By Renee Fraser
A while back, I promised to tell you about some of the most popular new introductions for 2013. I know it is late in the season, but I'll continue the series anyway so that you can add to your lists for next year. So here is another 2013 favorite of irisarians, this time from Rick Tasco of Superstition Iris Gardens in Cathey's Valley, California. Rick says "our 2013 introduction that has been drawing the most interest
and the most sales has been "Molten Flame." It is 34"
tall and is heavily ruffled with an intense red orange beard. It has up
to 10 buds, with triple sockets at times. It is a cross between one of my
Dykes Medal winners ("Golden Panther") and a brilliant intense orange seedling by
Ben Hager. Ben gave us that orange seedling before his death and we've
been working with it for years trying to capture that shocking intense brilliant
orange color, which has to be seen to be believed. Recently we've been
getting close to that color in a proper flower and "Molten Flame" is a result of
that breeding. It has taken many years and different crosses to get all
the proportions right because Ben's seedling is too short to be a Tall Bearded
and the flower is too big for it to be a Border Bearded, that it why it was
never introduced either by Melrose or by Cooley's after Ben's passing. "Molten Flame" finally is tall enough at 34" with a heavily ruffled
moderately-sized flower. "Golden Panther" helped by passing on its superior
bud count."
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| "Molten Flame" Tasco, 2013 Photo Credit Rick Tasco |
"Those of you who have visited our garden have undoubtedly seen
the Hager seedling. At times, we try to "hide" it in the
seedling patch because everyone always asks about that "orange
flower". It can be easily spotted in a crowded seedling bed.
We will continue to work with it and see what else develops."
Bright orange tall bearded irises are few and far between, so we are quite excited about this break in color. I love orange and use it extensively in the garden, so I look forward to seeing this iris in person. Do you grow orange irises? Which ones?
