic crosses await us. 

My own perspective has changed greatly over the years that I’ve been growing PCI. I began with the desire to grow sturdy plants with flowers in a rainbow of pure colors in an ever widening range of flowering months. Local climate constraints [growing on the coast of the Pacific Northwest] became clear over several frustrating years of failed crosses, and even lack of seed set on open pollinated flowers during particularly wet springs. This reality led me to rethink breeding goals. I started other beardless Iris species from seed, with a goal of wide crosses with PCI. Several of those plants immediately picked up a virus, so out they went. It was time for rethinking. 

Iris tenax in the garden, grown from seed and showcasing the sturdy flowers, held well above leaves and in this case, with nicely rounded petals. 

I offer my modified goals here, as we enter winter in the northern hemisphere. 

Goal One: Well-shaped flowers that don’t melt in the rain. 
The pale yellows I developed a few years ago have fragile flowers. One good rainstorm, and the petals are gone. White and other pale flower colors often have the same issue. Richard Richards’ very sturdy white-flowered hybrids from southern California, bred for heat tolerance and long summer droughts, hold up to my local rain. Largely ruffly flowers with wide petals and abundant frills also tend to do badly in wet weather, as do most flat dinner-plate type petals. I have a new appreciation every wet spring for those narrow, sturdy falls on species PCI that bend down rather than out. 

Floppy pods! Snails and slugs may chew on the pods when they are flat on the ground. 

Goal Two: Flowering stems that stand up and flex in high winds, and hold their seed pods up, weeks later.  
While stems that flop over undoubtedly help with seed dispersal in nature; in the garden, this makes it hard to find and collect seeds. I started with green organza bags to enclose pods, only to find that they vanish in the garden, sometimes for years. Brightly colored bags do better, but upright stems are better still. 

One of the sturdiest PCI in the coastal garden is this dwarf Iris douglaisana selection. The flowers are plain, and yes, this one stands up to rain and wind nicely. 

Goal Three: Plants that are strong, vigorous, and sturdy, with a variety of heights. 
Too many current hybrids are all the same size. Historically, PCI had very short plants, well under 12 inches (25 cm) in height, as well as tall plants, more than 30 inches high (76 cm). Bring back the full range of heights! I’m now selecting, as much as I can, for taller, stronger plants. Each climate has its own constraints and opportunities, and in my climate, sturdiness is an important goal. 

An I. douglasiana selection from Cape Blanco, Oregon, has plain lavender flowers on sturdy stems, and is taller than most PCI. 

As for colors? Ha. I’ll take what I can get, to get started on the next century of PCI hybrids. It's back to the drawing board for me. Jean is right:  the field is wide open for new irises of all kinds.  

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!