A Fond Farewell to Tall Bearded Irises and Other Dreams

By Dawn Mumford

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

This blog is my "goodbye blog". I'm starting with some lyrics sung by Carrie Underwood. The songwriters are Angelo T. Petraglia and Hillary Lee Lindsey.

   Press here to hear Carrie sing the song: 

It is the chorus to that song that really spoke to me:

“I guess it’s going to have to hurt,

 I guess I'm going to have to cry,

And let go of some things I've loved

to get to the other side,

I guess it's going to break me down,

Like falling when you try to fly,

It’s sad but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,

starts with goodbye”

The following is a bit of my history with the blog, my irises and the reason for making this choice to stop writing this blog.  I’m at the crossroads and I have to make a choice.

I have so many wonderful memories of growing irises and sharing information with other growers. I have had irises in my garden since 1970. The oldest picture I could find to show you is of my irises was in 1974. The quality of the photo is not what we have come to expect with today’s technology.

This is a picture of skinny me showing my third child, Zane, the pretty iris.

This is Zane now as a 44 year old grandfather. 

In 1977 my husband got his first real job as a PhD organic chemist. He was hired to be a rocket scientist by Thiokol. We moved from Sandy, Utah to Brigham City, Utah about 70 miles to the north. We bought a home on about a quarter acre lot and started our iris collection in earnest then. My next door neighbor was already addicted to irises and I caught the bug from her although I had already been dabbling in them. My neighbor and I would order various different irises from Schreiner's and Cooley's and in 2-3 years when we divided them we would share with each other.

Early pictures of the Brigham City garden.

Early pictures of the Brigham City garden.

By the time we moved again in 2005 we had a pretty large  collection. 

In 2000 we bought a piece of property seven miles south of us in Willard.  It was 5 ½ acres and included peach, cherry, apple and plum trees.  It also had unlimited room for irises.  I made my husband promise we would build a house there.  He needed to retire first.

We put three rows of irises in the field but the house was not yet started.  The rows were 75 feet long.

The irises flourished in the orchard soil. It had lots of drainage and other nutrients. 

Intermingled with the iris story is the story of our dream home. In 2003 we started building our dream home. It was the ultimate Do-It-Yourself project.. I did not know how difficult it would be so not knowing any better we took the plunge. We worked on the house eight hours every day except Sunday for 18 months until we finally moved in with the main floor finished on January 5, 2005. Our house in Brigham sold a year later and that is when we brought all the starts that we could find to the new place in Willard.

Digging up the irises from the Brigham City garden took a lot of effort.

Here is a picture of the back of the house before Neal put the rock and stucco on it.

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This is the back of the house after the rock and stucco were added.

 This is after we had moved all the irises from the yard in Brigham.

The finished courtyard and water feature in 2016.

 

This picture was taken in 2009

As you can see this photo was taken in 2011 when we had been in our home about 6 years.

This picture was taken in the front yard looking through the iris at our house.  It is one of my favorite photographs. 

Another picture of our dream home taken at the golden hour.

People always comment on the mountain backdrop.  It really does make a pretty setting.

These are the 3 peaks that are east of our house.  This is the view from the front porch. Our iris are at elevation 4,329.

In 2010 something happened that drastically changed our hopes and dreams. We had planned on staying in our home for the rest of our lives. That is now called "age in place". As you all know life doesn’t always go as planned. In 2010 my husband was diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Neal was only 64 years old at the time. We were stunned. What would we do? How could I possibly watch and help my beloved husband as he slowly lost abilities and memories? Besides that he was the sole person who took care of the 350 orchard trees. There is a saying by Bob Marley that "you don't know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice". Well we kept plugging along for six more years. We finished the basement and all the little things that weren't quite done on the house. We hired a landscaper and a contractor to build a courtyard in the back yard with a water feature and to put in sprinklers and trees, shrubs, and lawn in the back yard. This time we didn't do the work ourselves. We got everything just how we wanted it. Neal still worked in the trees and the irises and I ordered, cataloged, planned color beds etc. for the irises. In 2014 I started writing about irises for the American Iris Society Blog.

We tried to do a lot of things together  as a family to enjoy Neal while we could. This is my children and a couple of grandchildren putting together the gazebo.

The courtyard and fountain after they were finished.

Back view from the air looking east.

In 2016, January, I slipped on black ice and broke my right arm up by the shoulder and a fracture about 2 inches down from the socket.  It was a bad break and didn’t heal right so in August I had surgery to repair a rotator cuff and take out bone chips and clean up other damage.  2 ½ weeks later I fell at home and broke my left arm in exactly the same place as my right arm.  Now I was helpless and in two slings.  Three days after falling our son came and took us and our suitcases to stay with him and his family for three weeks. I couldn't drive for four months during the 2016 year. We then went to a Senior Living Center into a small apartment where I could heal.  It was there that we realized that life in Willard and our Irises and dream home were too much work for us now.  We decided to put our home up for sale.  It was something we never planned on doing but we would live closer to our kids for when I needed help. 


Our dream home is currently on the market and we will be looking for something to live in south of Salt Lake probably in Alpine.  We will downsize and hopefully find living a bit easier.  

The finished dream home

Four months ago Neal qualified for Hospice care so a nurse comes in once a week and an aid twice a week to help me.  I am grateful for their support and the support of my children and grandchildren

I am not writing this to whine. We have had so many blessings and have received love and encouragement from family and friends. This blog is just to explain why this will be my last blog for a long while. I guess there are some things more important than irises…but not many.

I am grateful that Renee Frazer and Andi Rivarola asked me to write about Tall Bearded Irises.  Irises have been a joy for us and it has been fun to get to know other iris lovers.  I have worked with many other fine vendors and consider them my friends and appreciate their work in hybridizing and selling their creations. I especially want to thank Phil Williams from Rocky Top Iris Gardens for his words of understanding and encouragement.  They helped more than he will know.  Finally I want to share favorite pictures of irises through the years. 

'Gypsy Lord' Keith Keppel, 2005, Dykes Medal 2015 (Gitano in the background)

'Embrace Me' Robert Van Liere, 2008

'Stairway To Heaven' Larry Lauer, 1992 , Dykes Medal 2000

'Aphrodisiac' Schreiners, 1986.  This was taken at at 6:15 p.m. and so there is more pink color than usual.

'Bravery' Joseph Ghio , 2011. Dramatically beautiful!

'Daughter Of Stars' Donald Spoon, 2000, Bloomed for me in May and again in October and though I didn't document it , I think it bloomed a couple of other months too.

'Happenstance' Keith Keppel, 2000 Perfect!

'Edith Wolford' Ben Hager, 1984, Dykes Medal 1993.  This photograph is probably my favorite that I have ever taken.  It won Runner Up in the photo contest for 2016. I love the light coming through it making it shimmer.

The iris patch with the mountains in the background. This photograph was one of the winners in the photo contest in 2016.  I felt very honored.  


I don't know where we are going to finally settle.  I don't even know if we will have irises anymore.  Paul Auster said goodbye better than I can: "and now we get to the hard part, the endings, the farewells, and the famous last words. if you don't hear from me often, remember that you're in my thoughts.” 

I can't say it any better.  Happy gardening.

From West to East...the Iris Grower's Struggle

By Carlos Ayento

I have been involved with irises since seventh grade.  That was back in 1992 when I planted eight tall bearded irises from a collection offered from Burpee’s Seed catalog.  Seven of those irises I would later find out were introduced by Schreiner’s.  These were Invitation (1982), Grand Waltz (1970), Stepping Out (1964), Gay Parasol (1974), Deep Fire (1979), Pledge Allegiance (1984) and Tut’s Gold (1979).

I had expanded the collection vastly during my college years in my parent’s Chicago garden; some performed well, others not so much.  However, those seven irises were still among the hardiest in the garden and would serve as the catalyst for creating my Schreiner’s iris collection.  With the exception of Deep Fire, I still grow all of these irises today.  My website, Brighton Park Iris, was born from this obsession.

Since moving to my own property, I had the chance to really expand my collection.  I have tried introductions from nearly every major iris hybridizer and grower.  As an iris gardener, I’m presented with many problems which are not ideal for bearded iris: humid and sometimes rainy summers, cold winters (lately without snow cover) and of course, the dreaded iris borer. 

This has been the triple-whammy of trying to grow irises for me in Chicago...only the toughest irises survive here.  Irises that have originated in the West Coast area (California, Oregon, Washington) have had the hardest time transitioning in the Windy City and many don't survive that first winter.  However, there have been a few irises that snuff at whatever Chicago throws at them. So here I present some of the hardiest West Coast irises that thrive in Chicago and that have been introduced within the last 20 years.

From Paul Black, one of my top selections for standard dwarf bearded iris is Mini Mouse (2012).  It is a vigorous and fast-growing iris with wonderful and faint plum dotting over cream.  Don't forget to check out those solid purple styles!

Lowell Baumunk's Vivaldi (2007) is another standard dwarf bearded iris that has also performed well here in Chicago.  This blue and white plicata is a Baroque classic!  Delicate, yet hardy!

If you’re looking for an intermediate bearded iris to continue the season along, look no further than Rick Tasco’s Flying Solo (2001).  This creamy pink self with interesting pink horns multiplies quickly and will take over your garden if you leave it alone.

From Joe Ghio, his Spiral Galaxy (2014) is performing very well here.  It’s a ruffled yellow bitone with his signature “Ghio-form” and unique maroon veining on the falls.  It blooms for a long period of time with multiple blooms per stalk.

An iris that I believe is truly deserving of the Dykes Medal is Keith Keppel’s Venetian Glass (2003).  Creamy white with a slight pink cast and crisp, laced edging.  Has bloomed consistently every year and never fails to impress.

Of the few introductions that I have tried growing of Bob Van Liere, my favorite and his best growing of those is Sisters of Loretto (2006).  It’s a creamy, rosy-strawberry iris with a flush of cream on the center of the flower.

Roger Duncan’s Arctic Burst (2008) never fails to impress.  It’s unique color pattern is unmistakable.  I love the yellow infusion both on the lower part of the standards and hafts of the falls.

Irises introduced by the Schreiner’s have done consistently well here in Chicago.  If you’re looking for TALL bearded iris, then you must try Schreiner’s Downtown Brown (2013) for its creamy coffee coloration.

Next, Salzburg Echo (2009) will light up that dark corner of your yard with its brilliant cream standards and rich yellow falls.  A dependable bloomer and one that increases rapidly.

Miles Ahead (2010) is aptly named.  Its miles ahead of the competition in terms of blooming reliability and vigor to withstand what Chicago weather throws at it.

Most dark selfs that I have tried in Chicago perform well, but if you want the best growing and most saturated jet black of them all, then Here Comes the Night (2009) is for you.

Another iris that has done well from the Schreiner family is Glad (2011).  The lavender-blue self would be easily overlooked if it weren't for those blazing orange beards on the falls!

Finally, the most recent introduction that so far is performing very admirably, and namesake of the founding member of the Schreiner’s firm, F. X. Schreiner (2015) is making a big splash in my Chicago garden.

If you have difficulty growing some of the new irises on the market today or are unsure of what to try of the more recent irises to hit the market, give these beauties a try! 

I'm Singing the Blues

By Bryce Williamson

In the last twenty-five years, there has been an amazing proliferation of new patterns and color combinations. Lost in this transition, however, is one of the basic reasons to grow irises—they have wonderful blues and violets colors found in few other flowers. Other flower groups should be green with envy if they had these colors.

In the light blues, I am particular fond of Richard Tasco's light, approaching sky blue, Absolute Treasure:

Image by Bryce Williamson

With tall stalks that stand up well inclement weather, Absolute Treasure looks good in newly set plants and in second and third year clumps.

In the mid-blue range, I am adding Schreiner’s Blue Hour to the garden this year:

Image by Bryce Williamson

I saw this at the American Iris Society Portland National and was impressed, but did not add it to the yard then since we were in the middle of the horrible drought. With water restrictions lifted, it is nice to have plants thriving instead of struggling to survive.

In a darker shade of blue, Keith Keppel’s Adriatic Waves starts the tall bearded iris season for me:

Photo by Jeanette Graham

With its deep ruffling, it is a standout in the garden.

In a variation of the blue theme, Paul Black has added a tangerine-red beard to his creation Bluebird of Happiness:

Going yet darker in blue, but still clearly blue, it is the hard to beat Ray Schriener’s Yaquina Blue:

Yaquina Blue--Image by Betty Jacobs

This easy to grow variety won the Dykes and deserved to win it.

Then there are the wonderful blue-violet irises. I think Gerald Richardson’s Magheralin is about as close to perfection for form as an iris can get:

Image by Dale Austin

Sadly this wonderful iris, a standout in the yard for both growth, healthy plants, and good bloom, has been ignored by the public.

From blue-violet, the colors can go in two direction. Slipping into the magenta range of violet, it is still hard to beat for growth and good form Schreiner’s Diabolique:

Diabolique--Image by Augusto Bianco

The cerise-violet coloring commands attention.

In a different direction as the blue-violets get deeper for color, then the irises are in the territory of blue-black. One of the few newer irises that I am adding to the collection this year is the stunningly dark Coal Seams (Schreiner’s).

Image by Bryce Williamson

With family members loving these colors and demanding to see them in the spring, I can keep peace within the family with this purchase.

If these irises don't provide enough variety, there are the variations on the theme of blue--reverses and neglectas.

My own Chance of Showers is an example of a reverse with darker standards and lighter falls.

Chance of Showers--image by Jeanette Graham

In the group of neglectas, I am especially fond of Global Crossings (Van Liere). In the same color range as Great Gatsby and World Premier, this is an updated version of them.

I like the velvet finish on the falls.

So, when gardening with irises, enjoy the amazing new color combinations and patterns, but don’t forget to sing the blues and you will not regret those choices and you will be the envy of your neighbors.