The Iris Garden: Premio Firenze -- Florence, Italy, Part II

Part II: The Iris Garden
By Andi Rivarola

Iris pallida and olive trees at the Prunetti Farm in Chianti area

Various activities and initiatives have taken place during the life of Premio Firenze and some of the most important to are: 

• In 1963, the planning and development of the "First International Iris Symposium" 
• Collaborated since 1997 with the Department of Plant Biology of the University "La Sapienza" in Rome by participating in meetings and seminars.
• Collaborated since 1998 with the University "La Sapienza" in Rome and The Lynnean Society in London to promote the Iris International Conference "Iris & Iridaceae: Diversity and Methodology."
• In 2006, the planning and development of the "Second International Iris Symposium."

Winner of the 2012 Competition "Cheyenne My Dog" by Marucchi

Premio Firenze also took part in exhibitions and specialized events in the field of landscape and gardening, organized exhibitions, courses  in hybridization, courses for judges and lectures in schools.

2012 Firenze Competition Signs 

The Main Garden

The Iris Garden was set up on a hilly land previously cultivated but now surrounded by olive trees as well as other plants of the native Tuscan collections including: cypress trees, Judas trees (Cercis siliquastrum L.), strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo L.), laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) and some varieties of maples. Irises are accompanied by roses, and also bushes to highlight paths and walkways. But it is the iris plants and their variety of forms and colors that almost completely cover the garden and when they are in full bloom turn it into a colorful landscape. The vast majority of irises are tall bearded (almost 3000), but there are also intermediate, border and dwarf irises. The international competition variety has practically guaranteed continued improvement and renovation of the main iris collection, making it one of the largest and interesting in the world.

Judges in the Garden - Zdenek Seidl, Jill Bonino, Laura Bassino, Gisela Danthe, Augusto Bianco

Ponte Vecchio and River Arno, Florence

The garden also contains Siberian irises, Pacific Coast Native, spurias, and around the pond area there are some Louisiana, pseudoacorus and Japanese irises.

Bearded and beardless species irises typical in the region are represented by iris pallida, iris germanica, iris florentina, iris setosa, iris unguicularis, and iris ochroleuca 

There are numerous collections of historic irises in the garden among which we should mention:

• The collection of the American Dykes Medal Winners since 1927 to today. 
• Some historic irises from the Presby Memorial Garden in Montclair, NJ.
• Historic irises from the Prague Botanical Garden, the Czech Republic.
• A full collection of plants of the first and second prize winners of the international competition since 1957.
• And also a selection of all the plants that participated in the competition, organized by years, from the first competition to date.

A part of the garden was reserved for ARSIA, a local Tuscan agency focused on development and innovation in the agriculture and forestry industry, and the plants included were chosen for their conservation of genetic material of the genus iris.

Valerio Romano, Director of the Firenze Competition, in the Garden

The Garden at Villa Gamberaia

Note: This article contains information originally shared online in Italian by Saverio Pepe, a resident of Florence, who kindly gave permission to use his material and images for this blog post. The pictures on Part II are all from Jill Bonino who participated in Premio Firenze as a judge in 2012. 

Translated by Andi Rivarola 

If you missed Part I

Louisiana Irises Found Growing Wild in NW Louisiana

by Ron Killingsworth

Ron Killingsworth standing in a clump of irises growing at the edge of Cross Lake just north of Shreveport, LA

Of course Louisiana irises grow wild in the wilds of Louisiana!  Especially in south Louisiana: in fact, they grow in the ditches down south.  Not many grow wild in the northwestern part of the state, though.

Several years ago a dear friend who lived in north Shreveport, LA, very near Cross Lake, called to tell me she had found some Louisiana irises growing in the wild in the backwaters of Cross Lake.  Cross Lake is a man-made lake that supplies the water for the city of Shreveport.  Sue and I put on our boots and joined our friend Lin Millar and we went deep into the woods behind her home into an area of overflow for the lake.  It appears to have been an old home site at one time.

We found many Louisiana irises blooming in the marshy lowlands.  Most of them appeared to be species irises as the blooms were not as large or well developed as most hybrid Louisiana irises.  We found many different colors but none of us are scientists so we were not able to determine if they are species or if so, which ones.

All of these irises were growing in areas that were either still standing in water or that would have been in water when the lake was higher.  Almost all of them were growing in very shaded areas that would have given them very little sunshine.  This probably explains why most of them had few blooms per bloom stalk.

We carefully collected samples of each of the irises we found and took them back to Lin's garden and to our gardens in Mooringsport, LA.  I now grow them in a large bed labeled "Cross Lake Irises".  They are doing fine in their new location.  Lin visited the area a couple of years later and the whole area had been clear cut and plowed up as though someone was getting ready to build a home there.  

When collecting irises growing in the wild we must certainly be careful to leave more than we take.  In this case, it is certainly a good thing we collected some of each as they are now gone!

Some of our readers may be able to classify these irises from the pictures but it is beyond my ability.  I know that these pictures prove that Louisiana irises are pretty hardy and will grow in undergrowth, bushes and without full sunlight.

This was an exceptionally beautiful specimen with a great color.

The above picture shows an area in which the irises were growing well although they were quite removed from the lake edge.  These were receiving more sunlight than most we found.

This is another area that was at least 50 feet from the lake edge and thick with weeds and grass.

These irises were growing in the water at the lake's edge.  (Lin's dog, part Labrador, really enjoyed the "field trip".)  

More irises growing in the lake's edge in an area that is very swampy and a perfect place for snake watching.

This was found very close nearby so it appears the area once had a home.  There were many people growing Louisiana irises in their gardens in the Shreveport area in the 40's and 50's, so I believe these irises were either planted in the area or escaped from other gardens around Cross Lake.  They may even be from seeds from irises grown in gardens around the lake.  We used to cut off all the seed pods from our thousands of Louisiana irises and throw them into Caddo Lake hoping they would take root on the side of the lake.

Do you know of a spot where irises grow wild?  Perhaps a nearby cemetery, or an old abandoned farmstead?  

If you would like to learn more about Louisiana irises you can visit the Society for Louisiana Irises, and more about all species of irises is available at the website of  The American Iris Society.