IRISES article: Graeme Grosvernor's 40th Year Hybridizing

By Andi Rivarola

This is a snapshot of an article published by IRISES, the Bulletin of The American Iris Society, written by John Taylor, on the great Australian hybridizer Graeme Grosvernor.

The October/November 2012 issue of IRISES is excellent, and there are many articles which I am sure you would like very much. For me, this one made an impression, and I hope that you have a chance to read it.  There you will see many more pictures and get the full story.

Mr. Grosvernor is celebrating his 40th year of hybridizing, and in my view, he is the epitome of a dedicated hybridizer.  He tells Mr. Taylor that he knows the complete pedigree and breeding lines of the various irises he works with, and counts as his own preferences for hybridizing purposes the irises of other great hybridizers such as fellow Australian Barry Blyth.  Other favorites include Keith Keppel, Joe Ghio, Paul Black, Tom Johnson and Fred Kerr, outstanding hybridizers here in the US.

Mr. Grosvernor's Garden

Mr. Taylor recounts that the many successes and failures that plagued Mr. Grosvernor would be recognized by many hybridizers and gardeners immediately. Working in the garden often depends on acknowledging that the results will be in the hands and grace of Mother Nature.  Mr. Grosvernor says "nature will decide when a particular flower will bloom."

Mr. Grosvernor is still hybridizing, and recently produced over 10,000 seeds to be planted. He has interests in bicolors, plicatas, amoenas, neglectas and selfs.

Seedling I6-1

As of 2012 Mr. Grosvernor has developed lines in white, blue, pink, apricot, black, yellow and red.  Self colors are a major part of his work. One of his favorite lines has been those developed by using 'Rustle of Spring' as a parent, from which 'Rusty Taylor' (2011/12) was created.

'Rusty Taylor' (2011/12)

I hope this gives you an idea of what you will see if you take a look at the full article. I was impressed by the level of detail Mr. Grosvernor was able to share, and how systematic he is in his work.  In the future, young hybridizers will be able to build on the fantastic work of current hybridizers like Graeme Grosvernor.

AIS members receive (digitally or in print) the quarterly publication, IRISES: the Bulletin of the American Iris Society. Each issue of IRISES provides approximately 65 pages of fresh information on iris culture, an array of color photographs of both old and new irises, and an advertising directory of commercial iris growers located throughout the United States.

For more information on Membership with Society please follow the this link: http://irises.org/About_AIS/Membership_Info/AIS_Membership.html

2013 Iris Calendar

By Andi Rivarola

The 28th calendar of The American Iris Society celebrates the great diversity of both people and plants within the iris world.

If you are looking for "something iris" to give your loved ones this year as a holiday gift, for a year filled with inspiration, we recommend the 2013 IRISES Calendar -- available now on the AIS Storefront.

Capital and 'Sea Power
Photo by Saiphon Simonca, Herndon, VA

Calendar information:

Price is $7.00 plus S&H (USA $2.00, Canada $3.00, International $5.00). Pack of 10 for $50.00 plus S&H (USA $5.00, Canada $9.00, International $18.00). S&H is in addition to item price. Affiliates and iris clubs, please visit the Storefront online for more information.

Orders are to be sent to: 

AIS Storefront, John & Kay Ludi, 

PO Box 956, Sandy, Oregon 97055. 

Email AISStore@irises.org  

Phone 503-826-8808. 

Payment can be by check, money order or credit card (VISA or Mastercard only). Minimum credit card order - $10.00.

Also, visit the the Storefront online at:

http://irises.org/Member_Services/AIS_Storefront.html

Heavenly Hager Irises

Late at night, after I kiss my dear husband goodnight, I sneak out of our bedroom, pad down the hall, and turn on the computer in my study.  I spend hours on the internet chasing my next fix:  beautiful photographs of irises.  I search garden blogs, Facebook pages, garden forums, and commercial iris grower catalogs.  I assemble dream gardens and wish lists.

I expected to grow weary of this obsession within a few months and to move on, perhaps to something more respectable like playing Resident Evil 5.  I was mistaken, and my nightly sojourns only leave me wanting more.  Occasionally I find a photograph that is so beautiful that I must share.  My husband Mike is a good sport, and will give an animated nod of appreciation when I call him in to look at an especially pretty iris, but to tell the truth, from the glazed appearance of his eyes, I suspect the Nairobi Trio is playing in his head.


When I saw Barbara Kuhlman's photograph of Ben Hager's iris 'Edith Wolford' on Gardenweb, I knew I couldn't limit my sharing to Mikey.  I had to share it with all of you.

After a night spent with this photo, I recalled another lovely picture of 'Edith Wolford' and decided on the theme 'heavenly Hager irises.'  I was smitten with this enchanting photo by Laurawege on Dave's Garden quite some time ago.  Here the geraniums and delphiniums make perfect companions, and have me fantasizing about a new lavendar-blue and yellow bed in my garden.  

All of Joel Shaber's photographs of his Idaho garden are worth staying up into the wee hours to view, but his images of 'Edith Wolford' are particularly lovely.  These photos show why this iris won the highest honor for an iris, the Dykes Medal, in 1993.

The word 'clump' seems unsuited to describe such beauty.

'Edith Wolford' blooms midseason and is a tall iris, reaching 40 inches.










Susanne Holland Spicker grows irises in her brilliantly coordinated and charming Utah garden.  She feeds the iris addiction with her exceptional photography in her blog, Sowing the Seeds, a great site for late-night iris ogling.  Here she has captured the beauty of Hager's 'Poem of Ecstacy' which she grows with 'Jump For Joy.'

'Poem of Ecstacy' was the winner of the John C. Wister Memorial Medal for tall bearded irises in 2004.  Here it is paired with tall lupines in Susanne's garden, demonstrating her talent combining plants with different forms and coordinating colors.

'Poem of Ecstacy' grows to be about 36" tall and blooms midseason.














'Beverly Sills' is Ben Hager's most famous iris, with consistently high ratings in the American Iris Society's popularity polls.  It was the 1985 winner of the Dykes Medal, and is named after the famous opera singer.  It does her justice.

This iris is easy to grow in Southern California and makes a satisfying clump in a short period of time.  It has quite an extended bloom season in cool weather here.  Last year it was blooming from late April through June.

'Beverly Sills' is a pale, warm pink.  It is a photogenic iris, and has the wide falls that Ben Hager is so famous for creating.

This is 'Beverly Sills' with 'Lady Friend.' 

















'Chasing Rainbows'  is a 1998 Hager introduction.  Naomi DiVincenzo, an avid gardener who has just won her first blue ribbon for iris horticulture, grows a lovely clump on her grounds, Front Range Iris, in Colorado.  You can see how she brought home the blue from this photo.

One of my regular stops during my nighttime forays on the internet is the archive of the American Iris Society's annual Photo Contest.  This is why:

This photo of 'Chasing Rainbows' by Becky Fain, the proprietor of the Inn at Iris Meadows in North Carolina, won first prize and appeared on the cover of the AIS magazine.  I wanted to make sure that those of you new to growing irises got to see it too.


The American Iris Society Photography Contest is a wonderful way to share your irises, your garden, and your photography with other iris lovers.  The deadline this year is June 30, so if you love taking pictures of your irises, please consider entering.  We have many long nights ahead in front of the computer, and we need more beautiful photos!

Iris Classics: 'Sunset Blaze'

The tetraploid revolution in iris breeding that started to really expand in the early 1920's resulted in an explosion of new colors during the 1940's. One of the most celebrated of the era was Dr. Kleinsorge's 1948 introduction 'Sunset Blaze'. A blazing red-orange heavily infused with bright gold, it perfected a color class that only been hinted at before. It was bright, flashy, and very tall so it really made a strong statement in the garden - and it still does. It is an extremely hardy iris that increases well and seems to grow everywhere with little care. An early bloomer in my garden, it starts the Tall Bearded season off with a bang. Click on the photos for larger views.

Cooley's Gardens catalog for 1948 described it as: "A tall and huge golden flame-salmon blend, almost a red, but with so much of the gold influence in it that it is not really a red Iris. You have seen the sun look much like this just before it sinks over the horizon. Both standards and falls are extra large and the haft and beard are bright golden yellow. A most impressive flower, blooming early on widely branched stalks reaching 42 inches." It won an Honorable Mention and then the Presidents Cup at the AIS convention in 1949, and went on to win an Award of Merit in 1951.

'Sunset Blaze' was one of the first of Dr, Kleinsorge's irises that I had in my early days of growing irises, and it fueled a passion for finding all his others. If you enjoy hot colors in the garden that give an instant fiesta effect you will want to add this fantastic historic iris. It looks fantastic with reds, browns, golds and deep purples and blues, bringing a rainbow of sunset hues to enjoy throughout the day. This timeless classic has so many good qualities, it is easy to find and will be around for many decades to come for iris lovers to enjoy. Consider adding it to your collection. You won't regret it.

My Earliest Bloomers

Spring came early to Southern California this year, as it has in many places in the country. Although it may seem hard to believe, these photos of the tall bearded reblooming iris 'Recurring Dream' (Hager, 1992) were taken on March 13.

The next iris to join the party was 'Lady Friend.' It was moved to this spot last year because I expected it to bloom next to the red Japanese Blood Grass and the pinkish-red gazanias nearby. They may catch up to her, but they had better hurry.  

I did not expect 'Recurring Dream' to bloom at the same time as 'Lady Friend,' and I have not adjusted to this color combination. Perhaps it will grow on me.

This is another unexpected bloom.  A neighbor grows 'Superstition,' an almost-black iris, and I thought it would look fabulous next to my new pale yellow Austin rose 'Symphony' with almost-black violas.  I went over after it was done blooming and dug up a few rhizomes- of the wrong iris.  A nice, tall NOID (no identification) now blooms in 'Superstition's' spot.

Here is a photograph of all three of my earliest bloomers.  I eliminated all purple from my garden two years ago.  Purple is invasive.

Early blooming iris varieties are a wonderful sight in the garden.  Iris foliage in the early spring is a beautiful sight on its own, and stands up well to other non-blooming perennials as a statement in the garden.

I had no idea what to put around this pond, and it sat there looking sad and barren until I hit upon the brilliant idea of putting in plants with my favorite spiky foliage.  Louisiana iris 'Spanish Ballet' (a gift from my friend Judith Gasser) is in the foreground and a historic iris that has been on the property since, oh, maybe the 1940s, is planted in the clump at center.  I'll be sure to post photos when they bloom, but they are there for the foliage.

From the other direction:

And from the other side of the pond.

Spuria irises purchased at the San Fernando Valley Iris Society plant sale wait for me to finish the masonry on a new iris bed in front of the plunge pool.  I planted them in coffee cans with the bottoms removed.  The plastic lids underneath have holes poked into them for drainage.  When I remove the plastic, the irises will slide right out without too much trauma (she says with great confidence and no experience).



Other irises are ready to bloom within a week or two.  Hager's 1992  'Total Recall,' Keppel's 2002 'Telepathy,'  Holk's 1995  'Rose Teall,'  Gibson's 1994 'Frequent Flyer,' Gaulter's 1976 'Persian Berry,' Burseen's 1992 'Fashion Passion,' and Begley's 1988 'Tennison Ridge' are all getting ready to roll.  'Northwest Progress' (Schreiner, 1997) is a good sport; it will be blooming at the same time as the ajuga I put in to match its colors.

In other parts of the country, standard dwarf bearded irises and species irises are the first to bloom.   Which are the first in your part of  the world?  Do you grow any early bloomers in your garden? 

What are Louisiana Irises and Can I Grow Them?

Louisiana irises are the official "wildflower" of the state of Louisiana.  The official flower of the state of Louisiana is the magnolia, which is also the state flower of several of the southern states.

'Cotton Plantation' by Mary Dunn (1994)

Louisiana irises, or LA (for short) irises, are beardless irises of the species Iris.Hexagonae. They are commonly referred to as Louisiana irises although they are grown throughout the world and across the United States. They are native flowers originally found in the bayous and marshes of South Louisiana, along the Mississippi River, and across most of the southern states.

Louisiana irises are water loving irises and are heavy feeders.  If they are not watered enough in the long dry summers, they will simply go dormant and wait for the fall rains.  Although they really like water, they can be grown with other plants.  I grow them with many different plants and in many different ways.  I find they grow well in pots, in raised beds, in dug beds, in the edge of ponds or streams, and just about any other way of growing plants.  Much emphasis is put on their desire for water; however, they will grow fine without being soaked in water.  They do like to have almost full sun. I suggest you try to shield them from the very hot afternoon sun if you live in a very hot-summers type of climate.

I have heard "They are hard to grow!"  This is a statement I heard from gardeners even in the state of Louisiana.  This is simply not true.  I even went to Fort Worth, TX to give a talk to a group of iris lovers on growing Louisiana irises and was told they could not grow them in the Fort Worth area.  I found that interesting because the Dallas iris group has many members growing Louisiana irises and had hosted the Society for Louisiana Irises convention in past years and will again host the convention in 2013.

This picture (click on it for a larger view) was taken in my front yard area a while back.  I had dug up all the Louisiana irises in the raised bed at the top of the picture and just thrown them down on the ground by the edge of the bed.  I amended the soil in the bed and then replanted the irises.  I obviously missed some of them because a few months later I took this picture of the "missed" irises growing right where I had thrown them.  I believe that you can throw a Louisiana iris on the ground, sort of push it down in the dirt with your foot, and it will grow!

This picture was taken in an area we call the "deer meadow" and shows Louisiana irises growing with poppies and many other "wildflowers".

This picture shows Louisiana irises growing in the edge of a small pond (called a "tank" in Texas) we call  "rock pond" because it has a large limestone rock in the middle of the pond.

So, in summary, Louisiana irises are easy to grow. They do like a lot of water.  Do not plant them in your cacti bed but you can certainly grow them with many other plants. They like to be fed at least twice a year and we feed them in the fall and about a month before they bloom in the spring.  They like sunlight and if they do not get enough direct sunlight, they will produce nice foliage but will probably not bloom for you. They are grown from Maine to Florida, from Florida to California, from California to Washington, and in most states in between. They are grown in New Zealand, Australia, South America, England, parts of Canada, Russia and many other nations of the world.

Here are some interesting commercial web sites that will give you more information on growing Louisiana (LA) irises:

Aitken's Salmon Creek Gardens 
Bois d'Arc Gardens
Iris City Gardens
Louisiana Iris Farms
Louisiana Iris Gardens
Seabrook Nursery and Gardens
Zydeco Louisiana Iris Gardens

Next time we will go into more detail about how to plant those Louisiana irises. So, look at some of these sights and start picking out the ones you want to grow!

Mass Plantings for a Breathtaking Display

Irises are the ultimate collector's plant. Those of us smitten with the "iris virus" drool over the newly introduced varieties in iris catalogs, surf the online catalogs of iris sellers for hours, and compile endless lists of irises we must add to our ever-expanding collections. As a result, there is very little space in our gardens for mass plantings of a single variety. We divide our clumps and keep them small to conserve precious garden space for the flowers arriving in the next order.

This predilection of iris lovers makes it unusual to see a single variety of iris in a mass planting in the garden. What a shame. There is nothing as breathtaking as a garden filled with masses of flowering irises.

Marte Hult has elevated the use of mass plantings to an artform in her Minnesota garden.

Marte has been gardening at her home since 1974. The garden came equipped with a few "noid" historic irises. (For the novice iris grower, noid means no I.D., an iris whose name is lost or unknown.) Marte's noids have proliferated since, and form the backbone of a spectacular spring display in her garden. 

 

Sometimes a noid is the result of a nursery or gardener mix-up. This may be 'Cranberry Swirl,' or maybe it isn't. Either way, its value in the garden is unmistakable. 

Marte also grows modern tall bearded and Siberian irises en masse. Here she uses 'Impressionist' tall bearded iris to excellent effect with Siberian irises.

The art of layering plants is demonstrated here by Marte's beds: 

Marte with her noid yellow historics:  irises that will take your breath away.

Do you have a mass planting of irises? If you get the time, take a photo of it and send it to me at renee.fraser@gmail.com and I will put them together on this blog.  We'll have a nice show of irises to keep us all going until Spring bloom.

IRISES, January 2012 Issue

Inside IRISES, the Bulletin of The American Iris Society

Here's the scoop: this is a wonderful issue of Irises, and if you can, as much as possible, you should share this delight with your friends and family. If you are receiving this via Facebook, be sure to click on the link to see the original blog post, you'll be glad you did. The front cover, a picture of 'Cajun Rhythm' that Rene Fraser took at her Southern California garden is spectacular. I don't really know how anyone looking at it cannot be moved. Also, if you click on the blog post you will see a much larger picture than you would on Facebook.

The details:

• Front cover: a delicious picture of 'Cajun Rhythm' (Schreiner's 1996) taken by our own blogger Renee Fraser
• My Favorite Irises by Nyla Hughes
• Double, Double, Toyle and Trouble by Bob Hollingsworth (an expanded article that originally appeared in this blog)
• Planting Combinations: Irises in the Garden by Renee Fraser, Debbie Hughes and Brenda Fox (also an expanded article that orignally appeared on this blog)
• An Iris Lover: Twenty-five Years on My Knees by Hybridizer Marky Smith
• The Wonderful Wizard of Auz: A Week at Tempo Two with Barry Blyth by LLee Heflin
• 2011 AIS Photo Contest Winners
• 2011 Tall Bearded Iris Symposium (popularity list)

And much, much more, such as:

Lots and lots of full-color pictures
Information on the 2012 Annual Convention at Ontario, CA
AIS President's letter Judith Keisling
IRISES' Editor letter Kelley D. Norris
Milestones, Remembering Salt-of-the Earth Members, and Sections Happenings by Jim Morris
Youth Views by Cheryl Deaton

American Iris Society members registered for e-membership already have access to this great issue via our website, and for those who receive it via mail, the issue is on its way.

Be sure to give us your feedback, comments and article recommendations in the Comments section below, via Facebook, or write to us.

Andi Rivarola
The American Iris Society
Social Media Manager
andinsky@gmail.com

Strikingly Beautiful Flowers

Artists and photographers have long created iris portraits: many of us are familiar with the famous iris paintings by Georgia O'Keefe. Endless combinations of line, form and color can be produced by zooming in on the iris flower. Irises are so photogenic in this respect that the temptation is to take nothing but portraits and close-ups: the striking beauty of the iris flower causes us to neglect photographing the whole plant.  


There are other challenges for the amateur photographer who wishes to capture the plant in the landscape.  Aside from focus and exposure issues, there is always the blue tarp covering the compost pile, the rusting skeleton of an old Bultaco, or more often, three-foot-high weeds looming in the background.   


Here I tried to give you some photos of the plant, foliage and all, as well as the flower.  It would be a little dull were I to take these photos today, since so few irises are in bloom, so most are from last spring.  Many of these irises are new to my garden and have yet to form true clumps.  This gives me something to look forward to next year, and this spring, I promise to take photos of the whole clump, even if the weeds are blocking the view!

Tall Bearded Iris 'Rare Treat' in Andi's garden.  Ruffles galore.

Tall Bearded Iris 'Lady Friend' which is the first to bloom for me.

Tall Bearded Iris 'Cajun Rhythm,' a late bloomer.

Tall Bearded Iris 'Persian Berry' a very early bloomer.

Tall Bearded Iris 'No Count Blues'

Tall Bearded Iris 'Spin Off' is good for the front of a border.

Tall Bearded Iris 'Classic Look' 

Border Bearded Iris 'Maid of Orange' has nice, upright foliage with narrow leaves.

Tall Bearded Iris 'Looky Loo'

Tall Bearded Iris 'Scoonchee' in Lois's garden.

Tall Bearded Iris 'Queen's Circle' in my garden (top two) and at Carolyn's.

Tall Bearded Iris 'Sweet Musette' in Wendy's garden.

I leave you with this image of a strikingly beautiful garden featuring the iris 'Sweet Musette.'  In the background, tomato cages and wheelbarrows.