A Step into the Past of Iris Lore: Sydney B. Mitchell

By Bryce Williamson

While recently researching a judges’ training program, I found myself reflecting on how some of the important iris personalities of the past have faded from the conversation even though they played critical roles. Then, at Region 14’s 2023 fall meeting, Joe Ghio talked about “In the beginning…” Joe’s comments caused my mind to recall the contributions of Sydney B. Mitchell. His work is significant for three reasons; any of them would have ensured his place in iris lore.

First, Mitchell saved and introduced the Mohr irises after William Mohr’s early death in a car accident. The Mohr-Mitchell iris "San Francisco" went on to become the first American Dykes Medal winner.

'San Francisco' (Mohr, 1927)

Second, Lloyd Austin is often considered the father of space-age irises. Yet Mitchell’s plicata breeding played an important role in their development. Lloyd saw potential in a Mitchell plicata seedling (later introduced as ‘Advanced Guard’) and from that iris produced the world’s first horned iris: ‘Unicorn.’

'Advance Guard' (Mitchell, 1945)

'Unicorn' (Austin, 1954)

Finally, Sydney B. Mitchell loved Pacific Coast Native (PCN) irises and promoted them. Part of Sydney’s promotion effort was sending seeds around the world. Seeds sent to the United Kingdom would grow to become the foundation of PCN’s adapted to the English climate and ultimately Marjorie Brummitt's ‘No Name,’ winner of the British Dykes Medal in 1976.

'No Name' (Brummitt, 1973)

From Mitchell PCN seeds sent to Australia Hargreaves produced lovely seedlings, though none of these were named introductions. Later, Stanley Lott, Heidi Blyth, and John Taylor would carry on the Australian line for PCN irises and produced some lovely flowers.

‘European Mist’ (Heidi Blyth, 2009/2010)

Hargreaves seed made its way back to the United States, and a red seedling was widely crossed by Joe Ghio as one of the foundation parents of his lovely PCIs. Of course, Joe Ghio also has access to seed from Jack Craig who most likely obtained seed directly from Mitchell.

‘Red Light District’ (Ghio, 2015)

‘Going Bananas’ (Ghio, 2010)

Sidney B. Mitchell received the AIS Hybridizers Medal in 1941. The American Iris Society's medal for PCN irises is named for him, and rightly so. His book Iris for Every Garden helped the popularity of all types of irises and its chapter on hybridizing inspired a new generation of hybridizers.

The influence of Mitchell lives on today in modern tall bearded hybridizing and Pacific Coast Native irises.

The American Iris Society Announces the 2023 Sydney B. Mitchell Medal Winner

'RED DELICIOUS'

The Mitchell Medal is restricted to Pacific Coast Native (PCN) irises. It is named in honor of Sydney B. Mitchell (1878-1951). Professor Sydney Mitchell was an educator. He became Acting Librarian at the University of California during WW I, and later founded and became first director of the Graduate School of Librarianship at that university. He was also one of the organizers of the American Iris Society.

Tom Craig wrote this of him: "Sydney looked upon plant breeding as a long term international effort in which individuals from all over the world should co-operate and add generation after generation to a real human achievement. He made me feel a real part of this and more particularly a part of a special work started by William Mohr and carried on by himself. Sydney generously gave flowers and plants of seedling for further encouragement with this work."

Mitchell was also interested in the native irises of the West Coast, and promoted them at every opportunity. He took great pride in the plantings of PCNs in his own garden. He had a large collection of various forms of Iris innominata and I. douglasiana. 

Previous award winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.

Pacific coast native iris 'Red Delicious'
photo by Mike Unser

'Red Delicious' (Deborah Cole, 2012) Seedling# 99-PC2-1. CA, 10-12" (25-30 cm). Early to midseason bloom. Standards pink-ecru, veined dark red; style arms pale straw-yellow, style crests pink-ecru; falls dark red, veined darker, flared, arched; signal yellow, small, finely dark red veins; ruffled pink-white 1/4" rim on all petals. 'Dracularity' X 'Big Smile'.

The World of Irises blog will be posting classification medal winners as soon as the hybridizers are notified. The entire list of winners, including Award of Merit and Honorable Mention, will be published on the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia, and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.

Iris tenax - A wild population in Thurston County, WA

by Mike Unser

While exploring trails and State wildlife preserves in my local area several years ago, I found a wild population of Iris tenax, our local species in the Pacific Coast Iris family. I'd seen this species in the area before, but it was always in open grasslands and prairie preserves. Clumps of irises were growing along a shaded maintenance road and in open spaces with higher moisture content than open prairie lands provide.

Beside the road I. tenax seemed to be happily growing with little direct sunlight and competing with woodland. The clumps were open and not as dense as those found in full sun. Stalks tended to be more vertical and less arching.

The foliage was narrow and grass-like.

The blooms ranged in shade from lighter to darker in tones of orchid pink thru lavender, often with yellow signal markings and lighter fall lines. I caught a white clump blooming once but have not seen it since.

The flowers had flaring petals and enough waving on the falls to make the tips appear pointed. Quite a charming wildflower.

Further down the road the area opens out a bit and the woods recede to the edges of the clearing where  homes once stood. I am guessing they housed people working at the munitions factories in the area during the great wars of the early 20th century. Both homes and factories are long gone, but remnants of them can be found if you keep a sharp eye out.

The open areas are mowed every few years to keep the invasive Scotch broom down. This doesn't seem to harm the irises.

Some have deeper more intense colors to catch the eye.

There were even some very short ones blooming in the middle of the road.

This last one is my favorite. It was a very silvery-toned lilac. Quite unique in the population. I marked it and later scavenged a few seeds from which I have managed to get a single plant growing in the garden. Hoping it retains that unique color. We'll find out next spring. Now if that white one would just turn up again. Would love to get seed from it as well.

  

Golden Iris Flowering in my Garden

 By Kathleen Sayce

I wrote about the golden iris misses in my garden during my search for Iris innominata plants and or seeds from various sources in October 2021. Since then Tom Fischer, a member of the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris, took pity on me and shared seeds from his plants with me two years ago, and this spring, here's the result--flowers!

Iris innominata flowering in my garden with good dark yellow base color and red veins. 

I have several pots, so my next garden project is figuring out where to grow my own patch of this species. It is going to take a few years for my plants to come close to their parents, but as we know, gardening is all about patience. 

A beautiful clump of golden iris in Tom Fischer's garden.  

All it took was 27 years of patience and a determination to keep trying! Thanks, Tom!

First Flowers From "Dark Rose with Gold Signal" Seeds

by Kathleen Sayce

Rain was due on the night of May 1, so I went out before dark to take photos of first flowers that opened that day and the day before from one seed lot that was described in the Society for Pacific Coast Native Irises seed list a couple of years ago as having a pod parent with dark rose and gold signal flowers. 

The seeds were from Debby Cole's garden on Mercer Island near Seattle. These were the first flowers I have seen from this seed group. 

More than two decades ago, I had plans to select for new Pacifica iris with weather-resistant petals and clear, well-saturated colors that were adapted to my local climate. In the intervening years, I found that said climate is not conducive to hand pollination, or at times any pollination at all, of Pacifica irises. To put this simply, it's usually too wet and windy to hand pollinate Pacificas when modern hybrids are in flower. 

I tried small protective covers of twin-wall polycarbonate, weighted down with bricks to keep the wind from pulling them off and sailing them around the yard. Nope, still too windy; and often, the rain is horizontal, even in April and May. Flowers blow off stems, petals melt, or pollen simply does not germinate on the styles. 

These days, I get seeds from the SPCNI seed catalog and enjoy the fruits of other gardens instead. So here's what I have so far in 2022:

First up is a gold signal, rose veins and apricot base color combination that is quite lovely. The petals are not overly frilled and have a nice substance. I will be checking this and others in the wet weather to come to see how they hold up. 

The next flower is a lovely medium rose, dark rose veins on the falls, gold signal. It too has nice substance. What will the rain do to this one?

Darker rose, wider petals, and much darker rose veining to the petal tips, an interesting signal with a white outer area and a gold inner area. This iris is intriguing for the complexity of the falls, and its darker rose color. 

The last one is a good example of what goes astray between one's intentions in hybridizing and reality.  While I was trying to focus on the dark falls, I knocked this flower off the stem! Luckily, there is another flower on the same stem, and another stem still developing. While the coming storm won't help me see how it survives rain, the next few flowers may. 

It has smaller petals than the other three with nice substance to them, as irises with simpler petals seem to have.  There is also an interesting hint of paler color on the developing style arms--we'll have to wait for the next flowers to know for sure. 

So there you have it:  four out of eighteen pots, all with different flowers!

Magic Pods: When to gather Pacifica Iris seeds

October 2018, Kathleen Sayce

When I first started growing Pacifica Iris from seed, I collected several pods too early. The seeds were not fully developed, and resulting germination rates were low. There were also the usual vole, jay and squirrel problems—these animals being all too willing to eat germinating seeds. 

Ripe PCI pod, tips just starting to spread. It's time to gather fresh iris seeds. Photo by Bob Sussman

Come forward a few years; this year I was late gathering seeds, due to trips, work, and other commitments. What seeds I did collect were heavily colonized by fungi, despite a dry long summer along the Pacific Northwest coast. About half the seeds were composted due to fungal coatings. In many pods the seeds were completely felted together with fungal filaments. 

All of this left me with a complex about the right time to gather ripe Iris seeds. I asked for advice among a number of SPCNI members, thinking I must not be the only person who has struggled with ripening, predation, and fungi, and several people responded with comments and photos, including Debby Cole and Bob Sussman. I thank both of them for their helpful notes, and Bob for taking time to send photos. 

Label wrapping a pod that is close to being ready. Photo by Bob Sussman.

Timing of seed ripening is based on tracking pod appearance. Pods go from skinny green to plump yellow and then brown. Six to seven weeks is the usual incubation period after flowering. Species often ripen quickly, including Iris tenax, I. innominata and I. thompsonii, which all may have yellowing and opening pods in five to six weeks in warm climates. 

A slight opening of the pod tips may appear when seeds are ripe. This varies from ‘never opens the slightest’ to ‘splits wide open and tosses seeds out’. The latter usually happens when I’ve been inundated with visitors, trips or work and do not have time to gather pods. Organza bags can help contain the seeds, but don’t leave them for weeks, or the bags will be chewed through and the seeds removed. 

Open pods, some seeds have already shed. Note the withered flower, still attached, lower left. Photo by Bob Sussman.

The corollary to ‘never opens in the slightest’ is that those pods may need to be cut open to free the seeds inside. Some Iris douglasiana pods have this character. They go from green to yellow, often with a ‘shrink-wrapped over the seeds’ look, and then to plump brown, by which time the pods are woody, hard, and require tools to open without shedding blood. The worst of this lot are also the last to flower and thus to ripen seeds each summer. 

When ripe seeds are left too long, they will be discovered by voles, crows, jays, and various molluscan and insect seed-eaters. The only solution is to get to those pods ahead of the seed-eaters. 

Fungi appear to grow in the pod tissue and seed coats, and not in the seeds. I’ve had healthy seedlings grow from seeds heavily covered in fungi. But we can't seen around seeds that have visible mold. Biosecurity is getting tighter all the time. If we gather seeds at the right time, and reduce/eliminate fungi thereby, this helps reduce the chances that seeds will be rejected by inspectors. 

Viable fresh seeds, just released from the pod, which is still green. These seeds will dry to dark brown. Photo by Bob Sussman. Note the absence of fungi on these seeds. 

As for color, that is a feature of the moisture content of the seed. Fresh, viable seeds are very light brown, and dry seeds are dark brown. 

California Dreaming 2--Bay View Gardens

By Bryce Williamson

Joe Ghio has been hybridizing irises for more than 50 years and is the proprietor of Bay View Gardens in Santa Cruz. While he has dabbled in other types of irises including Spurias and Louisianas, he is best known for his work with tall bearded and Pacific Coast Native irises. This spring I was able to not only visit the home garden—spread over a vacant lot and the backyards of the two house next to his house—but also the “farm” at Freedom, California. While part of the farm is rented out to a blackberry grower, Joe does have long rows of irises and seedling there.

Joe was already an established hybridizer of tall bearded irises when he decided to breed Pacific Coast Natives. His foundation irises included seed and species collected in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the early days when Joe first started working with PCN’s, the flower had thin petals. If I had scheduled a visit to see them and it rained or Santa Cruz had high winds, I would have to reschedule since the flowers would be tattered. Not any longer the case—although still diploids, Joe has made major strides forward in flower durability and his recent hybrids hold up in wind and rain.

And the other amazing thing is the array of colors today. He has plicatas, bicolors, various lined flowers, and flowers with a contrasting eye at the heart of the flowers. The soft yellow and blue combinations are especially interesting. With this work, Joe has revitalized the interest in this group of irises. Sadly for many who will read this blog, the growing area for these lovely creations is limited.

Two Northern California hybridizers in the last 50 years have had a major impact on flower form. I have written in the past about Joe Gatty’s lovely creations and Joe’s huge, flower form changing work has been with “bubble ruffling.” Gone are the plain, tailored flowers of yester year and in are flowers with deeply ruffling and fluting. Joe’s bubble ruffled flowers forced all other tall bearded hybridizers to work ruffling into their creations.

Joe did win the Dykes Memorial Medal with ‘Mystique’, but I think judges missed another one of his early creations—‘Lady Friend’. I put it on the short list of irises that should have won the Dykes. It is an enduring creation that continues to be very popular today and one of those unique colors that has not been duplicated.

The following images are of some of Joe’s more recent creations.

Any one interesting in buying from Bay View Gardens can send $3.00 for a color catalogue to 1201 Bay Street, Santa Cruz, California 95060. Joe ships bearded irises in July and August and PCN’s in late October or November.

Editor’s note: This is the second part of my ‘On the Road Again’ blogs. The pervious one was about Nola’s iris garden and next in line will be Fleur de Lis at Modesto, California.

 

Growing Pacifica Iris for Foliage

By Kathleen Sayce 

Among the dozen or so species of Pacifica Iris, foliage is outstanding in only a few. By outstanding, I mean not simply green, but evergreen, and more, a luscious green color--dark, medium or light green, golden to blue-gray in tone. Leaves should also be shiny, substantial in feel, and durable. This creates a lovely dark anchor to other plants in the garden. 

Iris's shiny dark green fans are a good foil for dying fringecup foliage, and give the ground cover at a time when taller plants are flowering. 

Some Pacifica Iris foliage is lustrous and green year round. Use it in the garden to balance other plants even when it is not in flower.

One of the oft-repeated statements made about Pacific Iris is that leaf fibers were used by Native Americans to weave nets to trap, among other animals, elk. Hefty fiber levels in leaves means durability, and durability plus evergreen elevates foliage from one season to four. Take time to search out those sturdy-leaved species' selections and hybrids--they have year round presence in the garden.

I. innominata during flowering:  leaves are dark green, shiny and durable.

Iris innominata and its close cousin Iris thompsonii have narrow, dark green, evergreen leaves less than fifteen inches long. These species grow in dense tufts to slowly increasing circles, and then rings, if you are slow to divide and replant. They are useful as foliage accents in small scale spots or along border edges, planted with other low growing plants, including primroses and small bulbs. 

For larger plants with a bigger garden presence, look at Iris douglasiana. Many hybrids and selections of this species have light to medium green leaves, which may or may not look good fall through spring. A few have striking dark green foliage, which gives these irises a strong garden presence year round. 

Leaves range from less than twelve inches to more than thirty inches long. I mentioned the lack of tall Iris douglasiana in current hybrid and species offerings a few months ago. Another reason to seek those tall vigorous Iris douglasiana selections is to have foliage for the mid to back borders. 

Iris douglasiana, wild form, has great year round foliage, here it grows with fringecups, Tellima grandiflora (Saxifragaceae) and a rhododendron. 

This wild-collected Iris douglasiana is from Cape Blanco, Oregon; it has medium lavender flowers of basic species appearance, but the foliage is outstanding. With leaves around twenty inches long, foliage on this iris is striking dark green on a medium sized plant. I grow this one for its luscious foliage; the flowers are an added benefit for a few weeks each year. 

I. douglasiana x I. chrysophylla is taller, vigorous, with foliage that looks good year round. 

Another good foliage iris is an Iris douglasiana x I. chrysophylla cross. Flowers are purple and small, but the foliage is outstanding, medium green, shiny and lovely year round. With leaves more than twenty five inches long, this plant makes vigorous fountains of green all year—a good plant for mid border locations. It is especially nice interplanted with lilies: Summer-flowering Lilium ‘Cascablanca’ is short enough to be balanced nicely by the dark green fountains after this iris is done flowering in spring. 

Iris 'Burnt Sugar' is an unregistered Pacifica Iris, probably an I. douglaisana x I. innominata hybrid. Flowers are species-like, and the evergreen foliage is excellent. 

Look for outstanding light green to yellow-green foliage, short to tall, and for good foliage irises taller than thirty inches, also for any sign of white striping on dark green leaves, and other color variations on green, including red to purple. 

Readers:  tell us about Pacifica Iris selections that have great foliage, and please post here if you have plant suggestions to share. 

AIS 2017 AWARDS THE SIDNEY B. MITCHELL MEDAL 'FOGGY DAYS' (PCN)

By Susanne Holland Spicker

Join with us in congratulating Joseph Ghio as the American Iris Society 2017 Sidney B. Mitchell medalist for his stunning Pacific Coast Native Iris 'FOGGY DAYS'.

'FOGGY DAYS' (Joseph Ghio 2007) Photo by leonineiris

Pacific Coast Native irises (PCN), or series Californica (CA) are tricky in many places in all but the far western area of the country in the native range, where they grow with graceful, dainty flowers usually one to two feet tall in most colors and patterns.

The striking Pacific Coast Native iris (PCN) 'Foggy Days' is described by the AIS Wiki as follows:

'FOGGY DAYS' (Joseph Ghio 2007) 10" Mid-season through late bloom. Standards white tinted blue; falls white lined blue-violet overall to distal edge, dark blue-violet signal. Bay View 2007.  HM 2010, AM 2014, The Sidney B. Mitchell Medal 2017.

Thank you, Joe, for yet another award winner!

For a complete list of the American Iris Society 2017 Awards, please visit http://wiki.irises.org/.