The Heralds of Spring

By Virginia Spoon

After a long cold winter, nothing invigorates my spirit like going out to the garden and seeing the spring bloom of the irises. The tiny miniature dwarfs are the earliest of the bearded irises to bloom.  I love the early bulbous irises that bloom even earlier such as danfordiae and reticulata, however, the tiny bearded dwarfs are my favorites.

 Miniature dwarf irises blooming in early April. Photo--Ginny Spoon

We have a large collection of miniature dwarfs and it is sometimes hard to find a place to put them so they won't get over shadowed by the larger irises. We put one large planting on a bank and when they are blooming  in March and April they cover it with a carpet of color. 

           Miniature dwarf iris planting at Winterberry.  Photo--Ginny Spoon

Shorter than the standard dwarf bearded irises (8-16 inches), the miniatures top out at 8" tall. They are tiny and to be enjoyed to the fullest, they should be planted either in a rock garden setting or a raised area. They bloom early too, so you may want to plant them close to your house so you won't miss any of the bloom.

                     Miniature dwarf iris 'African Wine'.  Photo--Ginny Spoon

"Pixie Flirt' is a vigorous grower and it can grow into a marvelous clump in just a few years.

                                             'Pixie Flirt'  Photo--Ginny Spoon

Winter Aconite,  Snowdrops, small narcissus such as 'Tete- a- Tete' make good companion plants for the miniature dwarfs.

                                      Winter Aconite  Photo--Ginny Spoon

The bulbous iris reticulata is a good companion plant, and they bloom even earlier than the dwarf irises, sometimes even in the snow. 

                                                   Iris reticulata  Photo--Ginny Spoon

 ' Atroviolacea'   Photo-- Ginny Spoon

The miniature dwarf 'Atroviolacea' is usually the first bearded iris to bloom for us, sometimes even in the March snow.

                        

                            Miniature daffodils 'Tete-a-Tete'  Photo -- Ginny Spoon

        'Early Sunshine' usually follows second behind the bloom of 'Atroviolacea'. 

                                          'Early Sunshine'  Photo--Ginny Spoon

                                               'Kayla's Song' Photo--Carol Coleman

We were excited that our 'Kayla's Song' received the Caparne Welch Medal in 2018.

We are members of the Dwarf Iris Society and if you would like to join us contact our membership chair:  Rose Kinnard (RKinnard@minesmo.org

Reblooming Irises: A Love Affair

By Ginny Spoon

When I first joined the American Iris Society in 1991, I learned about reblooming irises at our local chapter of AIS, the Chesapeake and Potomac Iris Society. Irises that bloom both spring and fall were the ones that I wanted most of all. That is where I met Don Spoon, who outbid me on every single iris that I wanted at the auction after the national convention that year. Although frustrated by those efforts, I managed to buy more rebloomers at our club sales over the next several years. Many of our own members in Region 4 were also iris hybridizers and had introduced reblooming irises. They included Charlie Nearpass, Clarence Mahan, Lloyd Zurbrigg, J. Griffin Crump and yes,  Don Spoon.  Sterling Innerst and Joan Roberts were also in our neighboring Region 3, and have introduced many lovely reblooming irises.

'Durham Dream' (Lloyd Zurbrigg)--image by Ginny Spoon

As the years went by, and my garden grew, I knew that irises were my favorite perennial. Not only do they come in all sizes and different kinds, but there is an iris of some kind blooming in the garden almost every month of the year.

'Lucy Doodle' reblooming MTB (Charlie Nearpass)--image by Cindy Rust

'Autumn Rose' (Ginny Spoon)--image by Ginny Spoon

The white reblooming iris in front of 'Autumn Rose' is my first introduction, 'Autumn Ivory', made possible when Don Spoon brought pollen from his garden and taught me how to hybridize.

Our Winterberry Iris Gardens--image by Ginny Spoon

One fall, we had almost a third of our garden blooming with reblooming irises. It was a glorious sight and one I will always remember.

 'Daughter of Stars' (Don Spoon)-- image by Ginny Spoon

As some of you may have guessed, I married Don Spoon and have now gotten back all those irises that I wanted in that auction, and more besides. We both love and hybridize irises, especially the rebloomers in our northern Virginia garden.

Adventures in Raised Board Beds

By Virginia Spoon

We found that raised board beds are easier to weed and keep people from walking over the irises. However, they have their problems. When we first started making the board beds the lumber was treated with chemicals that kept them from rotting, at least for 20 years or more. We weren't going to use the area for vegetable beds because of the danger of chemicals leaching into the soil.

 Some of our first raised beds--photo by Ginny Spoon

Our first board beds were started around 1996 with some lumber that was already used, given to us by a iris club member who was moving to a smaller home. We are still using those beds and the lumber has not rotted. Another friend  who was moving gave us some lumber that was never treated that he used for his vegetable garden.  He said it was a special wood that was very expensive and that was over 20 years ago. It has not rotted yet.

40 year old non-treated lumber--photo by Ginny Spoon

We made plenty of mistakes along the way. Don made many of the beds too wide, some were six feet wide and that made it hard to weed without walking into the beds. Some were too long, 30 feet (five, six foot joined boards). Many of the beds were too close together so that the mower would not go between the beds. I tried to tell Don that as the years went by we would be older and it would be hard to weed eat in between the rows. Unfortunately, that time has come to us.

Raised board beds, too long and too close together--photo by Ginny Spoon

Oh, what I would give to be able to mow with my riding mower in between the rows now. We have found that the ideal measurements for a board bed is four feet wide, eight feet long and either six or eight inches high. However, now the lumber is not treated with the same deadly chemicals and they barely last five years without rotting. The treated lumber even has a warning on it that says "Do not put in contact with soil." 

Rotted treated lumber that needs replacing--photo by Ginny Spoon

I recently purchased a cedar board kit that is four feet wide, eight feet long with two boards making it eight inches high. I used screws to put it together and used our two picnic tables to place it on to save my back. I then turned it over and put 1/4 inch mesh hardware cloth on the bottom to keep out the voles and moles that plagued that particular area of the garden. They must love the sandy soil there. I filled it with topsoil to the top. It is important to fill the beds to the top because if you do not it doesn't drain well and then you have a rot problem.

New cedar raised bed--photo by Ginny Spoon

The Iris at the End of the Rainbow: the Favorites of Ginny Spoon

By Renee Fraser

Traditionally, men arrive for a first date with flowers. Don Spoon brought Ginny just the pollen! And so at their first dinner date in 1993, Ginny made her first iris cross, 'Zurich' X 'Chaste White', using pollen from Don's garden. The match produced offspring:  Ginny's first iris introduction, 'Autumn Ivory'.

Does it get any more romantic than that?

Don and Ginny Spoon are the owners of Winterberry Gardens in Cross Junction, Virginia. Their gardens are in USDA zone 6, 1100 feet above sea level. The main problem in their climate is the extreme temperature shifts. Spring temperatures might go from the mid 80's in the daytime to 25 at night! Those of you gardening under these conditions know that this can pose challenges for growing irises, because they may begin to bloom and still be vulnerable to frost.

Don started hybridizing as a youngster, over 60 years ago, along with his mother, Lilla Spoon, who was president of the Charlotte, North Carolina Iris Society at the time. Don majored in biology, earning his Ph.D. and taught at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. for over 22 years. He established a lovely garden there, which is still maintained by the staff at Georgetown. Don also discovered a previously unknown organism and published a scientific paper and got to name it [Euhyperamoeba biospherica]. Ginny earned a degree in horticulture, and she says "so of course, the biologist and the horticulturalist are always arguing over who is right about what to do in the garden, but we manage to do it without too much bloodshed."

Don and Ginny worked at the Biosphere 2 in Arizona when they were first married. He helped design the ocean and was in charge of it for two years. Ginny went along for the ride, but ended up taking care of the Intensive Agricultural Biome for three months so the manager could visit his family in Nepal. They planted quite a few irises around the Biosphere 2, where they still grow today.

One of Ginny's favorite introductions is Don's 'Little John'. Ginny says "Don took me out to a large planting of his seedlings in Maryland where I first saw 'Little John' in bloom. Of course it was just a seedling then. I wanted it but we had no tools and the ground was dry and hard as cement. Don was ready to leave but I had to have a piece so I took a rock and managed to chip out a rhizome. I planted it and the next year it was in bloom with 11 buds. Don got his shovel right away and we traveled the three hours to dig out the rest of it.

'Little John' 1996 Owens Rebert garden

'Little John' was not named for the character in Robin Hood as many people have thought, but for a young man who helped me in my garden who was a John Junior, but his dad called him "Little John." Sadly, he died very young from leukemia, and I asked Don if I could name my favorite iris for him. 'Little John' is a cross of 'Damsel' by 'Queen Dorothy' and since it is half rebloomer it also has produced rebloomers for us, including broken colors. I have seen it growing very well in Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Maryland. I think the best planting was at the garden of Owens Rebert."

'Orchid Dove' 2007 (Lady of Leoness sibling X Uncle Charlie)

 When a dreamy orchid-colored seedling bloomed, Don kept asking Ginny if she could see the dove-blue color in the crests. Hence the name 'Orchid Dove'. It has been reported to grow well wherever they have sent it. At the National Convention in Wisconsin it got the most popular votes for a tall bearded iris out of region.

'My Ginny' 2000 (Sweet Musette x Femme Fatale) X (Winifred Ross x My Katie)

Don was waiting to name an iris after his love, and when the first flower on this seedling opened, his exclamation of joy and surprise was "My Ginny!" Both Don and Ginny love the 'Emma Cook' color pattern.  'My Ginny' won the popular vote at the International Competition in Florence, Italy for a commercial variety and the Franklin Cook Cup at the 2003 National AIS Convention. It grows well all over the U.S.

'Daughter of Stars' 2001 (Clarence X Mindreader)
Photo by Riley Probst

'Daughter of Stars' is another of Don's irises beloved by Ginny. They named it after the local Native American legend about the Shenandoah River, which says the river is so deep and dark that it gave birth to the stars. This iris won the Wister Medal 2007. It grows well all over the country and reblooms in zones 6 through 9.

That takes care of Ginny's favorites hybridized by Don, but what of her own efforts?

'Selah Christine' 2012 (Sariel X Orchid Dove)

Of her own introductions, a great favorite is 'Selah Christine', which is named after Ginny's granddaughter. It has been awarded an Exhibition Certificate (EC) which is the only award an iris can get that is not a garden award, and a High Commendation (HC) for a seedling iris. She has high hopes that it will also do well in most areas.

'Zippo' 2011

Another is 'Zippo', a nearly black SDB (Standard Dwarf Bearded) iris with large pure white beards, is named for Ginny's daughter-in-law's cat, which is black with white paws.

'Velvet Elvis' 2012 ((Cerise Boy x Candy Corn sibling) X self)

A wide, velvety red iris with showy orange beards inspired the name 'Velvet Elvis'. This SDB won an EC as a seedling.

'Autumn Rose' 2008 (Diamond Blush X Chatter)

The striking 'Autumn Rose' reblooms in the autumn.  Ginny crossed Don's beautiful pink rebloomer 'Diamond Blush' and Ghio's dark pink plicata, 'Chatter' (which rebloomed once for them) and got a nice zone 6 rebloomer. Don had told Ginny that if you cross a solid color with a plicata it would intensify the color, and indeed it did. It is a very intense rose pink that stands out in the garden.

When Don and Ginny met at the C&P Iris Society, they each had a large collection of rebloomers. They continue working to produce irises that are multiple rebloomers with modern form, vigor, and exceptional coloration.  I grow two of their irises in Southern California.  MY favorite is 'Plum Pretty Whiskers' which has that gorgeous orchid color of many of their irises.  It is not listed as a rebloomer, but it reblooms in my garden. 

'Plum Pretty Whiskers'

I also recently planted what may be their most famous iris, 'Daughter of Stars', even though I had to create a place in my garden for it.  I couldn't help myself!

Do you grow any Spoon irises?  Do they bloom in your zone?  And are there any irises that you would love to see in a reblooming version?  Let us know here in the comments section.

What Visitors Are Telling Some Gardeners

By Griff Crump

Several days ago, I asked iris hybridizers and iris lovers to "send me a photo of the flower or flowers that get the most attention in your garden, whether they are recent introductions or not."

So, do our visitors have good taste?  Apparently so.  Among the 37 registered and/or introduced attention getters are 4 Dykes winners, 4 Wisters, 11 Awards of Merit  and 10 Honorable Mentions.  29 of the 37 are award-winning irises.

Sixteen persons responded, including myself, and named 40 different cultivars, the only one to be named twice being 'City Lights'.  These include four seedlings, three not yet registered.

That wasn't all that caught my attention, however.  Among other things, I found the time periods of introduction of those 37 varieties to be interesting:

1964:                 1

1968:                 1

1970-1979        3

1980-1989        3

1990-1999        16

2000-2009        10

2010-2012        3

The paucity of favorites in the 2010-2012 2-year period is explainable by the brevity of time involved, but I wonder whether the preponderance of the 1990-1999 time period picks over the 2000-2009 picks is meaningful.  It shows a larger number of irises introduced between 12 and 23 years ago to be popular than of those introduced between 4 and 13 years ago.  Three of the four Dykes winners fell in the 1990-1999 period;  the fourth winner was in 1968.  If I'm correct (and I might not be --  someone can check) in supposing that more irises were introduced in the 2000-2009 period than in the previous decade, that would make the difference seem more significant.

It also interests me that no Dykes winners since Silverado in 1994 showed up among these named visitors' favorites.

Will Warner commented, "I didn't have many visitors. But the few I had went right for Louisa's Song, Solar Fire, Decadence, and my Wintry Sky x Mesmerizer seedling. I have noticed after they look at them a while they seem to get somewhat overwhelmed and start to say they like them all or go to their favorite color preference. I start pointing out 'look this one has 12 buds or look at this branching'! But that seems more to the hybridizer's preference, as they just nod and say that's nice, and then point at something else and go oooh look at that one! I have noticed most visitors here don't care much for the dwarfs. They seem to want them big and tall."

Will's observation was followed by Eileen Secrest's:  "People are drawn to orange ones, I think because they stand out, like Pumpkin Cheesecake . . . and I think they do exclaim when they see unusual ones like Gypsy Lord, or Decadence, but they don't run across the yard to see those, like they will with the orange ones. Most of the people who come to my garden mostly are surprised at the variety of colors and patterns available. I agree with Will, they do get overwhelmed and sometimes don't appreciate when I point out things like incredible beards or horns. Drives me crazy! :)"

That brings up the fact that there is only space-ager among the named introduced favorites  --  Rick Tasco's Solar Fire.  Although irisarians like some of the space-agers in my garden, non-irisarian visitors show little interest in them.  (One might think that some things like Will Warner's spectacular seedling, shown below, might change that in the future.)  And, like Eileen observed, my non-irisarian visitors walk right past some recent Dykes winners (which I won't name  --  they don't need any bad press) on their way to 20-year-old flowers that they want to buy.

I noticed something else that I think is remarkable.  That is the number of instances in which the hybridizer dipped pretty far back in time (since introduction) to choose the parents of what have turned up as favorites in this survey. Although it may clutter up the text to some degree, I took pains to show the introduction dates of the parents of most of the favorite irises shown here in order to highlight this fact. 

One such introduction is Crooked Little Smile, Bob Van Liere's 2008 introduction, for which he reached back to 1982 for one of the parents and to 1992 for the other.  The proof is in the pudding.  Snow Tree, a 1990 introduction by Robert Sobek, has parents from 1972 and 1979.  Linda Mann paired a now 27-year-old iris, Dusky Challenger, with a 1997 introduction to produce her seedling, Dusky Grape.  Maryott's 1994 introduction, Cajun Spices, has parentage from the 1970s.  Don Spoon's 2010 introduction, Red Hot Mamma, is the offspring of Rogue (1994) and Dynamite (1997).  Don also matched his recent (2006) Orchid Dove with a 16-year-older flower, Spring Splendor (1991) to produce Showy Lowy (2011).  Niswonger in 1993 introduced Tennessee Vol, resulting from a cross of  Countdown (1971) x Marmalade Skies (1978).  Finally, Jack Worel in 1999 introduced Rush Creek, from Gentle Dragon (1987) X Rustler (1987).

 I don't know how long some of these hybridizers' plants may have sat in their gardens as seedlings before being introduced, but the result is that flowers have been brought into the iris world that people like.

I think one thing that non-irisarian garden visitors are telling us is that "there's gold in them thar hills" of 20-or-so years ago, if we know how to mine it.

So, with that introduction, here are our responders' selections:

Naomi DiVincenzo was first to respond, saying that Crooked Little Smile (Stairway to Heaven [1992] x Satan’s Mistress [1982]) is always the favorite when she takes irises to her workplace.

 Crooked Little Smile  --  Van Liere, 2008

Lucy Burton's visitors like standard dwarf Snow Tree (Soft Air [1972] X 79S5: (Flapjack [1977] x Baby Toes [1979]) .

 Snow Tree  --  Robert Sobek, 1990

Linda Mann's standout is her registered seedling Dusky Grape.  The cross is Dusky Challenger [1986] X Grape Ice [1997].

Dusky Grape  --  Linda Mann, R. 2008

"Everyone went to it first", says Steve Kelly of Shannon Hiatt's seedling blooming in Steve's garden this spring.  The cross is Chocolate Ecstasy [2001] X Golden Panther [2000].

Shannon Hiatt seedling

In Valerie Walker's garden, the attention getters are City Lights (Fancy Face [1985] X Windsurfer [1982] ), Strange Brew [various Schreiner seedlings, 1999], Night Ruler [several undated Schreiner seedlings] and Cajun Spices [several Ghio seedlings from late 1970s].

City Lights -- Mary Dunn, 1990

Strange Brew  --  Schreiner's, 2002

Night Ruler --  Schreiner's, 1990

Cajun Spices  --  Maryott, 1994

Responding as a visitor to a local garden herself, Cathy Dudley was drawn to Silverado (Starina x Navy Strut) X Carriage Trade, [1972, 1972 and 1975, respectively] and Crown Sterling (Henry Shaw x Kingdom) x Good Hope sib) X Honesty, [all prior to 1970].

Silverado --  Schreiner's, 1986

Crown Sterling  --   Moldovan, 1974

Colleen Modra reports that Jesse's Song (Charmed Circle x Kiss) X Iris Nelson 34-74A: (Smoke Rings x Decolletage) [all before 1972] is always among the most popular at her garden.

Jesse's Song  --  Bryce Williamson, 1979

For Ruth Roberts' visitors, Stepping Out (parentage unknown) is always a popular one, along with Swingtown (Sultry Mood X V 489-2: (1981 #26, unknown, x K400-1: (Cranberry Ice x H 301-B: ((Dream Time sib x Mulberry Wine) x (Skywatch x (Amethyst Flame x Silvertone))))) [all between 1957 and 1973], World Premier (Yaquina Blue [1992] X 1985 #25, unknown), and Dusky Challenger (parentage unknown) [1983 seedling] this year.

Stepping Out  --  Schreiner's, 1964

Swingtown  --  Schreiner's, 1996

World Premier  --  Schreiner's, 1998

Dusky Challenger  --  Schreiner's, 1986

City Lights also shone in Cheryll Pierce's garden, as well as Rosalie Figge (Titan's Glory [1981] X Violet Miracle [1979]), Daughter of Stars (Clarence [1990] X Mind Reader [1992]), Clarence (parentage unknown [1991]) and Buckwheat (Spirit of Memphis [1976] X Soap Opera [1981]).

Rosalie Figge  --  Jane McKnew, 1991

Daughter of Stars  --  Donald Spoon, 2000

Clarence  --  Zurbrigg, 1990

Buckwheat  --  Byers, 1988

Will Warner's visitors focus on Louisa's Song (Cloud Berry [1996] X About Town [1996]), Solar Fire (Thornbird [1988] X Golden Panther [2000]), Decadence (Temple of Time [2001] X Louisa's Song [1999]), his own seedling from Wintry Sky [2002] X Mesmerizer [1990], and Peekaboo Zebu (Anaconda Love [1998] X Screen Play [1995]).

Louisa's Song  --  Blyth, 1999

Warner seedling

 Solar Fire  --  Tasco, 2002

Decadence  --  Blyth, 2001

Peekaboo Zebu  --  Kasperek, 2005

Ginny Spoon reports that visitors to Winterberry Gardens especially liked Red Hot Mamma (Rogue [1994] X Dynamite [1997]), Showy Lowy (Spring Splendor [1991] X Orchid Dove [2006]) , Zippo  (SDB, parentage unknown [2004], Black Cat (  ), Double Ringer (Whispering Spirits [2001] X Amarillo Frills[2002]), Fancy Gal (Dandy Candy [2001] X Favorite Pastime [2000]), and Brilliant Idea (
Gypsy Lord [2005] X 02-185D: (Restless Heart [2005] x Queen’s Circle [1999])).

Red Hot Mamma  -- Donald Spoon, 2010

Showy Lowy  --  Donald Spoon, 2011

Zippo --  Ginny Spoon, 2011

Double Ringer  --  Richard Ernst, 2007

Fancy Gal  --  Ernst, 2007

Brilliant Idea  --  Keppel, 2009

 Eileen Secrest's visitors like Pumpkin Cheesecake (Apricot Frosty [1992] X sib to 26-85: (Ambrosia Delight [1982] x 16-80: (Coral Beauty [1981] x pink amoena Marmalade Skies [1978]sib))), and oranges in general.

Pumpkin Cheesecake  --  Niswonger, 1995

In Nicolette Mealey's garden, the attention-getters are Rustler (Laredo [1983] X Dazzling Gold [1977]) and Tiger Honey (Desert Realm [1985] X Maria Tormena [1986].

Rustler  --  Keppel, 1987

Tiger Honey  --  Kasperek, 1993

Lori Lanford says that most visitors to her garden seem to prefer pinks, such as Magical Encounter (extensive pedigree involving Renaissance Faire [1985] and Dreamsicle [1995]. Many also liked Eastertime, Tennessee Vol (Countdown [1971] x Marmalade Skies [1978]), Carolina Gold, Old Black Magic (Midnight Dancer [1991] X Back in Black [1986]), and various purples. Many said they liked the purples because it reminded them of their mother's or grandmother's irises, but with an updated form.

Magical Encounter  --  Schreiner's, 1999

Tennessee Vol  --  Niswonger, 1993

Carolina Gold  --  Powell, 1970

Old Black Magic  --  Schreiner's, 1996

Lucy Burton said that plicatas get her visitors' attention.  That's also true in my garden, where visitors like the whirligig cant of Tale Spinner (Tanzanian Tangerine [1994 ] X 01Z1[2001]: (Royal Carnival x 93R6 (unk yellow bi-tone x Stepping Out)).  Other standouts are Jack Worel's stunning Rush Creek (Gentle Dragon [1987] X Rustler [1987] and an older bold yellow seedling of mine, 952Z1, that I'm going to introduce just so I won't have to keep saying "sorry" to would-be buyers.

Tale Spinner  --  Crump, 2012

 

Rush Creek  --  Worel,  1999

Sdlg 952Z1  --  Crump

Thanks to all of you who sent me photos of your visitors' favorites, and thanks also to the contributors to our AIS TWiki, from which most of the rest of these photos have been cadged.   Which irises are visitors to your garden most drawn to?  Do you find that certain colors attract attention?