What Do Iris Hybridizers Look For?

by Griff Crump

In suggesting topics for this posting, Renee Fraser remarked, "One thing I always wonder about hybridizers is which new intro caught their eye and why?"

The first attraction for me is, simply, the beauty of the flower itself.  The second motivator is its being of the patterns that I prefer, which are predominantly amoenas and near amoenas with velvety falls, usually dark.  The third consideration is whether it might fit into my breeding goals.

Here are some of the recent introductions that have caught my eye:

Judy's Smile (Skaggs 2014), offered by Stout Gardens At Dancing Tree.  From Starring x Kitty Kay.  I have both of the parents, so might try the cross myself.

 'Judy's Smile'

Another beauty, which I won't use in hybridizing (because it doesn't fit within my goals), but which I admire and would like to grow just for its handsomeness, is Mike Lockatell's  reblooming border bearded Double Dare.  I saw it when he first exhibited it at a Region 4 fall regional show.  I and others thought it should have won best seedling, but one of the judges just didn't like plicatas.

'Double Dare'

I always like a good red, and Don Spoon's Red Hot Momma (Rogue X Dynamite) falls in that category.  I can't seem to keep either of those parents alive (or, at least, blooming), but Don has, so maybe I'll approach him for a start.

'Red Hot Momma'

Lesley Painter's Midnight Rose (Napa Country Iris Garden) is the kind of iris that I really like, a near amoena with dark velvet falls.  As a hybridizer with limited space, however, its unknown parentage gives me pause, i.e., will it work with the genetics of my existing stuff?  If I had more space, I'd grab it.  (And if you have space, I think you should, too.)

'Midnight Rose'

Keith Keppel's Gambling Man (Silk Road X Roaring Twenties) caught my eye, as does anything with the Edith Wolford color pattern.  This, though, is from quite different lineage.

'Gambling Man'

I am particularly impressed with the introductions of Robert Piatek, of Poland, and those of Anton Mego,  of Slovakia.  I have Mego's Slovak Prince and seedlings from it, and I hope that others of  their cultivars will soon, if not already, be available in the USA.

'Slovak Prince' 

Which newer introductions caught your eye this year?

Surprise!

Griff Crump

Renee suggested that I might share some of this year's surprises.

The biggest and best surprise was recovery of an introduced variety that I thought had been lost.  Two years ago, I dug and lined out La Cumparsita, introducing it in 2013.  Luckily, before I sold any of it, it bloomed in two convention gardens and wasn't the right flower.  I saw photos and was mystified until some of the lined-out plants bloomed in my own garden and also were the same nondescript purple seen in the photos.  Clearly, the marker had been switched before the digging, probably during weeding, and an adjacent clump had been dug.  I was tempted to rip out the whole planting, but, since some of the lined-out clumps hadn't bloomed, I tossed only those that had bloomed and left the rest in place.  This spring, two of those which had been spared bloomed and were La Cumparsita!  It will take a couple of years to build up stock again, but I said to some of my fellow irisarians that if nothing else good happened this year, it was still a good year!

La Cumparsita

Other surprises were winning Best Seedling of Show at the Fredericksburg Area Iris Society's spring show, the Chesapeake and Potomac Iris Society's spring show and the Region 4 spring show at Timonium, Maryland.

The winner at Fredericksburg was tall bearded 062D1:

062D1

and at Chesapeake and Potomac, standard dwarf seedling 092B4:

092B4

At the Regional show at Timonium, I counted on the judges adhering to the judges' handbook, which requires only one bloom to be open on a seedling.  Although I must admit that I was surprised by my wins at Fredericksburg and Winchester, I felt that my entry at Timonium was a real winner, but would the judges vote for an entry which had only one last bloom and the shriveled remains of the other eight buds drooping from its branches?  Yes!  They went by the book and chose it. 

082L13

This is a product of Coffee Whispers X Blackbeard's Daughter.  It's a dramatic introduceable, and I'm looking forward to good things following from it.

Another very pleasant surprise was the appearance of a first-year seedling, 13P20, which displayed a remarkable  progression of blossom form, opening to resemble an iris of many decades ago:

 13P20

But, as a day passes, a later-in-time form develops:

 

Finally, a modern form is achieved.  At the right moment, all three forms are displayed on the branches.

If this seedling prospers and blooms true to its initial performance, it will be quite interesting.

Most Popular Irises of the Year: Fred Kerr's "Mango Queen"

By Renee Fraser


Each year iris hybridizers put up the photos of their new introductions on their web pages, and each year the denizens of iris chat groups excitedly spread the news about whose intros are up. It's surprising that these websites don't crash from the rush of traffic as we all stampede to see the new introductions.

I thought I would ask some of these hybridizers which new flower was their hottest seller. I'm always curious to see what everyone else likes, and this knowledge helps to open my eyes to flowers I may have overlooked for some reason. I originally planned to begin with 2012, but I changed my mind and decided to ask about 2013. What's hot NOW?

My first call was to Fred Kerr at Rainbow Acres. Mr. Kerr is justly famous for his lovely creations, the most famous of which may be "Queen's Circle,"  which rates as many people's favorite iris and has been featured in these pages before. Mr. Kerr has a large number of new beauties this year, but he says that the runaway best seller has been "Mango Queen," a huge, luscious, fruity apricot and mango orange ruffled beauty. When I asked why he thought it was in the lead, he said "my guess is that it's all about the color, pattern, and ruffling. It's probably going to sell out this year."

You can see why. I have already decided where it will go in my garden, with the "Apricot Trifle" nasturtiums and the lamb's ears, with the foliage of the big blue agave behind it.

42", M-L  

I also have a particular fondness for Mr. Kerr's 2013 intro "Mary Contrary," a lovely new flattie, in which the standards lay down rather than arch up over the falls. Which of  Fred Kerr's 2013 introductions do you prefer?

I'll be back with more 2013 hot sellers from other hybridizers in future posts. Until then, happy web surfing!