The top 15 Iris at ‘Smokin Heights’ season 2019/20 in Australia!

By Mel Schiller and Bailey Schiller

We are smack bang in the middle of digging customer orders right now before Christmas. Here is our top 15 Iris for this current season.

15. 'Mallee Sunrise' (Stribley '07) BB: An excellent garden Iris that grows well and blooms reliably. It puts on a wonderful show and calls viewers over from across the field.

14. 'Ruby Slippers' (Keppel '02) IB: On the older side now but it is an absolute showstopper!

13. 'Dedicated' (Black '11) SDB: Very unusual almost green colouring makes you do a double take. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, it has that wow factor!

12. 'Coralina' (Johnson '14)TB: Super bubble ruffled in peach tones makes this variety standout!

11. 'Line Drive' (M Sutton '07) IB: Nothing else like it! What more can we say?

10. 'Lancer' (Shockey '95) AB: An older Arilbred but it keeps up with the newer varieties. Its dark signal against the pastel lavender tone makes it very appealing.

9. 'Brilliant Disguise' (Johnson '08) TB: Flowers are born in abundance on this variegata. You won’t miss this Iris as you walk past!

8. 'Terse Verse' (Blyth '00) SDB: Very easy growing dwarf that covers itself in bloom season after season. Very strange colouring that is hard to describe.

7. 'Merchant Marine' (Keppel '07) TB: An all-time favourite in this colour class. Everything about it is perfection, we expect nothing less of Keith Keppel!

6. 'Voulez-vous' (Johnson '15) TB: A fabulous flat Iris that is among the best in this class. We use it a lot in hybridizing!

5. 'Splatter Matter's' (Painter '10) TB: We thought this would be popular, it proved us right!

4. 'Molokini' (M Sutton '16) TB: One of those “love it or hate it” Iris. For lovers of the unusual this is the Iris for you!

3. 'Waves On The Coast' (B. Schiller '19) TB: The illusion of a blue and green iris from the distance….interesting!

2. 'Kissed By Fire' (M. Schiller '19) TB: Garden visitors revelled in the magnet of colour this iris provided.

1. 'Edge Of Happiness' (Barry Blyth '19) TB: Barry Blyth has created this beautiful iris. Our most favourite from the season just gone by. WOW!

We find that iris seasons differ from year to year. Customers decide on the colour scheme iris for each year. Last year 'orange' appeared to be popular. This season, well it has yet to be decided! 

Well, we will leave you to it we have digging to do!

Happy Gardening!

On the Road Again: The Keppel Garden

By Bryce Williamson

My second stop on the 2019 tour of iris gardens in Oregon and Washington was the garden of Keith Keppel in Salem. For many years, Keith Keppel’s garden in Stockton was a must visit destination. With his retirement from the US post office, Keith made the huge move to Salem, Oregon. While he was in California, it was easy to visit the garden several times during bloom season, but it is not so easy now with the added distance. The last few years I have made it up to Oregon—part of this On the Road Again saga—and I especially was interested in seeing his progress with plicatas. In addition to that work, Keith has spent a lot of time and energy creating endless variations of dark top irises.

Considering that Keith still does all his work, he remains spry and I cannot believe the energy he has to maintain his acreage--I looked at the work involved and was ready for a nap. 

The last two years, I have made a beeline to the plicatas to see what is new and different.

Kepple 12-015-A

Keppel 13-16-E

Brass Lamp brings the dark top patterning into a new color range.

'Brass Lamp'

And taking dark tops into a totally different color range:

Fashion Event 2020

Other seedlings of interest:

Keppel 13-51-A

Keppel 13-54-A

Remare L-22-B

Keppel 12-41-G

Named varieties that I liked:

'Clean Energy'

I did not expect to like 'Dancing on Ice' and it is subtle, but has lots of personality.

'Dancing on Ice'

This was the first time to see Thomas Johnson's iris with the amazing shoulder colors.

'Elite'

Oddly, there has been a lack of good neglectas of late and 'Major Issue' is bold and has huge, crowd pleasing flowers.

'Major Issue'

'Ocean Liner'

'Sugar High'

Barry Blyth's 'Flauntress'

After a too short visit to the Keppel garden, it was On the Road Again, again in a shortcut that Kevin Vaughn provided to the Vaughn and Lauer gardens south of Salem.

2019 Cook-Douglas Medal Winner

 The American Iris Society

Announces the

2019 Cook-Douglas Medal Winner

‘Raspberry Ice’

'Raspberry Ice' (Keith Keppel, R. 2011) Seedling# 05-20F. SDB, 15" (38 cm), Midseason bloom. Standards buff rose (M&P 3-CD-8) shading to orchid (43-FG-7) toward base; style arms buff rose; falls apricot cream (9-B-4) ground, 3/8" blended buff rose and orchid band, shoulders peppered and veined darker greyed orchid (45-I-3); beards candy pink (2-H-10) and pale orchid (42-G-2) giving rusty coral effect. Seedling# 01-18C: (seedling# 99-24A, 'Arvo' sibling x seedling# 99-24H) X seedling #98-25N: ('Music' x 'Stormy Circle'). Keppel, 2012. HM 2014, AM 2016.

This medal is restricted to standard dwarf bearded (SDB) irises. It is named in honor of Paul Cook (1891-1963) and Geddes Douglas (1902-1993). Paul Cook's work with dwarf irises was truly pioneering. His early breeding of dwarf irises led to a series of I. arenaria hybrids. He was the first to use the true I. pumila in his breeding programs, and this resulted in the introduction of the first of the great stud irises in the standard dwarf class. Geddes Douglas was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1902. Douglas's historically most important hybridizing achievements were with dwarf irises. Working with stock from Paul Cook, Douglas's crosses of I pumila with tall bearded irises created the race of irises that came to be known as 'lilliputs.'

The World of Irises blog will be posting once a day all of the medal winners. The entire list of winners can be found at the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.

A View from Russia of Gypsy Lord and Children

I am glad to welcome all fans of irises! My name is Sergey Stroganov, and I live in the South of Russia (USDA zone 6B). In our country, there are a lot of fans of beautiful flowers, and many of these gardens grow bearded irises. The most popular iris in those gardens is tall bearded, which are grown from 3 to 8 zones. Here and in my garden I grow mostly tall bearded irises. I am very grateful for the kind offer to blog, and my first photo post I want to devote to all known variety of iris 'Gypsy Lord' and varieties obtained with his participation, which are more than 90 (in our I garden grow some of them).

So- 'Gypsy Lord' (Keith Keppel, 2005) - a posh iris, winner of honorary reviews and medals - Honorable Mention 2008; Franklin Cook Cup 2008; Award of Merit 2010; Wister Medal 2015, American Dykes Medal 2015! Conspicuous long bright beard, contrasting falls, good shape and branching and great growth. In the spring, before budding, thanks to its advanced growth of green mass it is pleasing to the eye.

Now presenting irises with Gypsy Lord as a parent.

Largely inherited the qualities of a parent - 'Brilliant Idea', Keith Keppel, 2008 (Parentage: Gypsy Lord X 02-185D: (Restless Heart x Queen's Circle)): the same long beard, only orange; shaded edge on the falls and abundant and powerful growth:

Iris  ‘Giorgio’ Paul Black, 2013 (Parentage: Kiss of Passion X Gypsy Lord) – excellent shape, contrast and good growth:   

  

Iris 'Royal Orders' Barry Blyth, 2008 (Parentage: Gypsy Lord X Decadence) – a direct descendant of two legendary masterpieces:   

                

A very effective amoena with contrasting beards, 'Snaparazzi' Barry Blyth, 2011 (Parentage: Legerdemain X Gypsy Lord):

Dramatic neglecta with contrasting beards: 'Honourable Lord’ Barry Blyth, 2009  (Parentage: Legerdemain X Gypsy Lord):

The next sample of beauty is the neglecta 'Big Spender' Barry Blyth, 2014 (Parentage: Gypsy Lord X Keppel 04-71D: (98-181E, Naughty Nights sib, x Decadence), wide, very ruffled flower with a deep, rich color:

Iris 'Girls Got Rhythm', Barry Blyth, 2013 with a long parent list (Parentage: Gypsy Lord X Keppel 05-114A: (01-99A: (96-28B, Mysterious Ways sib, x 98-122A: (Shoop 91-26: (Summer Fashion x Coming up Roses) x Lotus Land)) x Decadence)). As you can see, Gypsy Lord was good as a parent plant and as a parent.

A contrasting iris with gold edging on the standards, looking very rich  is 'King's Reign’ Thomas Johnson, 2015 (Parentage: Gypsy Lord X Edge of Heaven):

Next, I would like to Supplement my post with some wonderful photos of other Russian collectors in order to further expand the picture of the ideas about irises that came from the Gypsy Lord.

Frequently requested variety - 'Colour Bazaar' Barry Blyth, 2012 (Parentage: Gypsy Lord X Carnival Capers); the color of the flower resembles the color of a tropical butterfly! Photo by Victoria Myrova in her garden:  
  

Iris 'Paris Memory' Barry Blyth,2013 (Parentage: Let's Romp X Gypsy Lord). Photo by Victoria Myrova in her garden:

Repeatedly attracting the eye iris – ‘Tango Express’ Barry Blyth, 2010   (Parentage: Gypsy Lord X Keppel 02-177XY: (Brave Face x Parisian Dawn):

And, finally, one of the varieties of the Russian hybridizer – 'Kozyrny Tuz' Olga Riabykh, 2011. Bright, memorable, good and abundant growth.

Photo by Nadezhda Zotova in her garden. All other images by the author.