Bulletin of the American Iris Society.Bulletin of the American Iris Society.

BULLETIN

Atumrandlria i’nrirtg

April, 1931

IRISES IN CANADj

No. 39

R. S. STURTEVANT, Editor

ELLA PORTER McKINNEY 1 _ _. „ _

MRS. J. EDGAR HIRES / Assoclate Edltors

i BUss, 1860-1931 .
ses i: ~

In Toronto. Mn

i Irises in Canada. F. Cleveland 1

In Peterboro. J. H. Callander .

In Western Ontario. W. E. Saunders
In Manitoba. L. T. Chadwick .

In British Columbia. Hubert Jones .

Iris Breeders * Gardens. A. E. Waller, Ohio
Travel Notes, 1931. Ethel Ans™ *

Beport of Test Gardens, 1930. -
1930—Annual Beport, Display (

Bibliography, 1930 ..’.

Tid-bits 27th. From Mr.

intreal; C.

, _. ..._,_..._,_ >onald, W. Miles,

W. T. Maeoun, Ontario; C. Berkley and J. C. Bennett, British Colum¬
bia; P. H. Gordon, Begina; Prof. Bunting, n

. Tunbridge Wells. Collected by F. Cleveland Mo i
Science Series No. 9. Iris Behavior—Drouth 1930. i
Exhibitions 1931 .

Iris Fragmenl
POLICY OF
Certificates!

E. S.

ARTHUR JOHN BLISS
1860-1931

On Tuesday, February 17, 1931, Arthur John Bliss passed away
at his home at Tavistock, Devon, England. For over thirty years
he had been interested in the scientific breeding of daffodils, gladio¬
lus, and irises. That his work will be perpetuated in future gen¬
erations of iris seedlings is but natural when we realize that Iris
Dominion was but one among the many of his origination.

Through his irises Mr. Bliss was known to many; his garden
was a Mecca to the iris world but few of our members know of his
early influence in the American Iris Society. Some years before
its actual organization Miss Sturtevant, Mrs. Dean, Mr. Morrison,
and Mr. Bliss had been in active correspondence as to standards of
excellence and theories of heredity. It was only natural that with
the advent of Mr. Wister and the gradual development of ideas of
organization that Mr. Bliss should be consulted. Throughout the
early years he was an active member of the Committee on Nomen¬
clature, on Judging, and on Classification and it is from his many
letters on these points that we hope to draw much of our text for a
memorial bulletin.

A contact such as this, limited as it was in subject-matter, yet
revealed much of the man himself, his simplicity and generosity of
spirit, his eternal patience and wide tolerance for the foibles of
others. That a love of one flower should foster such contacts places
a hobby among the major influences that make for happiness.

May I express my sincere appreciation to Mrs. J. Edgar Hires
for the idea of a bulletin devoted to irises in Canada and to Mr. F.
Cleveland Morgan an even greater sense of obligation for his collec¬
tion of notes from such varied sources ? The bulletin may prove of
interest to our Canadian friends but it will also offer much of value
to our newer members who so frequently need a recommended list

NOTES ON IRIS IN CANADA

By P. Cleveland Morgan, Montreal

When asked by Mrs. Hires to send her an article on growing Iris
cidedt a ’ 1 P ° ndered 0n how 1 should about it and finally de-
1 6 0 Wrde to a number of enthusiasts in various parts of the

coun ry, asking them to give their personal experiences also and
0 £ US ° rm a s y m Posium of Canadian opinion which should prove
. Vall J e than that of any single individual. The replies re-
ve ave been either incorporated in this article, where they are
M aC l n ° Wledged ’ or of efficient length have been forwarded
to Mrs. Hires as supplementary material.

noo Q ° Test Garden in the vicinity of Montreal, the

es ei “S at the Experimental Farm, Ottawa, and so it was with
dmnddn rCllef that 1 heard from Professor Bunting that Mac-
Col W ge , h ° Ped t0 Start a Test harden next summer within the

is tnf t F OUI f S ’ whleh are situated three miles from my place. It
is not so Slready maintain a considerable collection of Iris, but it
thev a ttoTv! r + a j ^. ed • aa t0 ma ^ e re ady comparison possible nor have
of new int ° melu d e the newer introductions. With the flood

to make oneluT 8 r nUaUy liSted ’ ° ne mnst ta a s P ecialist Mced

In mv ease w amdlar Wlth a11 their qualities and requirements.

» fraction ^ ^ ** *“

tain a coHectio^^ 1 have grown over 300 varieties and main-
hy death and di ° j ° Ut ^ ^rts, the balance being accounted for
and some two Z? In addit ™ to this I grow alt 125 species
I think there is “ Vanetles of Siberians. Among the Bearded Ins
class. We need cleane 1 ^ d ° ne the Dwarf and Pumila

and True Charm, pretty young ladies in first flush of youth. I see
tall slender women in Ballerine, Princess Beatrice, Santa Barbara;
stout but comely dowagers in Sir Michael and Majestic. These dif¬
ferences should be kept in mind in choosing partners for them in
the garden or as cut flowers in the house. Some varieties should be
examined indoors to appreciate the full beauty of their blended
tones. This is particularly true of the French seedlings such as
gouf, Moliere and Mme. Chobaut. I never realized the beauty of
Bialgar until I had seen it against a white wall. The golden yellow
o t e falls is so rich, one forgives the rather insipid standards.
Argynms, on the other hand, I prefer out of doors as the whole
flower has a note of somberness which disappears under the warm
light of sunshine. I have not tried Pluie d’Or yet but I like Gold
imperial, and better still, Sass’s Prairie Gold. I flowered Indian
ie t is season and found it very good. I have a seedling of simi¬
lar colouring named Hochelaga—the Indian name for Montreal-
Winch I hope will find its way into Iris gardens.

Among the whites, Mystic and White Queen have both proved
good variptips

I. Purissima, if it continues to flourish in this climate, will be a
magnificent addition to our gardens.

Rl . aVe al 7 ays llked Lohengrin, but this is quite superseded by
DrPAm gaUP ^ r w Whicl1 ’ t0 my mind > is one of the loveliest of all pinks.
Mm! * R ° Se are exceUent > too, and so is Susan Bliss,

an exo'r ?" ^ not bloomed 111 garden but I think it
an exquisitely lovely flower.

and^arrif arne ^ is another Perfect all around Iris in color, form
wood witfc *+ a . darker bine, but nearly as beautiful, is Wedg-
ful for its lit fl rettUy eont rasting beard of white. Sorcerer is use- 1
ol«W 1 'T nB 8nd is a »lne bicolor,
but is not as g °+° ’ t0 °’ large blooms of a very pale mauve
have failed Loe ‘ itia M3ehan,i -

is worth every e ffrJ ^ta Barbara ’ I still try to grow it as it
number of the Mohr 1 taVe not bad much luck with *

garden is cloiTo m Seedlin g s > but Mr. McEachran, whose

in an attempt to &nd , 1 are Sporting French glass bells

Southerners. 6 Pr °b* em °f successfully flowering these

little systematic a word on Canadian seedlings, but very

work has been done in Canada until the past year

or two. Professor Crow issued a report last year in the Canadian
Horticulturist on some of the newer things, and a further letter
from him will be published in this Bulletin. Doctor Brethour, of
Toronto, and Mr. Chadwick, of Winnipeg, have both produced good
seedlings, some of which may prove of permanent value when
further tested. Mr. H. H. Groff, of Simeoe, writes me that he has
been hybridizing for several years on a large scale and hopes to have
some first-class surprises for us in 1931. Good luck to him.

Around Montreal, Mr. Jackson Hopper, at Hudson Heights, and
Mr. McEachran, at Cartierville, have well selected collections and
have grown seedlings in a small way. Mr. Hopper’s improved Lent
A. Williamson and a blended yellow of Mr. McEachran’s may prove
important additions to our gardens.

I attach detailed reports from both these gentlemen.

My own seedlings have been fairly well covered in these and other
letters in the Bulletin. I would urge growers in Canada to devote
more time and space to the Siberians. They are of iron-clad hardi¬
ness and will thrive in the coldest parts of the country without any
particular care. I have many thousands of seedlings and in time
hope to make some of them available to gardens. Miss Preston at
the Experimental Farm at Ottawa has also been working with Sibe¬
rians and some of her crosses have exceptional merit.

I now propose to very briefly report on the species Iris as tested
m my own garden. Among the Reticulatas the type species does
exceptionally well in the Rock Garden and comes into flower
towards the end of April. The small bulbs tend to increase by off¬
sets and the clumps should be lifted at least every five years or they
will become overcrowded. I plant out the tiny bulbs left over in
rows in the light sandy soil where they thrive and soon come to
flowering size. I. danfordiae and I. histrioides are both beautiful
species which will flower in May from newly imported bulbs. For
some reason they do not bloom the following season as they evi¬
dently do not mature the bulbs, and I understand that even in Hol¬
land the growers experience the same difficulty.

Of the Junos I have grown persiea, bucharica and orehioides.
The first-named is none too certain in this climate but I have not
tried lifting the bulbs in the summer months and replanting late in
Autumn. This method succeeds well with the two other species
which flower freely in May. Of the Xiphium group, I. tingitana
winter kills with me and the ‘ 1 Spanish ’ ’ Iris peter out after a year

S " TheSe and tbe “ Dute h” require a hot dry sandy soil while
the English” prefer more moisture. They are perfectly hardy if
given these conditions and increase fast. Reports from Murray
Bay below Quebec confirm my own experience.

Of the Evansia group, japonica winter kills, and tectorum only
survives if grown in raised rock pockets where it has perfect drain¬
age. 1 have seen japonica doing beautifully in Bermuda and it
r; es la certam parts of Vancouver Island. Fortunately its tiny
a i V6 1 • dracilipes is perfectly hardy and is an ideal species for
oc arden. I, Cristata, its lovely white form and I. lacus-
m are also easy and good. They all do best in damp gravelly soil
wixn some dappled shade to keep off the hot noonday sun.
c a is a queer spindly Iris which comes readily from

seed and should be treated as a biennial. It is only suited to a large
r,f! den ° r f ° r the front of a border interplanted with some of
. 3 1Ce ’ as lts sma11 Purple flowers open in Autumn. In the
great group of Apogons, we have a wide range to choose from.

av e already referred to the Siberians. We have to thank
fi 7 1D ngland and Mrs. Cleveland in the States for most of our
Kine-fkiT le ^i ^ newer sorts I like Sunnybrook, Dragonfly and
B1Ue ’ and thoug b Red Emperor is rather dwarf its
own 0Uni ! g 1 makes il indispensable. I have crossed it and my
mediat/kT &Ve at least 0ne promising seedling which is inter-

under trial a^cTliTshe 5“ SerieS ° f Miss Preston ’ s hybri *

varietips J J be ha s been working with somewhat different
prove friitfj W ^ her bybrids and my own shouW

yana, 5 Chinesa Iris be considered here: bulle-

are iu , f ^^aphea, forrestii and wilsonii. The,

Siberians. They J] ^ . rather more moisture than do the
crossed by Perrv readd y from seed and have been freely

rather more fre^flower* 0 ^^' TheSe hybrids are very good and
named crosses Jenki™ mg - tbe species - Among the numerous
to these Chinese speei ^ picked as one of the *>e st - AlUed

cately beautiful little^rk fJ* f i me ^ ican 1 Prismatica. It is a deli-
an important subsection J ^ . Bog 6arden - The Spurias form
standing plants fo 1 the Apogons and contain some out-

deep yellow flowers audll™, *’ a “ r “ is a handsom e species with
blooms. These, is btUer with ivory-toned

d ’ Produced the fine hybrid known as

—^ au ucjua.uu an acid
cannot be called easy in this climate.

W T T n0t SPeak With any degree of authority on their hardiness,
with f aVG grown tenax > tenuis and douglasiana for several years
with fair success in sand, humus and gravel.

lumhiT S? a ? m ° re abont them in the otters from British Co-
7 Wbicb Messrs * Simpson and Berkely have contributed.

timp<a ™ ann W leb ^ r - Berkeley mentions has been tried several
tunes m my garden in various locations but has never survived the
LnwrJl 8 Plty aS ’ wben 7 fi rs t saw it in bloom in Mr. Clarence
charming ifower V , Pou ? hl f apsie > 1 thought it an exceptionally
« ° r • ’ lon ^ l P eia ^ a and its hybrid Tollong are pleasant

Wi ‘ h Whi * C a " d Bowers of good sice. /.

Asiatic M ^ 1S SlmLlar but of smaller habit and I. ensata is an

td^~:r of the *"*• Th - au * - u “> - ■"

which S<mtbern States, is a pretty little species

conditions' ^ to satisf ^ 1 have tried to imitate the I

namely ^Tt! ^ 1 baxa ^und it growing near Aiken:
Nevertheless it ^ aCld ’ Sandy soil amon g open pine woods.

Iris seto’sa iT^fl ^ With me and rare1 ^ flowers '
coasts of Labrador ° f this P r0vince and of the 1

and its disappearance in Owfoimdland * Xt is also f °und in Alaska
ice thrust during ni * countr y between is accounted for by an
roots among the wef 6 &Cla * B P° cb - It grows on beaches with its

Plete disappearance distin ^ uished tbe almost com ‘

grow under all c 0nd il f aildards - The native 7 - ™ rsicolor ^

thrives best with consifW dry Sand to swam P> but naturally
varieties which offer nn & 6 moisture - It has a number of named
recent years Doctor Q Wn n ar i 1CllIar difficulty under cultivation. In
her of species which hav if ^ Bronx Park > bas described a num-
tails can be found i n Add'- f ° llnd in the Southern States. Be-

twTl by excelle,lt colour ! cd m nl a T here T thedeSCripti0nS are accom ; I

them from the Bronx in iSo P ‘ 1 obtain « 1 roots of two of .
narum. Both came thromri. +k na ? ae1 ^ 7 - vinicolor and 1. savan-
covermg 0 f leaves. They a Wmter of 1930 with only a slight
1! .y atered from below a . nted 1x1 a st ony, peat mixture which •
61 er blcouied the first spa*^ 1 ^ dur iug the summer months. j

1)0111 bave made g°° d ^ owth -

I have since obtained, through the kindness of Mrs. Peckham, roots
of all the other species and await with interest the effect our winter
has upon them.

Iris foliosa and the hybrids fulvala and D. E. Williamson do
very well and Mr. Berry has kindly sent me his “Cacique” for trial.
They make excellent cut flowers for table decoration as the curi¬
ously twisted stems of I. foliosa never show to the same advantage
out of doors. The European I. pseudacorus has become naturalized
at Murray Bay, Quebec and along the rivers of the far distant Oka¬
nagan Valley, British Columbia.

Iris minuta, that wee gem from the Orient, is quite hardy and
will thrive if left alone. It seems to resent the too frequent dividing
which the generous minded gardener is called upon to undertake by
urgent requests for it.

Japanese Iris, if given proper treatment, present no difficulty.
My father had a magnificent show of them for many years until the
colony was decimated by musk-rats who seem fond of the roots.
They grew along the edge of a natural pond which flooded its banks
every spring. By autumn after flowering, the beds received a thor¬
ough sun baking and so matured the roots again.

In the Oncocyclus section, I have only tried Susiana. It stands
°ur cold readily enough and flowers the next season but refuses to
mature its bulbous root even if lifted during the summer months.
It may be that growth in spring starts too early and thus it gets
caught by subsequent frosts. Foster’s hybrids, such as Parvar and
Paracina, are hardy but more curious than beautiful.

The Regelias and Regelio-eylus are easily managed if lifted and
stored in sand in flats during the late summer months. The flats
® re placed in the greenhouse next the glass to ensure a thorough
aking. The roots are then planted again in light sandy soil
towards the end of October. I am trying colonies in plots this year
j&ud using small sash frames to see if this will avoid the trouble of
Wting and replanting.

sum up the result of our symposium. It would appear that
e great majority of Iris may be successfully grown in almost all
parts of Canada, from east to west. How far north one could go
remains to be seen but cold is not a serious factor with many of the
choicest Bearded Iris as I have grown them in the Laurentians.
Where the temperature falls to 35 below zero.

[ll]

The Mesopotamia and Rieardii derivatives and most of the
Mohr-Mitchell seedlings can be grown in many sections if particular
attention is paid to drainage and perhaps to spring frosts.

What we need in Canada are more Test Grounds distributed
throughout the country where only the outstanding varieties of both
Bearded, Siberian and species Iris may be found. We need a
Garden Club of Canada to foster these and other schemes; to en¬
courage the founding of local clubs, and to act as a clearing house
for information on garden matters.

With a big country and a small population, we have done some-
t ing but it is well for us to realize that we have only touched the
fringe of garden adventure.

IRISES IN THE VICINITY OF TORONTO

By Mbs. M. P. Wallace

The very wide-spread interest in the Iris both in England and
meriea is of comparatively recent development, but there
ave been Iris enthusiasts in Toronto for more than twenty-five
years^ I remember my astonishment when I found, on coming to
anada in 1906, that a member of the University of Toronto staff
that i?*f erent Tarieties of Iris in a small city garden. Up to
1 ^ ad alwa 7S supposed that there were only three kinds of
I blue ’ and white - That such ignorance still persists,

Iris lov rea h tW ° years ag0 in Monterey, California, where I met an
ties of lif(Tt ° 6Very P enn y she could spare from the necessi-

wonderful riot ^ Inses ' 1 pee P ed over a garden fence at a
and exclaim d . r ° ses > Peonies, delphiniums, and especially Irises
over an immense clump of Souv. *
come in. I nev^ A WOman wor king in the garden cried, “Oh, do
After my co r,r any 0ne W ^° knew the names of Irises before,
rhizome, no one loohQ g + a reaUy wicked extravagance to buy that
I think it xtra • S ^^ tw * ee ’ and they call it a ‘blue flag.
Cherubim, and was^old^ ^ SaW Alcazar ’ Crusader and

lived in a board in by the owner of the garden,—a man who

where he could grTw iZ T* earmd * he right *° 3 bit of gr0a " d

golf club, that in a f by Canng for the P erennial borders at a
small Irises because T n ° ° ne Would grow the old fashioned

Plants of such size and w and En g ]and they were developing
’ aeight ’ and beauty of color and f orm, as we

I did not dream of. A year or two after that, my friend of the city
I garden sent to Vilmorin for Ambassadeur, Ballerine, Moliere, Iso-
I line, Oriflamme, Clnny, Medrano, and Magnifica, and since that
I time, his generosity and enthusiasm has led an increasing num-
I her of his colleagues and friends to make Iris collections of their

■ own. In our small garden, in borders some one hundred and twenty

■ feet in length by five or six feet in width, in addition to thirty

■ Peonies and hundreds of Tulips, Daffodils, and smaller bulbs,

we grow, pretty successfully, one hundred and forty different kinds
of Iris, several favorites being repeated throughout the borders.

Most of my friends give Irises the same sort of cultivation—
deeply dug, well enriched soil, preferably a sandy loam to start out
with, and the addition of a certain amount of bone meal, wood-ashes,
sheep manure, and lime now and again. So far as I know, there is
no winter protection beyond what is given by the leaves of the
plants, except when small. Single rhizomes are planted in the fall,
when they are covered with soil more deeply than they would be
under other circumstances. Some advise cutting down to two
mches and burning every bit of foliage before growth starts in the
spring, as a protection against the Iris borer. Personally, I have
never discovered the dreaded beast and have had very little trouble
with rot, though we do occasionally eut out a soft spot and dust it
mth flour of sulphur. The ehief attention our Irises get is during
the freezing and thawing period when they need to be carefully
watched and firmed from time to time, so that the roots will not be
injured by heaving. We have never lost an Iris which has been
given a fair chance. Occasionally, when plants have arrived too
late to allow growth to start before winter came on, or when they
v Gen im Properly Potted, we have had losses, but even those
estflhrT!/ 6 ?' feW ' Soinetimes a n Iris has been slow in getting

it roydly af terw^V COnfess that they senerally make up for

well The i^ eg i eli0 " CyClUS varieties have by no means invariably done
ee sure, if they were handled as the books recommend,
sharply drained, well mounded-up beds, treated to a gen-

mortar rubble, they would delight us regularly, as

eans who **** advanta ge hi Canada, at least, over those Ameri-1
that we c rL en . iaStic about the En g li sh and French Irises, in j
parativelv fe^ ™ lthout restricti on, and there is no duty. Com-

little trouble aeZ .h ***** direct ’ howeTCr ’ tKou « h “ is 8 ^

to the dealer. Th^cost fW government P ermit and 8 letter l

Of what is askpd ^ 1S aiways milch less, often a mere fraction

that they invariably ^ ^ Side ° f the water - The trouble iS

aUy in October too latIT T & eom P letely dormant condition, usu-
the garden. With™* * . Sure that the y will live if planted in

they are by no means ^ tles for Potting and a cool greenhouse,
mean* sure to survire, and at beat they come •

erous amount of
they do even
We have

slowly. It is much more satisfactory to first see the flower in bloom
and then plant it immediately after the blooming period is over.

We are unfortunate in the vicinty of Toronto in that we have
no test garden as yet, though we hope to have one in the not-far-
distant future, and there are no dealers who carry the very newest,
most expensive introductions. Personally, I have been fortunate in
ordering Irises which I have not seen, largely because I can trust
implicitly the judgment of Miss Blacklock, Miss Sturtevant, and
Mrs. Pattison. If any one of those women says that an Iris is in¬
dispensable, I know that I want it. Of course, it would mean a
great deal to see each Iris in bloom before one ordered, but that we
cannot do. An Iris Society was started here some years ago, but it
never amounted to anything, and our horticultural shows are chiefly
for the benefit of the florists.

At “ Meadowvale, ’ ’ Oat.

The people who suffer most are those who are attempting to de-
ve op good seedlings. Dr. Brethour, of Toronto, has had remark- 1
7T sueeess with his seedlings, but only one of his Irises, Alice
c 1 ee ?’ a beautiful silvery blue, is in commerce, because he is too
seded ient *° llS t0 * ntro< ^ uce something which may have been super-
Q 6 already. It is a pity that such scruples are not more common
n our side of the Atlantic. The Frenchmen have a capacity for
feT ^ Section which is almost religious in its austerity. One
e s that M. Cayeux would about as soon commit theft or even
[15]

murder as produce an unworthy Iris. In spite of the fact that we
in Toronto have not seen Blue Velvet, Pink Satin, Purissima, San
Francisco or Dauntless; though we may only imagine the glories of
Zaharoon, King Solomon, Melchior, Jason, Evolution, Nene, Vert-
Galant, and Yves Lassailly, we can see W. R. Dykes, Mrs. Valerie
West, and Pluie D’Or, and in our own gardens grow Santa Barbara,
Louis Bel, Loetitia Michaud, Cecile Bouscant, Micheline Charraire,
Sensation, Labor, Ophelia, Marquisette, Gloriae, Romola, and many
others.

The suggestions for effective planting given in Mr. Sturtevant’a]
articles in the Iris Bulletin are so admirable and so all inclusive,
at there doesn’t seem to be much point in my discussing the
question, but I would like to make a plea for choosing Irises which
will extend the blooming period as long as possible, even if the
very earliest and the latest are not the most absolutely beautiful.

1 have found Iris reticulata and the Persian forms delightful ad- :
ditions to the early bulb displays, and the Early Dwarfs, Azurea,
Marocain, and Orange Queen are very satisfactory. Of Intermedfc 1
a es, would not be without the old Florentina, Cretan, Finna-
ment Istria Koehii, Purple King, Primavera, Soledad, Zua, and
est Gloved of all, Zwanenburg. If one can coax the Reglio-
ycius hybrids to bloom, they are fascinating, especially Charon, J
J*?’ ?f h ?’ and Satur nus. The same treatment will often suc-

with the lovely Hoogiana, Stolonifera, and Susiana, and
~ P a f tmgS 0f Dntch an <l Spanish Irises may be under-
t^enannually, they are so cheap and so beautiful. Personally, 11
irtrod/otinn ^ SlbeFian Irises > and Mrs - Cleveland’s recent

mtroductions are improving them.

Sturtela C nt-‘ul et ° f Ws plantin g was me by Miss

Lone r M a great many y eUows and plenty of whites.

I hadn’t real ! SC ° Ve *" ed ^at yellow tulips were indispensable, but I
adinkture 1 of yeflow & Ir m ^ raC ^ eS i ^ be ^ a ^

may have lovelv vpII ^ 1111111 1 read her article - Ha PP lly oae

following 6 from^t)er^ OW ^ * reaS ° nable price ’ 1 recommend the

Flutterby and L expenence ; Shekinah, Chalice, Celias,

--much^oiTe th 0 ™ ^ r CndDre (* hey 3

schwert, Citronella an a ’ Knysna ’ Marsh Marigold, Flamen-

- t»a to be «&£££■ r Zr who foUows this ad :

[16]

PETERBORO’S IRIS GARDENS

J. H. Callander

I The value of the Iris as a garden subject is annually becoming
more generally recognized in Canada. Extensively grown and
[commented upon at the Dominion Central Experimental Farm,
[at Ottawa, information as to the hardiness and adaptability to the
[Canadian climate of the hundreds of varieties tested is broadcast
■' all over the Dominion to a large mailing list and to any who request
[the booklets on this subject, which are free. Unquestionably this
[ wide-spread publicity has had much to do with the growing popu¬
larity of Irises of the better class.

In that part of Ontario immediately surrounding Peterboro,
[with a climate very similar to that of Ottawa, there has been found
tno difficulty in growing Irises quite successfully. The winter
, does not appear to affect them in any way, unless the fairly severe
frost has something to do with the almost entire freedom from
disease in this locality.

; Over two hundred carefully selected standard varieties have
been introduced here by the writer and the old pale creams and
common blues have been replaced largely by Irises of real merit.
I Peterboro’s Parks are controlled by a Parks Committee chair¬
man who is very partial to the Iris. His request to the Central
■ Experimental Farm for a supply of Irises to beautify the perennial
borders he is establishing in the Parks, and at spare corners around
|the city, met with a generous response. Our public gardens will
soon be resplendent with a fine assortment of these lovely spring
flowers, so rapidly gaining popularity here.

: While the $10.00 to $20.00 new introductions have been con¬

spicuous by their absence, we have been quite content to admire
l the rich coloring of Ambassadeur, Imperator, Archeveque, Lent A.
' Williamson, Alcazar, Perfection, Monsignor, Medrano, Souv. de
Mme. Gaudichau; the delicate tints of Isoline, Shekinah, Lord of
June, Dream, Lohengrin, Quaker Lady, Dalmarius; the striking
duo colored Dalila, Darius, Fro, Iris King, Loreley, Mithras,
f Navajo, Thorbecke and so many others that one does not know
when to stop. Varieties enjoyed for the first time last spring

(1930) were Anna Farr, Duke of York, Lord Lambourne, Mother
of Pearl, Ophelia, Seminole, Troost, and a few others. For the
coming spring we expect to see many others, among them Auburn,
Jeannette Dean, Mary Gibson, Mildred Presby, Reverie, Susan
Bliss, Zilia, Nestor, Morning Splendor, Kansas, Midgard, Brilliant,
Dominion, Glowing Embers and Prairie Gold. Naturally, we are
waiting impatiently for the return of spring, which as I write is
making itself felt, shrinking the snow and bringing the grass and
shrubs in sight once more.

The writer has found that field cultivation is far from being
as effective as good garden care by hand. Customers have taken
plants home and by giving thorough hand digging have produced
P ant and bloom immeasurably superior to what the field grown
parent roots bore under field cultivation. In the field a good deep
cultivation with a hand wheel hoe is given the first thing in the

spring while the soil is still ;

; enough to work. This is fob

owe as the soil becomes tramped, by a hand forking, tu*.— B
over all soil close up to the roots. Again, following the next good
rain, another wheel hoe cultivation is given. Between these
attempts to keep the soil loose the rows are gone over by hand,
Waded knife to get below the crowns of dandelions,
* * Whlch 18 free l v supplied by our neighbors. The crop of

eanal J abunda nt after this amount of work, but is not

For *W'i° r quality to the Irises grown by customers near by.
once * l T b ° ne flour is us ed about every second year, and
surface ^ C ° atmg ° f air slaked lime spread over the entire
adopted because^? 61 * ° f fertilization was not studied out and
the experience f * Personal experimentation, but was taken from
proven svster« *L grower wbo was hind enough to tell of it as a
several years and & annual catal °gue. It has been followed for
This article iTwt!' * Safe way of feeding these plantS '.
information—which T ” Wntten wi *h the idea of imparWg

veterans of tCxll WOnld not *» ° ffer *° **

history from a 1Can ® oc i e ty—but just a little bit of

very amateur -

IRIS GROWING IN WESTERN ONTARIO

W. E. Saunders

Enthusiasm for A genus of plants very frequently has its origin
in some fortuitous circumstance and, perhaps, the accident of a
correspondence. Connection with the house of Yilmorin Andrieux
i et Cie has been the direct cause of the early popularity of the
bearded Iris in this part of Canada. Originally, of course, the
Irises of the garden were Mme. Chereau, Amas, Honorable and
such, but when Yilmorin put out Alcazar, Isoline and Eldorado
about 1900 they were promptly obtained, and soon after that time
the writer was commissioned by the local Horticultural Society to
import premiums for the members in the form of Iris roots. On
sending the order to Yilmorin we found that we were most gen¬
erously treated and we received some thousands of roots, includ¬
ing some of the above named novelties; for the originators had
evidently a good stock and in those days there was no such market
. for Iris novelties as exists at the present time. As a result some
five hundred gardeners in London received four or five roots of
Iris. There is probably a greater stoek of Isoline in London today
than in many places of much greater size. The fine flowers that
followed this importation impelled local growers to scan the Vil-
morin catalogue with care, and when Ambassadeur, Ballerine and
Magnifiea were introduced many prompt orders went over for
them, though the price of $2.00 per root, at which they were intro¬
duced, was a high one for those days.

| The nursery of Bertrand Farr was also laid under contribution,
and when Wallace and Co. made the first offering of the new Bliss
i varieties further orders went across the water, joined this time by
one sent by the late James S. Wallace, of Toronto, from whose
batch of seedlings from Lord of June and Sweet Lavender came
the Iris bearing his name, which is like a larger Lady Foster,
i With the order from Wallace and Co. came Diadem, Dimity,
\ Dusky Maid, Dominion and other Irises of the highest grade that
I have had a great influence on the local standards of this flower.

I In later years new and fine stock has been drawn from Orping-
E ton, Cayeux, Millet and others, as well as from the American
[19]

hold down a spare seat in the ear for the occasion. Near lacnstris
I have found pinguieula, eypripedium arietinum (and an abun¬
dance of the four common Lady Slippers), houstonia purpurea,
tofieldia, zygadenus, and the two primulas, farinosa and mistassi-
nica, these species combining to make the region a very attractive
one to any one botanically inclined. Back from the lake is much
territory that is suitable for orehida, and which contains many
beautiful and interesting species.

Cristata is whimsical, but kaempferi does excellently for those
who provide plenty of food and water. The Spanish, English and
Dutch scarcely ever persist but peter out after one year of good
bloom. Aurea, ochroleuca, spuria, longipetala, sibirica and their
crosses grow luxuriantly and flower to perfection. Foliosa and
Fulvala also do well but the southern and California groups have
not been successful as far as known to the writer.

Some years ago, while on a visit south of Calgary, Alberta,
within sight of the Rocky Mountains, I was amazed to find that
the garden Irises, instead of showing more or less fungus disease,
a* with ours at London, carried every leaf clean, clear and vigor¬
ous; and this was in October. The summer, in our western prairie
Provinces, is usually quite dry, and the condition appears to suit
mese plants very well; so well in fact that I am tempted to wonder
it the regelio-cyelus will not thrive and flourish in the open without
any urt er attention than is given to other inhabitants of the
garden. This is a matter that should have been settled before but
e tested soon. If the surmise turns out to be correct, the

climatTo^the^ea^t^ ^ great advanta & e over the moister

““f f arden Peon y roots had utterly faded to grow and
were luap and flaccid for lack of moisture. One was almost tat
utterly Slfof l df di ? eaS , o£ flowerin S P^nts that seem to be
go below 7ero i a 1 m f* e whcr e the temperature in winter will

Chinos_com' ^ ^ and > with a warm wind—called a

before sunset ^ mornin g’ wil1 rise to fifty degrees above

we swTto " a ™ f °r a week or more. In the east

and place covert the Wlnter oonditions of our gardens,

but the Irises in thi Aik m the effort to P revent ra P id change ’
care whatever, showing JhlTX had ™ tered without

s nat they can do when given a chance.

[22]

IRIS IN MANITOBA

L. T. Chadwick

A request from Mrs. Hires for a description of the garden with
special reference to Iris, is the reason for this contribution.

It is perhaps rather a pity that we are not in the habit of tak¬
ing notes about the flowers, but'it has always been a mystery to me
how anybody, doing their own gardening, finds time for anything
else, so this contribution will, of necessity, be from memory.

After all, that is probably the best way as memory appears to
permanently record the good things, and tends to sift out the bad;
if this were not so, catalogues in the Spring would not be so much
in evidence.

As private gardens go in Manitoba, ours would be considered
quite big—three or four acres counting grass and what is left of
the original bush. We grow most things that can be grown here
sufficiently well to give pleasure, but have no desire to produce the
only one of its kind in the Province.

I doubt very much whether the poet who wrote:—“A garden
is a lovesome thing” ever carved one out of the bush in the Red
River Valley. Our garden is far too vigorous to be described as
“lovesome,” and we have too much respeet for its ability to grow
sturdy weeds and its magnetic power to attract to the beds forag¬
ing tree roots from vast distances to ever even think of it in such
a tender manner; in fact, we have a very wholesome respect for its
ability to keep one on the jump.

There are only four months of gardening weather in Manitoba,
from the middle of May to the middle of September, but in these
four months is packed a full gardening year. Long and continu¬
ous sunlight is the reason for our wonderful growth, and one never
can be quite certain if the sunflowers turn back again to meet the
rising sun or go straight on turning to save time.

The Iris is a most satisfactory flower for Manitoba, in fact, in
the writer’s opinion, the most satisfactory, although it is question¬
able if any one else shares the same opinion. Most people here ap¬
pear to think that flags are all one colour and have a very brief flow-
ering period, and generally, visitors who see our Iris in flower, have
[23]

such poor soH and such exposed positions that explanations are apt
to be regarded as contradictions.

Speaking of soil, Iris like good fare, and a three or four year
old Dahlia bed is an ideal situation. Lime does not appear to be
necessary or desirable in this soil; continual sunshine is essential,
an t e more water they get in the growing season, the better they
are. A description of the situation of the garden will probably
indicate more clearly the conditions under which the'Iris grow than
would any inferences I could draw of their likes and dislikes.
h l h T Tden is ona Projection of land, surrounded on three sides
y the Red River, which, except for a short time in April, just after
e ice as gone out, lies some thirty or forty feet below the normal
ground level; drainage therefore is perfect. The point was orig-
1 C ° Vere< * w * t * 1 trees, many of considerable size for this part
wJkVT 1 ** carpeted with hazel, dogwood, many kinds of willow,
Jj Vi US Cranberry> Wlld P lum an d thorns, the rather heavy clay
it K ei ? g C °y ered therefore with a heavy layer of leaf mould. As
w ™ . and trees tliat were not required were cleared, the paths
1 • tr + ^ ped of the t0 P soil, which was thrown on the beds to be,

eavmg them several inches higher than the paths which thus draw
uraf Z? ^ ^ Spring - ™ s > in spite good nat-

coverin^Tf 86 ’ ^ essential, because, in addition to the heavy
in dentb tJ+wi. ° r Severa * mon ths, the ground freezes several feet

and unless means taT™* “ eWing Sn0W cann0t P enctrat ?

would lie o if eontrived to take away the surplus water, it

of course fatal relr^’ and alternately freeze and thaw ^

The Summ ^ t0 ^ perennial Plant,
rains and 01 ^ ^ depen ding chiefly on thunder-storms’

from the beginnCof T* b * deSCribed as going int0 Cold st0rag6

we are enabled f S * N ember to about the end of March; hence
would be nossihi*° USe considera bly more natural fertilizer than
Spring irthe 1 bad < !. <!<mntry ** a long wet Winter,
as a rule the W i i • especial ly for Iris of tender blood, and
~ m *•

Iris beds with 0Ver for tb e year, we cover our

lawns and paths. It i s COating of le& ves raked up from the
ground is well frozen bef^ 17 t0 reeommeil <i waiting until the
heavy snow often comes W apP ? yin ^ an y Winter cover, but here
lore the ground is frozen, and a cover-
[241

ing over the top of 8 to 12 inches of snow is difficult to apply effec¬
tively; also the protection itself, unless previously collected and
stored, would be covered, and we have no facilities for storing vast
quantities of leaves, nor in fact time to do it. A few years ago,
acting on the theory that leaves might press too closely on the
crowns of the plants, we held this covering away with light brush,
and made a glorious Winter home for mice and moles who had a
Roman feast for months on end, and the pick of our Iris went West.

Towards the end of March, the snow disappears, and we begin
to get warm days, but usually frost at night. The protection is
kept on as long as possible, not allowing, however, the Iris to grow
underneath, so that by the middle of April, it is usual for the beds
to be clear.

The following weeks are the ones to cause trouble with cypriana,
Riccardi, or mesopotamica, first generation seedlings, not that the
plants will necessarily be killed, but the buds will be affected, un¬
less precautions have been taken.

Immediately after flowering is unquestionably the best time to
transplant Iris in this country.

Fall planting is not recommended for imported stock, as usu¬
ally, unless conditions are very favorable, the plants will be heaved
out by frost. Moving in the garden can be done quite successfully
in the Fall, if the plants are well watered.

A brief description of some of the varieties grown will probably
give a rough idea of the Iris most suitable for this locality.
Blue-Toned.

Duke of York, Jacqueline Guillot, and Marjorie Tinley are of
much the same effect in the garden, and appear to do equally well.
Simon Vaissiere —more of a bicolor, and not quite so easy to the
eye. Ann Page —of perfect form and finish though not very tall,
and Corrida, the indispensable, are the outstanding Iris in the light
blue tones, unless Asia is included in this class, when, even with its
outstanding faults of not carrying very well, and stalk not always
strong enough for the weight of bloom, it still remains one of the
greatest Iris. Last year, fifteen or sixteen spikes of great height,
and rigid as canes for a change, gave a wonderful display, and also,
which is rather unusual, set seed for me. I should like to include
Santa Barbara, El Capitan, and Conquistador in this class, but can¬
not claim they will give masses of bloom, and usually their height
[25].

IS affected by Spring frosts. The two former, when at their best,
are probably without peers in this class, the first for form, the lat¬
ter for color and size. Conquistador is fine, but far finer as
a parent, and we have now some descendants with more than their
share of good qualities, and apparently quite hardy. Also, El
Capitan progeny promises well.

Of the deeper blue-toned, Mme. Gaudichau is still at the top,
even though she does at times look a little bit hipped. Germaine
PerfAms has never been as good, and not nearly so robust. Lent
A. Williamson and Prospero are very similar at first, but Lent A
7?’JT d Prospero is J ust a little bit duU. Dominion and Duke
°J e ford probably come in this class, but apart from color and,
o course, substance, they are not very outstanding and are slow
to become established, which probably accounts for them not ap¬
pearing very hardy. Sir Michael, Pioneer and Majestic have yet
» t? a 6 k* s ^ 0r ^ T ' ^ have a little 18-inch Dominion colour seedling
J omany ’ whieh is aH that could be desired in its class, and some
our-±oot Conquistador seedlings, which are distinct assets in this

Pink and Eed-Toned.

welfb^n^ 1 !!^ ° ne IriS approved of by every visitor; tall, large,
Mohr on \ ed *q free flowerin g, hardy, just about perfect. Frieda
able * M ^ crl’ Wk * e b does n °t come very often, is quite unbeat-
not craiWfc * ^ Mme ’ Cheri ~™ry much alike, the latter

flower ar - y f S 0ne W0ldd like. Evadne —an ideal landscape

Evadne W aFge elmn ps. I have a seedling something like
the beard of ^ me taUie sheen. The faU of Troost, and

tive little thin» eW Mr tlr M S0U,ldS rather qUeer ’ but ** is a m0S * effeC '
coppery rose of Morgan 5 Bochelagn-a. fine Iris, a bright
near-pink we hav^A^' a ” d height > Susan BUss quite thc best
lower and lareer ’ 8ht ’ “ d som «what similar in colour though
Magnified I sunnn«« ein B<Mperle with its sweet woodruff scent;
admit anythhir, ir ? ^ COme “ this «™*P. if « “ Uld
^ have one pink des^ndlTth^""*** MagnMca wU ' ““V
Troost is a distinrt . 1 that P r °niises to be more than fair;

Alan Gray planted nefr “tlTT- * l0 “ e Way and CTen
(Poetieus Ornatu^—th nglesofn ^ s Yellow Tulips, Narcissus

I know) and purple viol! v OB * B growin g in Manitoba as far as
° las keeps one ’ s interest until the real Iris

begin. Last, but by no means least, Sweet Lavender —not an up-
to-date lady and not shinin g well in a crowd, but the kind one likes
to have around the home all the time. Sweet Lavender is not a
very good seeder, but appears to pass on its beautiful form, and
plicata descendants are worth while.

Red Purple and Bronze.

There is danger of getting too many of this type, presumably
owing to the practically universal use of Dominion derivations for
crossing. So far, with the exception of Romola, I have not used
them much, but now that I have hardy mesopotamiea stock, I shall
be tempted to try for a little extra substance. The best we have
in the garden is undoubtedly Ambassadeur, which, so far, has not
produced seedlings better, or even as good, as itself, though one
cross with Blue Boy appears to have opened up a, field that may
bring results. After Ambassadeur (leaving out Dominions) come
Morning Splendor and Imperator, although I think Seminole is the
best for garden work. Esplendido is of somewhat lighter tone, and
appears to be the hardiest of the first generation mesopotamiea.
Medrano is also well worth growing and being of plicata parent¬
age, gives some very interesting seedlings. Cardinal, Bruno, Mrs.
Valerie West and Depute Nomblot have yet to win their spurs.

Yellow and Near Yellows.

Of the pure tones. Primrose, Gold Imperial and Amber are the
best, if measured from usual Iris standards, but none of them give
a better effect in the garden than Virginia Moore and Colias for
the same purpose is very good. Gaviota and several Dawn seed¬
lings, of somewhat the same general eolour, while not perhaps rating
very high, have a very telling effect in mass, and are individually
perfect, though small. In the blended yellow section, we have
very few of note. Mme. Durand will not thrive. Don Quixote
appears hardy but the stem will not support the bloom which is,
however, very fine. Mons. Arnal is sufficiently hardy to cause no
trouble and is a very beautiful Iris, in'the same class as Sweet Lav¬
ender in reference to loud company, but a very intriguing flower
of fine form and substance. Ophelia has never come up to expec¬
tations, but Ochracea is most desirable when in good form. Two
very fine plants that may be classed with the above are Delacroix
and Detaille, the latter being especially fine, viewed from a little
distance. The variegatas proper are not very popular. Marsh
[27]

Mangold and a seedling (Knysna x Montezuma) a duplicate, bat
taller, being probably the best, although personally I think Romany
in large masses in the sun is exquisite.

So far, we have no good whites of size that appear to thrive
ere. rgentina is too tender and Shasta, while it blooms, does
not live up to its reputation. White Knight is quite the best, and
ia\ e a ew, derived from Dawn x Shekinah x plicata that are good
garden plants, but small.

SEEDLING IRISES OF THE HIGH PLAINS

L- T. Chadwick

* P^ OIU ^ se d, I am writing a very brief description of a few
seedlings, together with a justification for growing them, if that is
necessary. B 1

it there was a legitimate excuse for amateur iris breeding,

th^r e ® au ned for the people interested in iris, and residing on
growZ a PraiFieS - • In the first pla **> there are very few iris
are non opport nnities for visiting iris gardens of any note

dueed WMe many “ W “■ "*

selpot 1 1. ’ an< * w ^ile it is reasonably possible with care to
introductions ’ d ° n0t ^ enerall y give the parentage of their

is too excess'’ and ^ C0St ° f trying aU the thin g s that sound good

buMhirar s 6 ; UabW ^ live **

cannot be depended n ^ in the Sprin S, that they

naturally desires a c V° ®? Ve tbe large quantity of bloom one
breeders changing the *ZthVT ^ probabilit *' of large f*
tory answer ™Tot ‘ ^ "*“*

As far

Ricardi, mesopotamica LT, the tender species ’ cypriaDa?

tribute, i e height ■ ’ d trojana bave three vital factors to con-
m -v -t beauty. It is not

in all iris, still it i s i ? n l eces ^ to have these three factors

in which they are comhinL * h&Ve & certain percentage of plants
and after all, most i ’ to mal?e a complete garden picture,
the show. P 6 Want iris for the garden, and not for

■“ my ^eriments in brecdi
to - Vi •

at most three generations, and while the first few years, in the
absence of scientific knowledge or data, are somewhat laborious
and disappointing, one does gain experience which is valuable for
future work. Of course, in addition to all this, the work is ex¬
tremely fascinating, and I am gradually producing large iris that
share with us an appreciation of our glorious, although it must be
acknowledged somewhat cold, winters.

For years I have been working towards this end without, I must
confess, much, thought outside my own garden. I have received
great encouragement and help from Professor Mitchell, of Berke¬
ley, whose kindly hints and suggestions, dropped as though by
accident, and the gift of plants that have something in them, all
with a refreshing modesty that is strange in this new world, have
been of great value to me.

I have not been fortunate enough to grow many Canadian seed¬
lings, apart from my own. You sent me the only ones I have some
years ago. Unfortunately, Mount Royal was not included, but
No. 28, which has, I believe, since been named Hochelaga, is of
outstanding merit; a tall upstanding well-branched plant, with
large coppery-rose blooms quite unique in my garden for color.
You also sent me a Siberian cross, called Caesar, which I consider
perfect in its class.

I cross everything that looks promising. If the result seems
good, I keep on. If not, it is quite easy to forget all about it. The
results, so far, are very satisfactory to me.

The largest, and perhaps finest, seedlings are:

No. 343—Conquistador x Gaudichau

Quite a number of these all good, tall, over four feet, large
flowers of excellent substance, well branched, ranging in colour from
mauve to a blue Louis Bel. These plants are absolutely hardy, and
surpass anything of their strain in my garden.

No. 324—Ambassadeur x Esplendido

are of Ambassadeur type, but surprisingly more vigorous and taller,
although they are not as good as Ambassadeur.

No. 517—Ambassador x Prospero

Not quite as good as the seed parent, but taller and more
^ith a yellow glow at base of standard.

No. 637—A Romany Seedling

Lite an 18-inch Dominion should be—good for rockery.

[29]

browr

No. 45—GaudichauxProspero

Not outstanding in color. Somewhat like Santa Barbara, bat
a most vigorous plant, forming grand clumps.

No. 262— (Romany x Seminole)

fine In the ° rder ° f Co1 ' Cail<Mot but brighter. I consider this very

No. 315— (Sweet Lavender x Rheingauperle)

The whitest ground plicata I have seen, with pinkest red feath-
mg, flower of good form, and plant of good quality.

No. 94— (Shrewsbury x Troost)

P fl n Gen l r l aPP ~ somewha t like Evadne but paler. Troost
aU with Shrewsbury Beard, peculiar but striking. Small flower.
No. 364 (Anne Leslie x Rheingauperle)

A larger and taller Anne Leslie.

No. 54—MagnificaxProspero

Somewhat of Magnifica type but almost pink,
wine haVe favourab ly impressed me, two quite dwarf,

one pure wMte ° f g °° d f ° m ' witb «emi-flaring falls, and

I havA n i j 1D . cb very earl 7 and striking for the time of year,
years in th* 7 d ! senbed a few fr om memory, that have been several
» S they arc n T ’ “ d 1 haVe some station in even doing to
receive endnJl^* 7 - to be introduced, unless of course they
111 a mUCh Wider field tban ny garden. There
steps to better fh* ^ ° f ° tbers wbicb 1 like > but only regard as
iris is a good d i gS ' As 8 matter of f act, the breeding of new
growing, and as * nterestin £ than the results obtained from

inferior ’introduction^Ch™ h, done' *° ^ market :

®f May to 8 four “outb’a season “from the middle

(back from the eoast }, eptember ” and yet even in Massachusetts
even less). North of ’vr*** 7 frosts frequently cut our season to
that effected corn) in th°^ Ces ^ er 1 have known killing frosts (ones
dens with good air-,Wu? lowlands every month even when the gar-
nage remained untouched.—Ed.

:»]

GROWING TALL BEARDED IRIS IN ALBERTA

A. M. Patterson

As I have only a small garden and limited time and means to
indulge in my hobby of growing the Tall Bearded Irises, my ex¬
perience is more or less confined to a few of more established
reputation rather than the newer and expensive ones. However,
one, if he be an Iris enthusiast, cannot help but occasionally throw
discretion to the wind and indulge in some of the varieties painted
so temptingly in the iris catalogs. By having done so I have had
many delightful surprises, and, I regret to say, a few disappoint¬
ments.

Alberta can probably boast as much sunshine per year as Cali¬
fornia but outside of that, and the fact that at times we have
insufficient moisture, there the resemblance ends. Our Summers
are generally tempered by cooling winds from the mountains and
the temperature rarely exceeds 90 degrees. Our Winters, as a
usual thing, have very little snow and the temperature sometimes
drops to 40. degrees below zero and occasionally to 48 degrees and
50 degrees. These cold spells, however, do not last long and are
interspersed with warm winds called “Chinooks ’' which cause the
thermometer to rise 20 degrees or 30 degrees in a few hours and
the snow and ice to melt. In fact, we have so little snow that in
the southern part of the Province snowshoes are almost unknown
and sleighing and skiing matters of a short time only regardless
of fiction writers and motion picture representations of Canada as
the land of snow and ice, wolves and Eskimos. Of course, in
Eastern Canada there is plenty of snow in the Winter time but
this is not the case in the prairie provinces.

I have been growing Irises some seven or eight years and keep
adding a few varieties to my collection each year; also discarding
a few when they are proved outclassed by a newer kind. My collec¬
tion consists, at the present time, of about one hundred varieties.

My main iris bed is a part of an old vegetable garden which
had been cultivated and cropped for a dozen years so there is very
little of the original soil left. The original soil was black loam but
it has become mixed with the hard clay subsoil gradually, and is
well drained. The plot is open to the east and south thereby
[31]

SUn8hine and is 9heIteed somewhat on the
well rotted m ?° m 4116 prCTaiIm g ™ds. I And the use of

ot a lend ‘ he greatest beneflt ’ con trary to the warnings

ii I 2 oT 7 r h r* ieS ’ aDd in a forZ

is levelled ^T* der a ble Quantity into the soil. When the new bed
raked in nm*"! th<! snrfaec heavily with slaked lime which is
ont abont t < P aDtS ’ aauaiatiug of single rhizomes, are then set
to reach m J f aPart “ 14 takes a bont four years for the pUnt
the use of 1* ^2' ^ at time it is of considerable size. I find
some grower Wins! T* rhiz ° me r °‘ ’ rith me ’ as intima,ed **
established plants a tow* 1 ’‘° be * remedy £ ° r !t 1

ing season and til P , T “ g ° f llme at Iea st twice in the grow-
dusting of hn S ra ^ e< ^ * n ‘ the Spring, also, I give a heavy
dressing of wTuTtledt™2m Pl<mtS ^ bI °° med ’ 1 giVeat0!>

• PlantforpW^p 1106 ^ the best time in this P art to divide old

I have tried k +n ci ° n . eS 18 i ust atter they finish flowering, although
seen an W Pn “ g Md Fal1 Anting as well. I have never
Winters may have 6 1 88811 results of one ’ and the cold

only losses ! have Z S *° d ° in ke ^ P<*‘ away. The
If no rain is wn W8r8 8ailSed * ™ter weather,
sary to soak them comm &> when the irises are in bud, it is neces-
they commence to bl^ thor<mghl F onee or twiee prior to the time
The surface, however 0 *^ ^ dooming time they get no water.

My irises are not ’ ^ k6Pt Wel1 loosened by shallow cultivation.

1 have had surprising^mtl^i ^ ^ W durin S the Winter
perature and the i a «t /ll * loss e °asidering the changes of tem-
Indian Summer from <w b \ natural c °ver of snow. During our
m the sun as they are P , ember on ' the rhizomes get a good baking
enough to keep down 2° art ^cially watered and only cultivated I

. t P><»t ia goZ^*^ .

m the case of the more 0 rrl 6St m . foiir gears’ time, after which,

! ° me sl °w growing varieti^ 3 *^ Var ^ e ^ es > it is lifted and divided. >
a\e a piece removed from 22 bfted and divided but merely
roots of the rest of the 2 of the P«ent plant and the

course, newly p i anted d ^urbed as little as possible. Of

e root growth if no r i . . a watered occasional!v to enconr- J
M.v planting consists 0 ^ a f ° rthco *ing.
ar ’ b ght colors and bSfT ° f good old stand-bys. mostly
bountiful m bloom, if the individual J

blooms are not quite perfect. This background helps to display
the newer and perhaps not quite so free flowering varieties which,
I must confess, seem to have a trend lately to the sombre and dark
side. For the purpose of background I use Florentina, Mrs. Alan
Gray, Flavescens, Perfecta, Halfdan, and Her Majesty, all of which
can be depended upon to give a good showing.

Among the older varieties which I cannot dispense with as they
help out the garden picture so well are Rhein Nixe, Perfection,
Archeveque, Aurea, Arnols, Nibelungen, Maori King, Moliere, Parc
de Neuilly, Prosper Laugier, Opera, Madame Chereau, Parisiana
and Sherwin Wright. Aurea and Perfection seem to be able to
stand more shade and moisture than most other varieties, Sherwin
Wright can always be depended upon to give a multitude of blooms
and increases very fast. Parc de Neuilly is a wonderful bloomer
and fast of increase. Opera is not very tall but is a wonderful spot
of deep red-purple and is very fragrant. A bed or border of
Nibelungen and Lorelei is like a glorious purple, tan and gold
Oriental rug.

It is, perhaps, interesting to know the behaviour of some of the
newer and well tried varieties here. Lent A. Williamson is without
exception the most trustworthy and satisfactory variety in the
garden. Last season it produced huge blooms on 46-inch stalks
and even the small divisions I planted the year before produced,
one, two, or three stalks of bloom. Ambassadeur was somewhat of
a disappointment. The falls are of a gorgeous red shade but they
appear to be rather small in comparison with the standards. The
plant increases quite fast but in this climate is not floriferous nor
do the stalks grow to the height reported in the catalog and I think
it needs a more salubrious climate. To me, this variety appears a
bit weedy.

Souv. de Mme. Gaudiehau has been a decided acquisition.
While not as floriferous as some others, it produces a fair number
of tall stalks carrying huge blooms of a wonderful shade of deep
violet, and it increases reasonably fast. This is a flower which is
more attractive the more it is seen and the longer one grows it.

Juniata was not recommended for eold regions but was one of
my pleasant surprises. It grew, last year, about 48 inches high
and had several large frilly flowers of blue silk tinged with rose
and was very fragrant.

[33]

* T !! nc ? Lohengrin ls a P inker Juniata and also very tall. This
is, I think, inclined to be more free flowering and more fragrant
than Juniata and is a great favorite.

Queen Caterina is another one not recommended for cold
regions, but it has done very nicely with me. While the blooms
are none too many they are medium to large and of a glistening
P ® “lauve self eo l or and very fragrant. The entire bloom seems
! with silver and it is an indispensable variety,

or o June is a good bloomer and increaser, carrying its huge
owers on medium to tall stalks. As in the experience of others,

favor-t ^ a v e inclined to be It is, however, a great

favonte and deliciously fragrant.

Shekinah appears to be a good bloomer and of fast increase. I \
have grown this plant for only two years and am expecting a great
deal trom it this coming season.

lprinrT iStad0r iS ° ne ° f unha PPy purchases. This one, Bal-
GreVm and Magnifica have been disappointments. They
t tr m growing and increasing but will not bloom. I am going
reomVp S0I ^ e ° ther Cultlvation this coming season. I think they
mi • *7 season after blooming and some Winter protection,

last S . eason 1 bo P e to Bloom some new varieties planted

race Th T ^ some of the ^ discussed “Dominion"
Aphrodite 0 **A ? » ed 1&St Summer included Amber, Ann Page,
Esplendido Fv ? r ° SP ® r °’ Dream > Duke of Bedford, El Capitan,
Marlowt, Leon2 M t™""® Perthuis . Gold Imperial, Jnh.

Mrs. Marion C Mary Barnett > Mme. Cecile Bouscant,

Souv. de Loetith^M- , 0rnin ° Splendor, Pioneer, Santa Barbara,
not rectmeS“ d SuSa “ Bliss ' S » me » £
ing to resist a trM eSS ’ bnt * b « descriptions were too aUnr-

eomeVavoriS°™ o rth ^ t0 Say that 14 is “ OTit * bl<! “®‘ *° haTC

very weU dispense ° Ider Tarieties vvitli which one could not

nient from the foil ° F ° ne reason or another I have much enjoy- J
floriferous but havp OWlng ’ S ° me wb i eb ar e perhaps not very
and dependable; Alan Gra ^ ear1 ^ fragrant

gives a bright almost Jr! dependable a nd a good color; Caprice,

frilly fraerant a _ d Spot ln th e garden and has a Quantity of

My fragrant fl 0We r S . Fi ** the garden and has *
quantity and most dpnli ^, VeSCens ’ erea my-yellow, blossoms i

Mrs. Alan Gray into a lat & 6 5 ^ er Majesty, earries the pink o
er season and is very dependable; Isolen

[35]

, mium temperatures at this time may rise considerably
above the freezing point.

. , Apr *! usnally brin S s forth weather that is really springlike and
ore e end of the month planting can often be started. In a
orma year most of the spring planting of woody plants and
perennials is done during the last week in April and the
frilt'f 66 ° r ten days ™ 1Iay ' Pr °sts occur during May and the
hern u Seas ° n d ° es n0t begin untU about J ™e lst - Frosts have
a ” 0 " 11 to oecur evel 7 month in the year, but June, July and
“f“ USUa ' y frost free “ n d the first killing frost in the

wTV « 0m ° c<!urs before tbe flrst week September. Early
neas ™7 ** are U8naIly W enough to injure sweet

toward r °ses seriously and these usually continue blooming untB
r ,h : e ' ld ; f September - Exceptions occur and in 1929 rose
bl «om until October 10th when they were eat
frost that rT m 1930 rose btlds w ere destroyed hy a heavy

mue tb u on the night ° f August 31st -
is hard * W *f ° f tbe horticulturist in this part of the Dominion
nature one wLT ** acc “ mplisbed - T « do little of a lasting
of becoming q tly expends much energy but. the satisfaction 1
Quired It ha & ^ )nqueror * s usually ample reward for efforts re¬
ef Canada areh W Sald that pe ° pl * the prairie provinces
may not hp optlmists and Hve in the future. This may or

as horticulW i* & general Wa F b ut it is unmistakably true as far
its infancy rdHtti" C T d ‘r in the West is still in

hopes are held fo *+ S „ nown re f?arding its possibilities but great
iris will play no srJn future ‘ The wr iter is confident that the
Saskatchewan. Part ln the development of horticulture in

AT LAKE COWICHAN, VANCOUVER ISLAND

[39]

[40]

[43]

garden in

Hubert

IRIS BREEDERS’ GARDENS

A. E. Waller

During a season which at best could be described as freakish
and extremely unfavorable, it was my good fortune to visit two
notable iris gardens, namely those of Dr. Wylie McL. Ayres, near
Cincinnati, and Mr. E. B. Williamson’s in Bluffton, Indiana. There
are doubtless other gardens of which I am unfortunately ignorant,
but if space can be found in the Bulletin, I would be glad to
report on these two.

Those who have visited Dr. Ayres know the site of this garden
overlooking the Little Miami River on one of the many hills near
Cincinnati. A rather steep ascent, with a couple of sharp turns in
the road, brings one up to the shoulders of a ridge on which the
house and gardens are located, with the main body of the hill form¬
ing a semicircle to the north and west about a quarter of a mile
distant. From the house the land slopes downward in all direc¬
tions. The gently sloping land is somewhat limited and the views
of the valley below are beautiful, appearing just below the terrace
though really several miles away. In consequence of this nearly
ideal site neither soil nor air drainage offer any serious problems.

Climbing the hill affords time for a progressive study in iris
evolution. At the bottom near the gate the oldest and first varieties
to be discarded have become naturalized. They include Honorabile,
Flavescens, Major, Florentina; all of which thrive as roadside
plants in many parts of Ohio in spite of the rapid pace of road
construction and road widening. An iris flora would have to
include these varieties as naturalized plants. At the first sharp
turn are unidentified patches, perhaps seedlings of trojana, which
fifteen years ago might have caused a sensation. Still higher up
are some of the well known varieties like Queen of May, Rose
Caique, Albert Victor, Nine Wells, Archeveque. These are still
favorites with many, but in Dr. Ayres’ garden are put out into this
evolutionary limbo sinee they have not retained a place in his
breeding program.

Having crossed the terrace in front of the house one passes
flown through a gateway into the enclosed garden. Black locust

trees, native on the hill, are close enough to the outside of the fence
xo serve as a wmd break. There are also a few pines and Lombardy
P P ars. it is interesting to note that, since all of these trees
pro uce scant shade, they could be incorporated into landscape
n mgs of iris without seriously intercepting the light. There
no attempt at effect, however, in Dr. Ayres’ garden; his plant-
mgs are planned strictly for the purpose of developing his seed-
hugs and propagating the plants, and are in tiers of rectangular
beds separated by grass paths. The beds are approximately four

and lll I"*f eaCh ' - 1 W8S told » here are 8 huudred a ” d *"*
Tt U u COnta * n seedlings produced in the garden.

xv be entlrely be 7° n d the scope of one review to do
e o the many fine irises that are to be seen in this garden.
a brief statement of the methods used can give the
self K PetaSte S ° that be ma y g° an d see some of them for him-
first i t 0 ^ ln with - Mr ' Charles Phillips, of Cincinnati, was the
and dt^TI ° f D0 “ ini0n of record ' He imported six plants
A i bUted theSC among severaI friends, one of whom was Dr.
Wells v n P “ rent of many of ‘he Ayres plants is a hybrid, Niue
substanp ° minion ‘ excellent breeder has given vigor, height,

Z,Zed asl C#rriage t0 many ° f the seedlings. Cardinal was
wise been a fart^™* f ° r 0ttl<>rS ‘ Mr - Connell's Dauntless lias like-
mesopotamica 80 *^ Tr *, W0Uld also give equally prominent rank to
ling of Mr. MiM,^" 0 " White ’ *° Lonte; and to a P licata f*
indelible label a t S ’ ° f < -' ab ^ orn ia. When crosses are made an

beds. There ar d g ° GS Wlth the seedlings to their blooming

and naturally ° Dly 0ne or two P od s of a certain cross

Each plant is VT number of seedlings of similar parentage.
Weaklings and lndlvid ually from its germination periods

bloom season. P &ntS are destroyed at the end of the fiwt

The selection of j .

almost perfect plants desirable seedlings is most rigorous. The
have gone to enrich tlie^ ^^y discarded. Sometimes they
"ould have to be nJt ?* ° f friend s. However, these friends |
PnHed up or the chance of 6 S - POt When the Ending plant was
Many of the seedlings yank ltS life would be forever loSt
rubbish heap are much fin by the roots and tossed onto the ]

mercial collections. Amateur ^ m&ny of the g° od iris in com-

^4g S most literal meaning accurately |

describes Dr. Ayres’ method. He is a prince among sportsmen who
finds more zest in producing fine irises than in any other game.
Where the rules of the game call for accurate attention to details
he draws upon his careful medical training. Many of his plants
are second and third generations of selections in a particular direc¬
tion. From the genetic viewpoint the small numbers of offspring
dealt with have yielded a surprisingly large proportion having the
characters that are desired. The desirable traits have become con¬
centrated by close breeding, though I do not know of a single plant
obtained by self pollination in his garden. The logic of his results
would point to experimentation with self pollinations as the next
step.

Selection has been from the first for form, substance and vigor.
One of his breeders bears the nickname Miof. Translated this
stands for “my idea of form.” Two of Dr. Ayres’ seedlings are
being distributed by Mrs. Pattison, Persia and Indian Chief.
Another one, and in my estimation the best of the trio, possibly
because I saw it last, will be offered in a year or two by Mr. Cooley.
Such remarkable restraint in introductions after fifteen years of
hybridizing, with the production of hundreds of fine plants, is a
strong argument in favor of seasoning and maturing introductions.
To Dr. Ayres each of his selected plants is a personal friend. A
growing intimacy with one of these is likely to give each fortunate
possessor a lifetime of pleasure.

No greater contrasts in iris gardens could be imagined than
between Dr. Ayres’ and Mr. Williamson’s. Bluffton is on the
Wabash River, at its source a slow meandering stream. That a
town takes its names from a river’s bluff, not more than thirty feet
in height, is prima-facie evidence that the land near it is flat. It
consists of prairie patches of rich black soil interspersed with
swamp woods. It is known to the readers of Mrs. Stratton Porter’s
books as the Limberlost country. Mr. Williamson’s irises are like¬
wise a game rather than a serious occupation. He is known as the
former president of the Wells County bank, and as an international
authority on dragonflies. Banking took up his days. Describing
new species of dragonflies took up his nights, leaving the hours
between four a. m. and nine a. m. unoccupied. It is a point that
may be corroborated by his many friends that during the iris sea-
sou Mr. Williamson not only requires no sleep himself, but also
educes the sleep requirement of his visitors. I not only enjoy this
[49]

M but find tbat 1 can W, at least temporarily, a little of

r ', wonderful energy home with me. Mr. William¬

son s first ventures into iris hybridizing were with the Pogo-cyclus
torms He had been told by the late Mr. J. N. Gerard, author of
one of the articles in Bailey’s Cyclopedia, (who was at that time
is so e ns correspondent) that the Oneocyclus and Regelia irises
o ered more chances for improvement than the tall bearded irises.
Perhaps it was about 1906 or 1907 when Mr. Williamson started
collecting and hybridizing the Palestine iris. One of the hybrids
18 StiU ™ CUltivation; is Cherokee Maid. Perhaps
, . P° orl y drained land, or the climate, but at least the tall

rece‘ ^ ^ the Williamson collection grew better and soon
ive more attention than the other species. The earlier collec-
ns were dispersed, but not until after Mr. Marion Shull had
was fn S °+ me !° l0red drawin gs of the rather unusual hybrids, and I
vear to, * 6 enough to be shown a number of these pictures this
bee.’ f ^° St lnteres ting were the Korolkowi hybrids. It was
Williamsn lntere st in iris species that we have Dorothea K.
was seWtV he ^ kn0Wn fulva x foliosa hybrid. This plant
seedlings G ** ^ nebest dee P purple from several hundred

irises to -Wlihamson was at first, at least, just playing with
his varietv (W*®? 118 . ° f h y bridiz ation is proved by the story of
a philosonhio i + Va ’ blS first seedlin g- The full account of it and
a * -ell are contained in his 1929 catalog
a few others of W&S llsted as Sordida. For this story, and

iris catalogs from the reader is ^rred to the Longfield

refreshing, pith y remarks^is ° f

If I were to trv n lns h terature.
horticultural activitv j 01 f press to a single word Mr. Williamson s
pressing it. His back Sb<mld exuberance comes near to ex-
He obtained long i ea « yard garden bee ame too crowded years ago.
the churches in his neilf.^* 1 ^ ^ le vaean t building sites adjoining
In addition, he has hS ° rhood - There are three or four of these.
Williamson’s pollinatin^ 1 ^^ on tbe edge of the town. Mr.
If. in friendly argument ?f h ° d is Panned for mass production,
it is unscientific and devoVl Sppen . to have pushed the point that
that it is practical common 1 ° pbiloso Phy, I must always admit
possible pollen from onen^T*' The meth od is to gather all the
opened flow ePS and mix * fa pill to e.

LeGrand Ferre and Amerind, with Vingolf in foreground.

[53]

t P t e T“ 0f -<7 into Canada for th em . This
ing and it J ° \ 6J juSt have to know the things are com-
outside of the n * f ° f . tune t0 haVe the permit °n t*

name oVl ' . An0ther remillder > Mr. P- A. Kohl is I

we had it ? ma ° * n ekarge at the Missouri Botanical Garden;

correction so ^ ^ ° Bulletin several times and I would like a

good help 01,r memberS ma ^ kn ™ h is that gives us such

speaks ^ lreS 7 erj ln teresting article in Bulletin 36 sh^
™tr me ° f f F - Wl0ia “ idlings. I was much 1
runs very^hi , gen 5 aUy fine quality of his seedlings/the standard
things * Rum tt ^ latest Productions also are reallv splendid

m «nt J tZTT n ’f tei being planted aWt “H

five huge stalks of ’ bl °° med (from one original rhizome) with
storms and is a fl g ° rgeous flower s. It withstood some bad rain-
1 have a planting!!* ° f * ™^J lent substance and exquisite color.
VlNGOLF^n AMERIND, LE GRAND FERRfl and

of roses to ninX fiv!^ ,™ Se ' bed (where there is five P er eent
SABREUR i ust ' y I f other P la uts) and near this is BEAU
<HJILLOT 0at of a iarge plant of JACQUELINE]

they were planted b t^ ^ Were! No fertilizer went in when

-spring. The old old^rLm" ™ 0od ' aahea were sprinkled about ml
with Airs. Hires' . le 8011 did its work and I cannot concur ’

gatas such as GAY^tut^ 011 Us * ng deep, strong-colored varie-
or dark shrubs and e ZZAR and BEAU SABREUR with blends

V'ant a light backgroXf ^ T ° them really sh ° W UP *1

lere this summer GAY notlce iu the photograph taken

Pyrethrum. The comK- HUZZA R is backed by a pale pink
was an extremely beautifT 10 ”’ thoug h s °unding perfectly awful,
edwm sieboldi with ,° ne and tke & re A, red-tipped foliage of

We in the picture N ^Pervivum triste at their feet was
*° * how U P in front of a varie 8Ma has to be a good oW

th ™ out, but thet^ and that iS a f00l - pr00f wajr N

rayed fl, 0 *" ° f d *^ ere nt .si,/’,//'” a . re lovelier with li 8 Ilt col °”
"^ a pa/ K * dl e /^ t he g ^ ro “ of the iris, a feathery!

Gay Huzzar and pink pyrethrmn.

[55]

it is a fine grower. I regret that the judges neglected to give this
an Award of Merit when it was at the Bronx last year as it is
miles in the van of many irises already given such recognition.
CINNABAR was in superb form here and at the Bronx. After
sixteen hours of hard rain I went out to cut some stalks for a show
expecting nothing but had the surprise of my life. CINNABAR
was standing up with the same flowers open and in perfect condi¬
tion so I took them to the show and they stayed perfect all that
day though packed and carried many miles. They were not tied
in a box not touching anything else, either, but put in newspapers
and pretty tight among many other irises.

On our travels Anson and I went to Washington where we saw
some seedlings of Mr. Sheets’ shown at one of the department
stores there among others of his splendid collection. One, a dark,
dusky thing was attractive and I think is that which received an
H. M. at the show later. Mr. Simpson had some interesting
varieties of his raising in his garden. One, a tall, graceful delicate
bluish blend hard to describe particularly took my fancy. It is a
thing to live with for a while before becoming really enthusiastic,
perhaps, but then one likes it more and more. I believe this is
the best sort to get for one’s own garden.

However, the prime seedlings were at Mr. Morrison’s. He
doesn’t say much about his plants but he keeps on working and the
jumps he has made in the last year or two are amazing. I re¬
member the story about the cat and his boots and the one about
the Yorkshire giant who strode from one ridge of moor to the next
but it looks as if Mr. Morrison had made bigger steps than either
of them. He has been concentrating on variegatas and I saw rows
of them. In these rows were “stuff to throw out” better than
anything we have except the afore-mentioned BEAU SABREUR,
GAY HUZZAR and JOAN CURTIS. Against the chicken-house
wall— a dull, dirty sort of background that most variegatas would
disappear into, we saw PICADOR. It grows just as sturdily as
the rampant DAUNTLESS but is a good variegata and it is tall,
too. Remember DAUNTLESS best of its color-class. Besides
this there is ESCAMILLO with standards the color of those of
CITRONELLA and falls all red-brown like that best spot in
CITRONELLA falls but the shape is a lovely, spreading one, the
whole flower slightly ruffled. This is tall also and of slightly more
slender habit than PICADOR. FESTIVE, a giant IRIS KING,
[57]

[58]

Wind Jammer.

is another whacking good grower. In raising variegatas, blues
will turn up and, in HENCHMAN, Mr. Morrison has an unusual
one. It is a medium, rather slaty but clear blue and a distinct
very dark border goes all around all the perianth segments— very
neat and attractive. The flowers are large and there are many of
them but the height is medium. I would rather have it taller for
the sized flower but we need good irises of this height as we run to
man F vei T tad ones. HENCHMAN and Mr. Williamson’s

DOROTHY DIETZ are the i

i this year.

say unusual, for DOROTHY DIETZ is a very good neglecta and
there are practically none of them. We did see a new one (to us)
from Goos and Koenemann when we were at Mrs. Emigholz’s but
the name has escaped me. It is worth while from a first year stalk
hut did not seem quite up to DOROTHY DIETZ.

At the Worcester Horticultural Society show there were some
excellent seedlings shown, I think, by Mr. McKee. There was a
giant “better” SWAZI and a heavy, dark red-purple of flaring
s ape and huge size with great substance. One large flower open
on the top of the stalk. It was the very “spit and image” of Dr.

MELD0RIC but in another color class. These had
DOMINION blood I was told. It is noticeable that judges will
give an award for the best stalk to one with several flowers open
at a time if the flowers are good but smaller than one on a seed¬
ling of this type.

1 Hk ® d Mr ‘ Bea ndry’s yellow in Boston. Yellows this year
PTTTT^ 0t rf^^° nderful as the ravin g s would lead one to believe.
Pin I- ° R WaS beautiful in Boston and in a pouring rain in
unT!? 11 P ° Sltivel y ^owed. It is luminous and seems to stand

it is qmte Wel1 thou S h not of thick substance. I think

but I thiT the <<pickiest ” cranks would want you to think
a 1L ^ WiU be a better «■» «>on. GOLDEN GLOKT |

best butTf Wer and ° f yellows introduced to date is about one of the

S again ” 80 * ^

mend it t^ +1 agam ‘ I would certainly be willing to recom-
you real v t^™* iris pub Hc for it is not ruinous in price and
yellow of nio! !° methlng for th e money. Mr. Shull has a good
Of these so-caUed'vdlo'"® and s P readin g shape. 1 « et *”*1 1
don’t mention n S tbat are like the sort of tissue paper « e
holds i“ ,m^ i r nkled - aad curled. Mr. Shull’*

' “* * ^'respecting iris 0 f another color. The yello*

is rather opaque but it is yellow and not a brown apology for it—
cooked too long like camp eggs. Before I stop I want to say a
word for one of the Scott irises, WIND-JAMMER. I don’t like
the name because I adore a ship and wouldn’t insult it by using a
rough, slang term that a true sailor would not mention aloud on
her deck, but I have found this plant a real treat that grows pret¬
tily. A nice blue that blends well with other colors and as fine a
branching habit as could be desired.

We heard several funny remarks as we wandered about gardens
this year, one that all the borers were not in the plants and the
other bon mot, gracefully delivered by Richardson Wright that
“All God’s chillun’s got window-boxes—and irises in ’em!”

REPORT OF TEST GARDENS—1930

Ethel Anson S. Peckham, Chairman

We have three new test gardens and one in prospect. One is in Okla¬
homa, at the University of Oklahoma, another at Macdonald College, Quebec,
and the third at the Marsh Botanic Garden, Yale University. We hope shortly
to have another test garden at Ohio State University under Mr. Seifert and
Dr. Waller. We have raised the garden at Yale University, which we have
been interested in for some time, to the status of an official test garden be¬
cause the test on native species will be carried on there. This gives us, then,
thirteen test gardens, one at each end of Canada and the others scattered
about in different parts of the United States. Eventually we should have one

which seems an over concentration but two of them are working on different
lines. One has emphasis on Bearded, the other on Beardless Irises.

8 6 [61]

!*■*!!

p hl wr a ^

tCTo^T ^ 611 u F8 l W ‘ C ‘ Brinton ’ of New York , Dr. Edgar Anderson from
Whitnel East St T° r . CU !*“ ral , Instl tute, Merton, England, and Mr. Josiah
middle-west iris ^ ^ C ° ntributor8 to *“■

the bloomTnt r d6n r C ° mpletely labelled with the Simplex label during I
Stamned 1 i ,° n ’ m 8 type ° f label bein g a great improvement over the

b “aTuv^,V , / S,amped Iabel “ ,he ”° 8 ‘ kind, bat can*

blooming ' a * dMt “ ni!e - These blbela were immediately removed after rtte
of any iris variety can be determined bv
referring either to the card record or the chart of the garden.

Erom Mr. E. L. Ka Morton

have the following . B °tanical Assistant at the Morton Arboretun:

,° be abandoned two years af»n"k U know> tbe site of the original garden had
eing removed to the nursed ^ &Xlse ° f poor drainage, the surviving plant?
EJ*? garden - c o»tainin? s l!: re ** have remained ,

September*witS, SSStdtiS eigh * .—

drainage and , e ttine ' 0llecti “> «n ideal site as regards

e easily* arranged both alphabetically and in

J ound and compared.

[ 64 ]

[65]

TreblT? T P TJj d “‘ red ’ "° iSt 8traw - The weathOT *“ 1 mm very (.*■
e for the establishing of good roots sinee the day of planting. Notes are

S^ e L,? ed r aDy plantS h is hoped that me mbers in the West and Middle-
West wall send generously in the early springtime.

i is increasing materially,

iT^trzxZt*z a -™' sm ™ s - He,a7s 1

““ “° ttCT — — m earner or leanings Image,

“ d? h tT ' ° m Mr ' aeVela ” d °* Montreal. Plants I

sent him from the N. Y. Botanical Garden.

vision^of Horticulture ^th” ChaFge ° f Dr ‘ S ' H * Yarnell > Chief of the Di ‘
the work^ 8 ^ 0n ‘ He wirtes : “I greatly appreciate your interest in
ing it out," m TCXaS and W ° Uld like any sv, gg estions you may have in carry-

and^money^ ° PP ° rtunity to thank a11 the donors of plants

way to tlip’ " ° . 6 worked > a11 those who have contributed in any

of “"*■« o« these test garden, and the various activities

1930 REPORT OF THE DISPLAY GARDEN COMMITTE
AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY

affiliated with the ? ddition of two new display gardens to those alrea
begun directly after S ° ciety ‘ Th e first, at Sandpoint Idaho, n

as suggested by the r Jimtw^ 1 ^ 8 ®* 18011 ’ S6t in Color S rou P s and subgr011
stock of a hundred varietie 7 ' 1S * UeA check list of the Society. A foundati
of Agriculture of the Un -68 W&3 SeDt t0 tke s P ons <>rs of the garden, the Colle
at the Sandpoint Subsist t?^ 81 ^ ° f Idaho ’ and standard sorts already growi
gardeners and commercial grow" U8ed ’ te8ide ad ditional gifts from individt

Indiana. Ovm b "” pla ” ted at Deming Part, in Terre Haul

•applied locally, and ^ ™ neties "«"> «*, about a fonrth of these beh
The Iris Society members^ ^ contrib uted by growers throughout the count!
this group who have HaUte number s thirty, or more, and it

the new garden. form the Terre Haute Iris Society, sponsors <

of Montana’s un der the supervision of the Universal

cate garden at Hamilton Sta tion, will soon establish a dupl

’ tne Bitter Boot Valley, where conditions ai
[ 68 ]

[69]

supervised b y «,. Clu^ZtS Garden^ *"*’ ^

'««?

PttBBMSP'

LIST OF 1930 DONORS OF DISPLAY GARDENS

Donors to the Terre Haute, Indiana, Display Garden, established in 1930
are Col. J. C. Nichols, 4 varieties; Northbrook, 6; Longfield Iris Farm,. 37;
Mr. Thomas M. Fendall, 1; Mr. Carl Salbach, 18; Mr. E. O. Essig, 9; Farr
Nursery Company, 25; Missouri Botanieal Garden, 130; Miss Grace Sturte-
vant, 12; Biver Garden, 7; Fairy Garden, 10; Thimlar Nursery, 20; Quality
Gardens, 24; Mr. Jacob Sass, 9; Mr. J. Marion Shull, 3; Mr. J. W. Magruder,
18; Kenwood Iris Gardens, 21; Mr. O. M. Pudor, 5; Mr. H. P. Sass, 16;
Miss Louise E. Elliott, 2; Twin Elms, 10; Mr. F. X. Schreiner, 23; Mr.
Walter Timmerman, 3; Edgevale Gardens, 2; Vaughn’s Seed Store, 1; Mr. G.
B. Tuthill, 1; Lark Meadow, 14; Mrs. H. T. Watts, 2; Mr. B. Marshall, 2;
Local growers, 139.

1930 Donors to the Duluth, Minnesota Garden (Established 1928)
Mr. A. M. Brand, Mr. C. E. Pfeiffer, Mr. Jacob Sass, Biverview Gardens,
Silmar Gardens, Quality Gardens, Mr. F. X. Schreiner.

1930 Donors to the Belleville, Illinois Planting (Established in 1928)
Longfield Iris Farms, Bluff ton, Indiana; Mr. Joe Whitnel, Signal Hill,
East St. Louis.

Donors to the New Sandpoint Idaho Garden (1930)

J- F. Stewart, Moscow, Idaho; C. W. Hungerford, Moscow, Idaho; John
Bemsberg, Bound Brook, New Jersey; Olymphia Bulb Company, Olymphia,
Washington; Display Garden Committee, A. I. S.

Display Planting at Goodland, Indiana (Established 1929)—Gifts From
Mrs. Frank Kennedy, Goodland; Mr. Arthur G. Mitten, Goodland; Brook
Gardens, Goodland; Dr. J. G. Kinneman, Goodland; Mrs. Brewster Hoombeek,

Mrs. Nesmith supplied gardens
Dr. Nancy Jennison, Bound Br<
ar g°, N. D., Garden.

, N. J., offered i

r gave generously to his North Border regioi

acknowledged here, because of incomplete Reports from the various gardens,
are greatly appreciated.

THE QUALITY OF TEST AND DISPLAY GABDENS BESTS UPON
THE CONTINUED intebest of individual membebs in the

LOCALITY. We owe almost too much to Mrs. Peckham and Mrs. Hoornbeek
OT their indefatigable interest and actual labors.

71]

ffff?

& T-tnL%

[74]

75]

bulbous Irises, Some.

Bulbous Iris Hybrid, A Recent. (SIND-PERS.)
" ’ " ~ Life. 20: 158. May, 1930.*

Bulbous Iris in Storage, Handling.

3 May, 1930.* t
Bulbs Diseased, Tulips and Iris. (Botryti

iffiths. Flor. Ex. 74: No. 1, 13.

Burchfield (1870-1928), Sam

i & Gard. 14: No.
4. L S. Bull. 37: 2:

(California) State Iris Society Meeting. West. Hon
18. July, 1930.

California), MsVMts (in Northern. G. Sturtevant.

15-20?’ S0Uthern ' G - Sturtevai

C) lS* State ^ Society Meetin g- West. Horn
Chamaeiris Campbelli. Iris. Gard Til R9.- 453. 12 July, 1930.

Yeld. Gard. ID. 52:

^Campbelli, Iris. Gard. Ill. 52:
May, 1930/

(Chelst

bow), ]

. Ill. 52: i

Check List,’’ “Alphabetical Iris. ' Gi
Feb., 1930.

Alphabetical Iris. (Review.) Hort. 8: No. 4, 84. 15 I
Check List, Alphabetical Iris. (Review.) M. H. W. Lloyd. Bull. G
Check Ti^, 4th Ser ’ 8: 65 - Mar., 1930.

1930^ Alphabetical Iris - (Review.) Rev. Hort. 102: 138. 16 Ji

CheS ^ phabetic al Iris. Nat. Hort. Mag. 9: No. 3, 149. July, 1
Oe% 3 ^ PhabetiCal S - R - R uffy. ^at. Hort. Mag. 9: No. 4, :

Che< Ja^l 93 ^ merlCan IfiS Society< (Review.) Flor. Ex. 73: No. 1, 32.
CheC 5 2; L j S s t ’ ^f^can Iris Society. (Review.) F. W. Hellings. Gard.
^15 Society’s. R. S. Sturtevant. Gard. HI. 52: :

CIU> % M? r ’ lTis S° ciet y’s- F. W. Hellings. Gard. Ill. 52: :

"^H.Apr ^ 3 j ican Iris Society. (Review.) Am. Bot. 36: No. 2, 1
f’beek New Irii h. M. HU1. Flow. Grow. 17: No. 5, 254. May, 1!
Ch ec 69 ~ 70- mE? 1»30. (American Iris Societ y- Gartensch.

^ be Alphabetical Iris. (Review.) Gard. Chron. 3rd Ser.
Ohiyl t - Mar -» 1930. *

Bot' 1 ?’ a 116 -^iPhahetical Iris. (Review.) M. A. Howe. Jour. N.

Chenault L^on 31 p 3< ?’ 10 °- A P r -> 1930.

Child anil mt - Gard - Ghron. 87: 138. 15 Feb., 1930.

1930. ““ Eed ’ A - E - Finn. Flow. Grow. 17: No. 9, 450. S

Chri S a ^ Blooms in January. A. H. Graves. Hort. 8: No. 3, 57. 1 F

“A A - L S - BOH- 36: 54-55. July, 1930.

1930.- Sh0W - E - H - Bretschneider. A. I. S. Bull. 36: 51-54. Ji

XZ;, 17 L n «: W'L Ml

22g£ f~ ££*»• S. in. . a.

i

ZI l ° n £^&° nw»4

Sri^ ^“- The “‘«TL 6 ^- <2T> ?

1930. ml Medal > Awards of The. Yr. Bk. Th. t™ s™. flEwr.) I

i mssiEsz

ssl v„ w 8 G B r. r a 6 , s?f - S;

MR&sk

. 79 ]

sSS 9 M 99

) * to EO Uno!

g£.>™rcg:

rjs.7=• - * -

Ispisi' '

SfeiMrrrfr::

* I 1 J 3 ,

ssjSssc;

Wk 1

■dens 1929. O. B. Hoombeck. A. I. S. Bull. 36:

I I *

[83]

ShOW July I 1‘93f ,ra0r (L °” d0n W - «■'<»- Cauad. Hort. 63: 7, 197.

Mi;

E- A. S. Peckham. A. I. S. Bull. 34:

S ‘‘ a m» «gSe» I

^ ^ 52 : 376. 7 3*. ]

M,V 8 4 1

E- A. S. Peckham. Jour. N. Y. Bot. Garf. 1

SpucteTm' 1?3 °- "™ S ° Uth Ha ”‘“-” Tr ' Bk '> T1,e Iris Soc ' (1

-^TrSlS^vSrELTrTs 1 8 '1

"sf «.e^a"a mm*.,,.
^SHfSsnirr:

s $S-j££shft. <„.,

' 85 J

II I

|§°£SHI£ c S°Sou; 93 ^. 8row . J

hardy as far as cold goes. I have had Purissima, Wm. Mohr,
Argentina, Mme. Durand and others of this class withstand our
winters for three or four years with no covering whatever and they
have not been injured in the least by the cold. What does cause
trouble, however, with these more tender varieties, is the period
after the snow has gone, during the latter part of March and the
month of April when we get cold dull weather with rain and the
ground is kept cold and damp for days at a time with constant
thawing and freezing. This causes root rot to start and it is very
hard to check at this time of year. As you know I am planning
to get some glass beds out from France to cover the more tender
irises thus protecting them from the cold rains of early spring.

Mme. Durand is a wonderful iris and a great favorite of mine,
thmk I like it next to Purissima. Wm. Mohr is also very beauti-
u when it flowers, but it has only flowered once for me so far
although I now have quite a nice clump of it.

Of the better known irises, my favorites are Princess Beatrice,
ia, ay Dream, Mary Gibson, Pioneer, Aurelle, Steepway, Am .
assadeur, BaUerine, Isoline and Peerless. I have also a few seed-
thinffg 0 ^ ^ ° Wn ’ unnamed, from which I am hoping great

to A ! r , e f ards the tre atment of iris in Canada, I find it advisable
th 8et a11 Panting, dividing, etc., done before August 1st as then
* P ants bave time to get thoroughly established before the
Th* **1 and there is no danger of heaving the following spring.

ae onty plants j w eyer lort were some that were gent tQ me

befo/ • teDlber ’. and did not have a chance to get firmly rooted
Set * n ' ^e rhizomes were heaved right out of the
imno -W he f ° llowing spring and did not survive. If it is quite
very i af ^ get tbe i r i s delivered before the 15th August at the
H inch ^ ^ bes ^ i" 0 P^nt them in large flower pots, 10 to

tor thp 6 ^r P ° tS d ° H^ely* and keep them in a cold greenhouse

be dor,! !? ter ’ Panting them out the following May. This can

WheiT 1 ^ 0111 disturbing the roots at alh

ground b r^- 8 °* ng to Plant a new row of iris I prepare the
to the to 7 a French about one foot deep. This I fill level

manure maimre and then replace the earth on top of the

Prepared q makeS quite a hi gh mound at first, but if the bed is
has settled* Bptember or October or even April or early May, it
owm considerably by the following July, when I da
[87]

the planting, and the top of the bed being raised a little makes for
good drainage. I plant the rhizomes as Miss Sturtevant recom¬
mends, “like a duck sitting on the water.” I never use lime, but
with some of the more tender varieties I mix a little sand with the
earth, and I am very little troubled with root rot, although the soil
in my garden is fairly heavy.

From R. Jackson Hopper, Montreal

As you know 1930 was an off season for flowers and the irises
suffered from too little sun and too much moisture. Conditions
similar to those of the iris flowering season in England existed in |
Montreal last season and now I realize why the much advertised j
Bliss hybrids are so highly admired by our English friends. Car¬
dinal, Majestic, Bruno, Swazi, Titan, Pioneer and the other
Dominion children were marvelous and in spite of the excess of
moisture, did not suffer from root rot as has been the case almost
every year since I got them. They are now planted on a sandy soil
containing peat moss, clay and cow manure, reasonably heavy, but
•with good drainage and are thriving in our cold climate.

The outstanding flower of 1930, was Dykes’ Aphrodite, glorious
blooms 25 flowers on three stalks almost five feet high and nearly
a m bloom at the same time, the top flowers measuring nearly
seven inches. Around the plants were some clumps of Aquilegia
(bcott Elliott strain) of a pink color which made a finely blended |
colour spot for a week or two.

Several Mohr-Mitchell hybrids were especially good. One, a :
blend of Ramona and Shekinah, which Mr. Mitchell did not consider j
wort y of a name, was as fine a yellow as any in the garden. The
much advertised Amber is not nearly so good, nor is Chasseur, a 1
muddy streaked yellow at times and very variable in my garden, .j
a though it does show an occasional clear bloom. The brown spots
at the base of the falls seem to vary into streaks in some seasons
intiwT ! ntly like the s P° ts developed by W. R. Dykes since its

o W?n AS a garden ^ ellow my preference runs to Colias,

is ZfTTj and MiS8 Sturtevant’s Shekinah, provided the latter
yellows 5 o?M d ln Q fUl1 SUnlight 80 ^at it fades. None of the later 1
and have^lf 188 Stlirtevant >s has equalled Shekinah in my garden 1
Mr. M r ed Shy bl00iaers -

hppn i C j ^ f eid me t w ° seedlings, a few years ago, which have j

been much admired. One. Frieda Lhr, has since been introdneed ;

[90]

I have grown several thousand new hand fertilized seedlings.
While there are some outstanding varieties among them, they do
not seem to have sufficient quality to place them ahead of existing
varieties. I am looking forward with a great deal of anticipation
to seeing them bloom again this year and particularly to seeing a
new bed of about a thousand seedlings which will bloom for the
first time and whieh are the result of greater care in the choice and
combination of parentage.

In conclusion I would like to suggest that a great deal could be
done in Canada, particularly in Toronto and vicinity, to widen the
interest in Iris. We have no trial plots and Irises are not given
prominence in public gardens with the result that the newer and
finer sorts can be seen only by comparatively few people, and I
would be heartily in favor of any move that would create a wider
interest in this beautiful flower.

Prom J. W. Grow, Simcoe, Ontario.

I have been growing modern high class irises for many years
and for the past three years have had the rare privilege of looking
oyer frequently the remarkable collection gathered together in
oimeoe by Mr. H. H. Groff, of gladiolus fame. I have kept careful
oo s and ovservations for my own guidance, using a color classi-
cation of my own. In spite of my earnest attempts at clarity and
# unusual opportunity I have had for getting acquainted with
ow varieties, I am concious chiefly of a feeling of confusion with
g{ jrd to varieties in general.

It is some seven or eight years since I came under the spell of
less]| 111110n, the individual flowers are, to my mind, flaw-

' perfect m form, texture and color. Since then I have, of
not w' j^ SeC ^. Dominion as a standard of perfection, although I do
than^tb t0 t ^ lat dominion form is necessarily more perfect

Bliss *+ ? certain other varieties. I think the form of Susan
the f St beaUtiful indeed and am unable to find fault either with
thjnk°+ m ^ ast * en DePage. My feeling of confusion is due, I
haps I b 3 deeper and more Basic feeling of disappointment. Per-
DoniinioiT 6 6Xpeeted to ° much. I have been looking for flowers of
with D>n°^ v Uality 0n stron " growing, free blooming, tall plants,
have faded f anClllng ha bit and proper poise of bloom. Thus far I
I wifi 6 ° S6e any ^ng even approximating my ideal,
for a y ar * Say that in my opinion the situation calls earnestly
le y Symposium on the lines of the Gladiolus Symposium

[91]

published by the Canadian Society. I believe this is the best pi*
to gladiolns varieties available in print and know that it is used by
80o I,rT ber ° f 0Dr members as » reliable evaluation of nearly
important f S 1“ n ° W in commerce in Canada. Not the least
vSeTL T 8UCh 3 Sym P osillm » ‘he fact that many
reUdvelv T y i Pr0m “ ent ^ nOW sho "' n he outclassed and
tte nlrr T deSlra hle. This is the only serious effort I know of on j
Comme- °.i, ™ y flower specialty organization to eliminate from

an"il e ct 0 t ° f TarietieS 1<>Und ^ eXPerie “ e ‘° bC ^

I win!) Vt T rW “ dUe for a flood > t0 P u ‘ « mildly, of new thingl |
leoderl , See the hest of them attain their proper position as

nation nf S T™ * y 88 P ossl hle- This obviously involves the elimi-
shonld h * l8rge number of varieties which can well be spared and
should be dropped forthwith.

From L. w. Cousins, London, Ontario.

Dale of TV , beBeve > are as y et rarely grown. Mr. E. M. S. J
and their hlhriH 18 ® UCeessful with the oncocyclus, regelia specif
the fall M w S t? * un ^ erstan d, he lifts the roots and replants in j
and trondnrJ i ’ ' Saunders also grows Hoogiana and reticulata )

a garlen t0 h ^ What dse in ** garden of surprises. His is
somethin** new 6 S * Udled - Ever y stroll around the paths reveals I
Mv own J 3 lnterestin " Previously unnoticed,
so recentthat ^ ° nly been with the bearded sorts and is

interest is »f ^ no d ^nite opinions as yet. My chief
the Dominion ° gS and 1 am doin £ the usual thing in using
yellows Lack ^ eso P ota miea strains and trying for good
free to exercise m COmparison with the newest varieties leaves me
soil is clay loam a taste ln eliminating the undesirables. The
greatest trouble ZJ* P ! ants are grown on raised beds. The
with bone meal J\ P * nenced WaS rot ’ due ’ 1 think, to fertile
tilizer used during Aeid P hos P h ate has been the only fer* \

been relatively f ree * &St two or three years and the garden has
give no trouble fr„ m thTso^ ^ the Mes0 P» temica ;

en thusiasm does .

opinion on the future of «, P . erirut the expression of an unbiased
i» whom I have considersKi 6 mS here ‘ But the opinions of those
vogue of the iris is on ly dence leads me to believe that the j

quite hot, conditions on the whole being ideal for the growth of !
these charming garden subjects.

Prom William Miles, Ingersoll, Ont.

Bulbous. It would seem that the Juno section, or at any rate,
certam members of that section, are worthy of wider cultivation in
, C °, Un ry ' T ^ ree °f these that have been satisfactory in this
ar f- Sm d-pers, six inches high, pale blue with yellow j
gnal patch ; sindjarensis, ten inches, blooms about the middle of ]
rniXn 811 r a mondl ^ ater than Sind-pers; bueharica, also

for «, 01 , May ’ white and y ellow . and really a wonderful beauty
tor the rock garden. ;

J* rt ' Some w *»<* have remained in the sod for several j
™ r , e “ g00d edition. This may be in part due to the d>y

c ~ ri “ 8 * laS * * W ° autumns - 1 “P »* W
“ y T e " mS ‘ he fleShy roots “‘act, aa a ■»* »f

against a wet season and replant in October.

reallvtrrr^™ Pe P eate diy failed, perhaps due to the fact that
ready go^d bulbs arc imp08sibIe * obtain ^

olay and akn *** and Its ™riety Krelagei thrive immensely in my
seems to h hi! 1 ^ Sandy so ^ * n the London district. Krelagei
(’antah . 6 e ^ er multiplier, soon forming good colonies. I

was a goodZul ° f reticulata > in Melville Dale’s London garden

iris enthusiast s rock gard implieS ‘ These should be in ^ ]

and the chara^eT” J > ° 1 g ° niris - Early dwarfs, including pumila
in 1930. Elenkn Were P artic ularly good in this section

(long perianth tnh Mr % DykeS) is P romisin g- Tt is a true pumila I
seetion. Thest ^ Stem) ’ the reddest IVe seen in that

accounts for the 6 PUmdas seem to be shy seeders, which perhaps
so-called pumilas ° f new varie ties. One can buy dozens of

. AndrSltcw 81 ** the true thing,

is desirable as a i?n a • , Vagnae > whieh blooms well in the Autumn
takes after aphylla a™ in the fal1 is welcome. The Lieutenant
mentioned above jT 1 ®. much lik e many of the so-called pumilas
blooming dwarf aTlr i T , et is a rather impure yellow, autumn-

Iris ReichenUehii A* 7 8 " Seful as a *»»eder.

i® a yellow dwarf. ower ed in Mr. Saunders ’ garden in May and

[94]

Regelias and Regelio-cyclus. Mr. Melville Dale, London, gets
a wonderful show with Van Tubergen’s Regelio-cyclus hybrids.
They are taken up as soon as the leaves begin to yellow, stored dry
till October, and replanted about October 15th, covering them with
two inches, well rotted farmyard manure during Winter. They
flower and increase readily as also does the beautiful blue Hoogiana.
stolonifera and Korolkowi, though perhaps they are not quite so
vigorous as the hybrids.

Apogons. Iris delavayi and I. bulleyana did not survive the
drought of 1930, but lived through 1929. Wilsoni and Porrestii
do not flower as freely as the sibirica varieties if subjected to dry
conditions. Ochroleuca and aurea are sometimes shy bloomers, and
the variety Shelford Giant is freer than either. I. foliosa flowers
well and gets along without protection, and doesn’t seem to resent
the drought as badly as some of the Apogons. I. graminea is free
owering under ordinary border conditions, quite dwarf, and
^en gage scented. No one around here seems to grow the Japa-

„ toff’s Garden. Mr. Groff at Simcoe has a collection of

high class commercial varieties, which he culls relentlessly to
? 8111 a Ver y high standard. It is impossible to do this collection
Justice in these notes. All the Mohr-Mitchell varieties of note are
ere as well as the European varieties, Pluie d’Or in great pro-
^ S10n . He had about 10,000 seedlings of advanced breeding, many
a tan l° na ^ r ^ ne ‘ I cad to mind a large tall cream-ground plicata;

a eep yellow much like Pluie d’Or, but not from that variety;
tho 8 much lar ger better formed Dalila. This year there are many
^ousand new seedlings to bloom. These are from the best procur-
nampl^ 16 ^ 68 . fr ° m a11 sources and along with the collection of
var - var ieties, should be well worth seeing. In this garden a
soon goes to the dump if it lacks constitution. If all raisers
Pointm S V ^° r ^ rst ’ ^ wou ld save the buying public many disap-
How ff ntS an< * en< * wou ^ d increase the demand for novelties,

to find f 611 ^ aVG We ^ ood money for someone’s latest marvel,
to find n ° ^ etter ^ an some °t the old varieties, and in addition
Son r> P ossess or of a delicate constitution (see English Iris

Bull. No. 7 p. 27).

Sreat l 0ndon Growers. Canadian Horticulture has suffered a
toadin ° SS 111 the untimel F death of Mr. S. F. Wood, one of the
8 P rac tical exponents of the Art in Ontario. Fortunately
[95]

looking yellow iris here in 1930. The flower was much the largest
I of any we have in our collection and while it might be taller it was
impressive. Chasseur is still one of our best and Moonlight very
charming among the near yellows, as also Citronella.

Dream is, I think, still my favorite pink. It is well named.
Its charms are so delightful it may be said to be “less of earth than
heaven.” Other near pink varieties in our collection are Lady
Byng, Susan Bliss, Mrs. Marion Cran, Lorraine Morgan, Rheingau-
perle, Aphrodite and Delight. I am not at all sure as to which of
these I should care to part with as they are all so good but Susan
Bliss retains a high place in these near pink varieties. It is later
than most, which gives it additional value. Mrs. Marion Cran and
Lorraine Morgan are very similar but the latter is a Canadian
variety hence we have the greater affection for it. Lady Byng is
very charming. I don’t know why it is but Aphrodite always
seems a cold beauty to me. Rheingauperle appeals to one and will,
no doubt, grow in our esteem.

Among the darker irises Mount Royal is one of my greatest
avorites. Aurelle comes, perhaps, nearest to it among the varie¬
ties we grow here. Pioneer is not so good. Germaine Perthuis I
do not like as well as these. Tropic Seas with its very conspicuous
yellow beards is a good one.

There are so many varieties among the bluish-purple or laven-
er irises that I hesitate to mention any of the newer ones that are
better than those we have had for some years.

Among other newer irises with which I was very favorably
^pressed in 1930 are Fismes and Lord Lambourne. There are so
™ an y of the newer irises which we buy that, instead of being
better, are poorer than the old. Our motto now, so far as irises
are eonce rned, is ‘ ‘ Seeing is Believing. ’ ’

I should like, before closing, to refer to Caesar, among the
ardless iris. It is of a glorious color and much admired here,
must also say a little about the varieties Miss Preston has pro-
need by crossing I. sibiriea var. maxima with I. orientalis var.

‘ now Queen. There are, among the many varieties obtained from
li , ^ ross an d from the second generation, some of the most de-
^ shades of blue as well as some very good whites which we
are com paring carefully with Snow Queen. Some of them are
considerably taller than Snow Queen and, among the blues, there
ver y tall ones. Some of these were exhibited in England
d drew Ver y favorable comment. Names and descriptions of the
[97]

result of the ehrysographes and delavayi this year. The spurias
and the Californians all do well here. Amongst the latter a little
known species is I. Gormanii — a fairly new find in Oregon. It has
finer and more grassy foliage than douglasiana and grows less
rampantly. The flowers are large and usually a deep cream with
brown markings. It is well worth growing and can be had from
J. C. Bennett of Victoria. I have crossed this with a pink I. tenax
and am rather pleased with some of the resulting plants. The flow¬
ers are very like the tenax parent, but tend to be larger and darker.

I have been rather surprised to find that I. hexagona has grown
quite well here. It has not yet flowered, but probably will this
year. I have not had much luck with I. fulva, but both the fulva-
!l liusa hybrids (I. Fulva la and D. K. Williamson) do well and
make an interesting demonstration of the difference resulting from
crossing in either direction growing side by side in the border.
Both are, I think, particularly beautiful flowers.

The Japanese irises do well enough when I can give them suffi-
ment water. They are doing splendidly at ‘‘Butcharts Gardens,”
ictoria, in a half-shady situation on the bank of Tod’s Inlet. I
mve had quite good I. laevigata and I. pseudacorus and versicolor
grow alongside my stream here. It is interesting to note that the
ormer is said to be becoming established along the irrigation
tches in the Okanagan—the seed having been brought over from
r landers after the war

My fav orite iris and one that has done very well with me is
Boogiana. I do not think there is, or is likely to be, anything to
boat this when it is doing really well. I find that both it and the
other Regelias I have do about equally well whether I lift them in
•ummer or not. Our seasons are so variable that it is always a
oss up which course will answer best. The same thing is true of
6 re gehocyclus hybrids. I have done very well with them some
years by lifting them; in others, I have done equally well by leav-
. g t “ em in the ground. Of the onco-cyclus, the only ones which
r av e done consistently well with me in the open are iberica and
k opina. Susiana has sometimes flowered, but it is very difficult to
^ kack in early spring. It is more than six inches above

om J. C. Bennett, Victoria, B. C.

of } s b°nld be only too glad to help you as regards the behavior
lrises in this part of Canada, but I am anything but an ins

if ft

to be burnt on account of spot disease which makes them too un¬
sightly for a garden, perhaps owing to the absence of lime in this

Of the bulbous irises I only know that I. reticulata does very
well and increases fairly fast if given very dry and hot conditions
after flowering. I have I. histriodes which flowered last year, but
so far is not up although it should already be showing.

Some years ago I had a lot of I. unguicularis which flowered
but the flowers were spoilt by rain and all the plants eventually
were killed by an exceptionally hard winter, about 30 degrees of
frost without snow and a high wind.

Prom P. H. Gordon, Regina.

I am afraid that you have set me rather an impossible task
when you ask me to give you anything on the newer Canadian
seedling irises. It must be ten years since I gave up trying to
grow any of the then recent introductions as they very seldom
survived the winter. Very few ever bloomed. It was not until I
saw the wonderful Siberians in your garden that I realized the
possibilities of this variety, which is hardy here. In the spring of
1-27 we had it very warm for the first two weeks of April which
started everything growing. Then on the 19th we had it 22 below
zero with the result that every iris in the garden was killed.

The soil of the Regina plains is a heavy clay, commonly called
‘•gumbo.” It goes down over one hundred feet and has not an
atom of grit in it. The result is that there is no drainage unless
"e dig in y ar ds and yards of sand and sifted coal ashes. Besides
doing this we have to raise our iris beds about a foot to give them
a chance at all. The dwarf varieties are reasonably hardy but I
jiave only grown the very old kinds. During the last two years I
,ave ha< l a very fair showing of the taller varieties. Last year
Ambassadeur bloomed for the first time, Alcazar was very fine;
Ann Page and Ballerine were particularly fine. Dominion, after
hanging on for two years, decided to give up the effort and died.
Lord of J ^ne was fair but the better showing was from the older
^arieties which you have probably discarded years ago. Caprice
has done very well and is one of the earliest to flower. Juniata.
^ Chereau, Moliere, Pallida Dalmatica, Quaker Lady have all
°ne well but I never know when a bad spring will come
[ 101 ]

along

SCIENCE SERIES NO. 9

IRIS BEHAVIOR—DROUTH OF 1930

J. Marion Shull

While rainfall lagged somewhat continuously from midsummer
of 1929 and throughout the early months of 1930, the drouth, as
such, may be considered to have begun following the two-inch rain
of April 6, beyond which date there was no rain of consequence
until June 17 when one and three-fourths inches fell, followed a
couple days later by one-third of an inch, and everyone hoped that
the drouth was ended.

Two inches of rain on April 6 would provide about the normal
requirement for two weeks of garden growth so that the noticeable
shortage of water may be considered as having begun about April
20, just when mueh active garden planting should have been
under way.

Our garden at Chevy Chase, Maryland, is chiefly an iris garden
and grows only a small list of vegetables, or of annual flowers, and
so can yield no great variety of data in regard to these, but a single
record from the vegetable garden may prove significant: Swiss
c ard, sown just prior to the heavy, beating rain of April 6, lay
in the ground over-long owing to continued days of low tempera-
re following the rain but did eventually germinate and emerge
with a scant stand just before the water shortage began to be

When the respite of June 17 came these few plants were a
couple inches high after two months of growth, if that term may
e applied to such relative stagnation. The result of this early
Panting being totally inadequate, a second sowing was made to
ake advantage of the rain just received, and in anticipation that
le droilth was at an end. This second planting germinated
Promptly but as no further rain came they never attained even so
touch as two inches in height, and presently all perished. The
survivors of the early planting persisted alive but never reached
* ei ght of over five or six inches and yielded nothing whatsoever
t0 the household supply of ‘ 4 greens. ’ ’

At date of this writing, December 5, 1930, we have still had no
ra m, that is. no rain sufficient to prove effective in the growing of

plants or to add in any way to stored water in the ground. The I
totai measurable rainfall for the month of August amounted to
. ? inch; that for September, to 0.25 inch; for October, to 0.18
mch; and throughout November and to present date,
precipitation periods covering nine days " ' ' ’ ’

yielded )

°, al , of ^ 0 - 77 mch - Tims, following an almost rainless July, for
which, however, I do not have exact figures, there has been a
period of over four months with a total precipitation of less than
“ one -half inches. How long such a record could continue
Without bringing about actual desert conditions is of course a
matter of pure conjecture. Even such rains as are here recorded
are almost immediately dissipated and never reach the entire root
system of even the shallowest rooting plants.

Local water supplies, except for a few scattering deeply drilled
e s an an occasional very exceptional spring, disappeared alto-
eF an tlle com munity was put upon restricted water consump-
a ° Wed water onl y for necessary househould purposes for a
dZ! /° me W6eks aS the last few ™hes in the reservoir went
1Ttar1o a ? °^ Lt ’ and tmtil hasty emergency connections could be
ColnmV t l! G r Cen% enlar " ed wa ter system of the District of
W ^ draw s its supply from the Potomac River, itself
a small si anything ever known but fortunately still sending

a small surplus over the dam.

the choTce^tM^ 6 * may be taken for panted that only a few of
newlv n! + ^ mgS m the S arden , for the most part rare things
foTaut m the Spring ’ were artificial watering, and

household * h ’ S “ eant the conserving of waste water from

favor. Even had “ rder * hat the y “>ght receive even this small
heen unite ^ been water a ™ilable for use it would have

watered the whlT** ** fr ° m “binary hose connections to have
they best could anjw** ade< inately, so most things had to do as
The iris a arf i A t T nt SUpply afforded by nature,
latter half 0A929 &lready felt the effect of drouth “ ^
longed to prevent ab a not severe enou g h nor sufficiently pro-
bloom on well estabrT^ bud formation for the following spring
in its effect npon vnlV plants ’ but sufficient to be very noticeable
ing of such seedlines * S6edllngs - In normal years a 70% bloom-
this to about 30% vw ^P ecte( L but last year’s drouth had cut
of bloom but were noti ki Cd plants had their f nU complement
ceably affected by the current drouth, mani-
[106]

fested not only in lessened height and in smaller size of flowers,
but in a paling of color of all known varieties, except of course
the whites. None of them appeared quite normal and it is assumed
that the new seedlings were equally affected and for this reason
no attempts at evaluation were made; none were selected for keep¬
ing—and likewise none were discarded; neither was it considered
wise to record for permanent use any detailed color descriptions
of newly acquired varieties then blooming in the garden.

Returning for the moment to some other garden items in their
reaction to the drouth, and again consulting the vegetable garden,
a colony of New Zealand spinach, that doughty but serviceable
weed which ordinarily self sows and therefore takes advantage of
the earliest suitable date for germination, made little growth until
just following the rain in June. Usually it is a dependable mem¬
ber of the vegetable garden, getting under way a bit slowly in the
spring but yielding an abundance of “greens” throughout the
summer and until severely frozen. This year but a single cutting,
following the June rain, was possible. The plants remained alive
and produced seed but no succulent growth for culinary use.

For some years self sown single China asters have been a
feature in the summer flower garden. They too, being volunteers,
eome up at the earliest opportune moment. This year, where not
receiving benefit from artificial watering, the plants grew into
miniature rosettes a couple inches in diameter, from which arose
a single stem to a height of three or four inches surmounted by
one lone flower nearly of normal size. Calendula did little better,
behaving in much the same way; and snapdragons, normally self
sowing, made no appearance at all.

Among trees of the region the native dogwood and some ever¬
greens have apparently suffered most severely. Many young
hemlocks, and even some rather large specimens where growing in
normally moist low lands, have died outright, and in localized
areas many of the dogwoods have apparently perished while in
other areas they have merely suffered serious leaf reduction
t ough marginal burning of the leaves and will probably survive.

Whether in the spring to come the losses will be greater or less
an is now apparent can not be foretold but in case of the iris so
little growth has taken place since blooming time that however
much rain may fall during the winter the effect of the drouth will
most certainly be projected into the following year.

[ 107]

Rainbow Fragments—A. Garden Book of the Iris, by J. Marion
Shull, Doubleday, Doran & Co., N. Y., 1931.

The first book that not only pretends but succeeds in being more
than a mere book of reference for either the layman or the botanist.
I need not commend Mr. Shull’s clarity of expression and charm
of writing to any reader of this bulletin—he is too frequent a con¬
tributor but I can commend his treatment of garden plantings
and of genetic theories to every gardener whether that individual
is an iris fan or not.

I know of no other treatment of the genetic side of growing
plants that can compare with this in lucidity and intelligible pres¬
entation. We achieve both an understanding of the science of
gardening and of an alluring appreciation of the plants themselves
and of many of the breeders who have interested themselves in the
glowing of irises. This last will prove of especial interest to our
members and is most delightfully done.

Mr. Shull has gleaned from our symposium and records, full
ascriptions of some sixty-four deserving varieties and tabular de¬
scriptions of some three hundred others. To me, despite his efforts
include only highly rated varieties, our progress is such that I
fc the effort wasted in a book of such superlative quality. In¬
cidentally his text deals with Tall Bearded Irises only,
j n typography, illustration, and presentation the book is good.

am glad that “Iris” has won such recognition in the publishing
and garden world.

THE AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY ANNOUNCES
REVISED POLICY OF AWARDS

Society.

Recommendations
At Exhibitions ir

or Honorable Mention
cooperation with American Iris

Group V

. . Class 24

Arises raised from seed by the exhibitor but not introduced into

commerce.

a J^ 0te: If the raiser is unable to be present, he may request
er person to exhibit seedlings for him, in which ease, if an

[109]

the raiser instead of to tile ex*

award is made, it will
hibitor.)

Any one exhibitor may enter not over five seedlings for award,
o prize but A. I. S. certificates of Honorable Mention may *3
recommended for seedlings rated at over 80, if, in the opinion of
the accredited fudges, they are of sufficient outstanding merit /a
’arrant suck a recommendation, but the number of H. M’s. so
commen ed in any one show shall not exceed five. (As the
iety does not authorize prizes for seedlings, none may be offered
the A i V sT IS ° r ClUbS at anJ Sh ° W receivin " the cooperation of

(See scale of points for seedlings, Bulletin 22, pages 6-7). 1
hihi*r° M • • Besides these recommendations for H. M’s. at ex-

menfl L m ,- C ° 0Perati0n with the A ' L S > 14 18 P ro P osed t0 rMOI °'
i add. tI «nal H, M’s. under the following conditions:-

humrier^'and ^ 7“* ^ ^ ^ *

dnopri and rate new Irises, which will include unintrtH

iudffin» and those varieties introduced the year of the

send TOch^ttili' 6 ye “u r Pre ™ US t0 ““ ***■ They «"

mittee on Awards ^ reeommendations for H - M’s. to the Com * j

not reeomm ^ Udges ma ^ rate as many Irises as they wish but may
recommend more than five for H. M. in any one region.

Honorable Mentions

conditionsTan e h dati0nS . 9nd ratings reeeived under the above
committee shall th C °f lpiled b y tbe Committee on Awards, which
M’s. awarded! T en haTe the P"** to give H. M’s. Besides E
five additional H Sn* Sh ° Wn at official exhibitions, not more than
have received suffi 1 § ma ? g * y en in each region to Irises which j
Accredited indl^ • rating from three or more accredited judges,
by the Board „f n? m .‘ he Vari <™ <*** shall be selected

Committee on Awards. *** Mld the list P ublished yearly by the ,
The Committee on \

object to confirmation shaU be selected by the President

° n hy tbe Hoard of Directors.

Awards of Merit

Hereafter not more than five Awards of Merit may be given
yearly by the Committee on Awards, subject to confirmation of
Board of Directors, acting upon the recommendations of the ac¬
credited judges.

To be eligible for an A. M. an Iris shall first have been on the
recommended list the previous year, and second, shall be rated at
85 or more and recommended by five or more accredited judges.

Dykes Memorial Medal

The Iris Society of England has offered to the American Iris
Society one Dykes Memorial Medal yearly. This is the highest
award that can be given to a new Iris. This is to be given only
by vote of Board of Directors from among the Irises on the recom¬
mended list of the previous year.

AS THE IRIS IS PRIMARILY A GARDEN FLOWER THE
ATTENTION OF JUDGES IS CALLED TO THE impor¬
tance OF VIGOR OF GROWTH, FREEDOM OF BLOOM
and CARRYING QUALITY OF THE COLOR, WHICH
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE AS
VALUE OF INDIVIDUAL FLOWER.

As these new regulations require two years judging for A. M’s.
or the Dykes medal, they eliminate such awards in 1931. There¬
fore, as this would be discriminating against our members who in
Rood faith have sent plants to our trial gardens for judging in
!931, a silver medal and awards of merit MAY be given at the trial
this season (1931), should varieties receive high enough rating.

but acceptenc? to press.

B. Wallace, Jr., New Haven, Conn.

Mrs. Wheeler H. Peckham, New Bochelle, N. Y.

Mrs. J. Edgar Hires, Ardmore, Pa.

• herman Duffy Chicago, Ill.

^S. w. L. Karchor Til

CERTIFICATES?

h V2! Cen SUg f e f ed ‘hat our Iris breeders would be glad tel
they reeistJ 1 ^ engraved cer tiflcate with each seedling

for fra^in ^ h he S0Clety ' Such certifi oate would be suitable !
ofthe W S 6 aDd W ° Uld ° f C0BrSe be 8 Pride to the raiser ;

breeders wvMu'k^ ° n Keglstratlons has wondered whether the
be wniLT mterested “ ‘his, and if so whether they would

& to pay a nominal price of 50 on „„ *0 nn t, ™„t.

certificates.

"1 persons interested are invited

, $1.00 or $2.00 for such

tha _-uxjtviLcu lu write to tne cnairman 01

F. Gersdorff e i825 ^ Strations and Introductions, Mr. Charles E.
breeders wiabM 25 N ' ° aPlto1 Street ’ Washington, D. C. If enough
breeders wash thru, steps will be taken to have such certificate prc-

Thro LANTEEN SLIDES AND LECTURES

Printed lector., i, . “'T« M “ «*• «* 60 to 100 slide, to accompn.

md insurance on the

$1.00 to mfimhfirs

£ t 4 - **• -eh; to

> T je used with, or without the

No 0 ' 2.* *5 Sturtevant.

No. 2 CmuvKrrm ' S- Sturt evant.

88 on the we 8 ?e^ative 8 °bvE M A R Q CAN IRISES - &*• John K. SmaU,with
No. 3. HlSTORV nJ\S E ‘ A> S ’ p eekham.

M THE WILD «SS™ Wi9ter -

edited and enlarged articles previous^

' >; APP U CAW0Ka

Missouri Botanical ““

[112]

THE IRIS SOCIETY

(of England)

Application for membership

sent direct to the American

check for dues ($2.85) pay¬
able to American Iris Society;
send it to Science Press

it plainly “For dues for The

Iris Soeiety (of England)”

BULBOUS IRIS

BUCHARICA. Native of

mmm

ic#^

G ssssM2£ fi .

Descriptlv^Hs^on request

C. H. HAIL

Irises

J. MARION SHULL,

“ d ltEfL“ g

Many Oncocyclus and
Regelio-Cyclus ^rows

American Iris Society Bulletin

J.C. NICHOLLS

_ Iris GTOwere* 61684 ^

r

11 Ithaca,°N^ Y.

[115]

dykes on irises

ss« irs £

[117]

To You!

Since yon are a member of The American Iris Society,
it need not be pointed out that you are a rather
special sort of gardener, a person with more than
average vision and imagination. As such a gardener
of course you look for special things in all garden
fields. Have you discovered the NATIONAL HORT¬
ICULTURAL MAGAZINE, published quarterly by
The American Horticultural Society?

It is the special garden quarterly in America, written
for persons like yourself, not for the dull who need a
Program, not for the horticulturally blind and lame
who need second-hand sight and verbal crutches, but
for the intelligent who like to read, who like to study,
who prefer a new word or two regularly, who have
courage not to follow fashion too blindly, who believe
“ gardening as much for the delights of mind and
Pint as for the cultural blue ribbons of the shows,
ry sending three dollars to Mr. D. Victor Lumsden,
ecretary, i 62 9 Columbia Road, Washington, D. C.

twdl bring you iris notes and much eke.

[118]

NOTICE TO MEMBERS

The 1931 Animal Meeting will be held on Monday, June 15,
at 10 A. M., in the Horticultural Building, Central Experimental
Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Prof. W. T. Macoun, chief, Dominion Horticulturists, will wel¬
come the members and after the meeting will conduct them through
the various experimental plantings of this great government ex¬
periment station where, in addition to fruit breeding, much work
has been conducted with ornamental plants. The Iris collection
will, of course, be the center of interest, but many of our members
will doubtless also enjoy the Lilacs, Loniceras, Roses, Peonies and
other plants.

Later in the afternoon several nearby private gardens and
nurseries will be visited and then the party will leave, by train or
motor, for Montreal.

On Tuesday, June 16, there will be a visit to the garden of Mr.
Cleveland Morgan, near Montreal, where one of the best collections
of Iris in Canada is to be seen. It is planned, also, to visit other
gardens.

In addition to this two-day meeting, some members are planning
to visit Iris collections in Ontario on June 13 and 14 on the way
to Ottawa, and to see other gardens in the Province of Quebec on
June 17.

Additional details concerning these places, hotels, train sched¬
ules and motor routes, and any notice of change of date caused by
an early or a late season, will be sent only to those members who
notify the secretary by June 1 of their probable intention to attend
the meeting.

thiswill be our first meeting in Canada, and as our Canadian
mends mil hare many splendid Irises to show us, it is hoped that
hrtn ™ s 0Ur . membere wU1 make <“ to attend the meeting and

",‘P. “f 6 “ s 6ucces3 ' The very late date makes it possible for
„JL° Z 1 m f mbere to complete the Iris season in their o«n
Boston Triads 1<al ™ g home - Ma ny will undoubtedly stop at the
Boston Ins Show (June 10 and 11) on the way north.

J. B. Wallace, Jr., Secretary • -

As Parliam
ver V difficult to
night on train