Aruba's Eye-Popping Clump Shots

'Amber Essence' in Brad's Garden c. Brad Collins

By Renee Fraser

We are a lucky generation of gardeners:  there are quite a number of talented photographers across the internet sharing their shots of our favorite flower.  In the days before internet sites such as Dave's Garden, All Things Plants, Gardenweb, and of course, the American Iris Society's Iris Encyclopedia, we had to anxiously await the year's catalogs from our favorite iris growing companies to drool over lovely images of irises.  So much has changed in the last few years!  So today I would like to share a few of the fine photographs of one of my internet heroes, Brad Collins (Aruba), who has designed and planted an extraordinary iris garden in Iowa and who liberally and generously shares his beautiful photographs of irises with the world on AllThings Plants and the Irises Cubit.  

'Purple Serenade' c. Brad Collins

I really love Brad's pictures because he often photographs the whole plant or a clump of irises, which gives me a better idea of what the variety will look like in the garden.  For instance, 'Petticoat Shuffle' never would have caught my eye (just another purple plicata) but Brad's clump shot sent me straight to the catalog to place the order.

'Petticoat Shuffle' c. Brad Collins

Brad became interested in photography through scuba diving, and when I complimented him on his talent, he dryly noted that taking pictures of irises is easy compared to trying to capture a three-foot-long fish moving like lightning 90 feet below water.  But I don't think it's easy to get a shot like this:

'There's No Place Like Home' c. Brad Collins

Brad comes from a long line of iris lovers.  It has become a cliché' in this blog, but once again, it was grandma who started it all.  Brad's father, Michael, also an iris lover and accomplished gardener, says that when he was a child the whole family would walk over to grandma's iris garden to eat a hearty breakfast cooked by grandpa over an open fire outside.  The scent of the first iris each spring brings those memories flooding back, and Michael is proud and happy that his son Brad caught the iris virus and is continuing the family tradition.  The first iris Brad planted in his garden was 'Stepping Out', a gift from his dad, who was given that very iris by his grandmother in 1975. 

'Drinks at Sunset' c. Brad Collins

Brad has designed several acres of gardens in Iowa.  He was inspired to plant his huge curving beds of irises after a tour of the Pacific northwest iris growers in 2009, including visits to Mid America, where he fell in love with the way the irises were set off by the conifers, roses, and small trees.  With advice and help from Paul Black, he set about creating his own Eden.  Many of his spectacular clump shots are taken in his own back yard.  He grows over 500 varieties of irises, mostly newer introductions from Paul Black, Thomas Johnson, Joe Ghio, Barry Blyth, and Keith Keppel, but many from other hybridizers as well.

Brad's garden featuring rare conifers

Year-round interest

Over 500 varieties of irises

Brad says "one of the things I enjoyed from visiting the commercial gardens on the west coast was the seedling beds, and finding something brand new in those gardens every day that I had never seen before. It was a lot of fun- I think I walked all of Schreiner's 200 acres in those few days and made numerous stops at Mid America and Keppel’s,  and I really enjoyed seeing all the new colors and patterns.  So I decided to try and make some crosses at home just to see if I could get some pods. The result was better than I had hoped and I came up with almost 40 crosses."  Over 800 plants are growing, and this year he planted 3,000 seeds.  Thank goodness his kind neighbors own a commercial garden, and they have given over part of a greenhouse for his use.  He'll need his own greenhouse soon!

Brad's Seedlings lined out

Brad has scheduled a trip to California this spring:  he will be visiting  Napa Country Iris, Joe Ghio's gardens in Monterey, and Superstition Iris Gardens this April.  I look forward to sharing his experience through his generosity with his time and talent and the wonders of the internet.  To hold you over until then, here are a few more of his wonderful clump shots.

'Catwalk Queen' c. Brad Collins

'Sweetly Sung' c. Brad Collins

'Romantic Gentleman' c. Brad Collins

Which photo will send you straight to the order forms?  Let us know below.

"Talking Irises" TALL BEARDED IRIS FROM THE '70s AND '80s

OLDER TALL BEARDED IRIS~TIMELESS BEAUTIES 
By Susanne Holland Spicker

One of the first recollections I have as a child are those of my Grandma Holland's flower beds.  She was a lover of flowers of all kinds, but had a special fondness for Tall Bearded Irises; I've inherited that passion. I spent many hours as a child watching her lovingly care for her prized hybrids. Now, years later, the scent of fragrant iris blooms in the spring takes me back to special memories. Their stately stalks, bearing colorful blooms of the rainbow, are a source of almost giddy happiness. Today there are so many new, beautiful seedlings from talented hybridizers, but I will always love many of the older varieties from the '70s and '80s--the ones from my grandma's garden. Their beauty, vigor, and proven reliability, along with good growth habits and form, make them  timeless in my eyes.

"LACE JABOT" (Gaulter 1982). This award-winning (HM 1985) lavender self, flushed blue-white in the center of the falls, is still a standout in the garden.  The well-branched stalks show off the large, lacy blooms early in the season here.  It is a long-lived bloom in arrangements.

Another favorite from Grandma's garden is "DATE BAIT" (Meek 1985).  A few of the things I love most about this lovely tall plicata is how it glows in the sun, as well as its lovely aroma and prolific growth habits.  It is always one of the first to bloom in my garden.

An iris that always gets noticed and is a favorite of visitors in the garden is "RINGO" (Shoop 1979).  This iris photographs especially well, and blends with several perennials, making it a most desirable iris to put in your landscape.  The contrasting white rim on the grape falls with the bright red beard is especially nice.

Grandma had lots of plicatas, and one I remember most is "BEYOND" (Gibson 1979).  The deep apricot-brown standards, and  ruffled and fluted falls of a white ground stitched deep apricot, with bright orange beards is one I haven't seen in many gardens, but her large clump was something to behold!  An arrangement of "BEYOND" is stunning.

Grandma loved pink irises.  There were many pink Tall Bearded Irises in her garden--that's probably one of the reasons why pinks are so attractive to me. Two that have proven to be reliable and hardy in Northern Utah over the years are "PINK ANGEL" (Rudolph 1973) and "PINK SWAN" (Gibson 1984).  I like the long, flowing falls, nice branching and ramrod stalks on "PINK ANGEL."  It also makes an impressive clump.  The blue-pink color of "PINK SWAN" with its unique red beards sets it apart from other pinks, making it an all-time favorite of mine.  I like companion plants of dark blue lupine and delphinium to compliment the hint of blue on its standards. 

Plicatas were another popular iris in Grandma's garden, and "THEATER" (Keppel 1986) has established itself as a personal favorite for its excellent growth habits  here in the top of Utah. It's light violet standards, and rounded pristine white  falls, overlaid  with dotted  darker plicata markings make an excellent choice for a place you want  to make an exclamation in the garden. 

The last three I'm going to mention are award-winning "SWEET MUSETTE" (Schreiner 1986), "EVER AFTER" (Keppel 1986),  and 40" bright orchid "ELISA RENEE" (L. Gaulter 1983).  These beautiful colored blooms are favorites not only for their dependability and beauty, but fuschia-rose colored "EVER AFTER" has a sweet fragrance as well.  

There are hundreds of wonderful irises from the '70s and '80s; these are just a few of my favorites. My grandma and her straight rows of beautiful Tall Bearded Irises are long gone, but as I work in the iris beds, or revel in a newly bloomed flower, thoughts of her and recollections of years gone by bring me joy  and pleasant memories.

What are your favorite 'tried-and-tested' Tall Bearded Irises from the '70s and '80s?  What special memories do irises invoke from your childhood?