A. XT G U.S T , 19 1 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



19 



he invests largely in these two plants at their 

 present prices! Oriflamme, the last of the trio, 

 is also the large'st, possibly the largest of all 

 German Irises, with lavender standards and 

 long drooping violet-purple falls, quite in the 

 manner of Amas. 



Monseigneur (or Monsignor) is both a curi- 

 ous and handsome flower. The ground color- 

 ing of both standards and falls is a rather pale 

 slaty violet, but in the falls this is most densely 

 and intricately veined and overlaid with deep- 

 est claret-purple. "A very beautiful piece of 

 rich coloring," as one catalogue aptly de- 

 scribes it. 



Prosper Laugier is a genuine improvement 

 on Jaquiniana, formerly the most beautiful Ins 

 of the squalens section. The standards of 

 Prosper Laugier are of almost the same 

 clouded, iridescent bronze, the falls, broader 

 and more wide-spreading than Jaquiniana, 

 are of the richest wine-color, veined deeper at 

 the base. 



As for Edouard Michel (of the pallida type), 

 an improvement on both Caprice and the older 

 Mme. Paquitte, it is one of those Irises to which 

 no description does justice. The flower is of the 

 largest, with falls thick, broad and fluted, and 

 both standards and falls are stained — saturated 

 — no word quite expresses it, with the most 

 luscious deep claret-red. The flower stems 

 are above the average in height, and they 

 bear the flowers aloft with a very fitting 

 dignity. 



Crossing to England, we find a bewildering 

 number of new Irises, of all degrees of merit, . 

 many entirely unknown in this country. Of 

 all these sorts, the most unusual and strangely 

 attractive is Isoline; a flower that, literally, 

 must be seen to be appreciated, as it is almost 

 impossible to give any adequate idea of its 

 peculiar quality of coloring. Standards of 

 dull clouded pinkish-lilac, falls old rose, suf- 

 fused' purplish, and shot with coppery gleams 

 that seem to converge in the distinct "old 

 gold" beard — this is an approximation of the 

 general effect, but the whole flower has a 

 unique opalescence impossible to imprison in 

 words. The blooms are large, well-formed 

 and of great substance, with long, drooping 

 falls, and the plant is tall and vigorous in 

 habit, with leaves of unusual size. 



The general effect of Isoline, if not pink, is 

 distinctly pinkish, and there are a number of 

 Irises that also must be placed near the red 

 rather than the blue end of the spectrum — in 

 particular Windham (described under the Farr 

 seedlings), Queen of May, Her Majesty, Mrs. 

 Allan Gray, Trautlieb and Lohengrin, all of 

 the pallida section (Some of these could 

 hardly be called new, but I group them here 

 for the convenience of the flower-gardener 

 who might wish to know the relative value of 

 the various so-called "pink" Irises). 



Queen of May was the first to be introduced, 

 but it is still one of the best in its vigorous 

 growth, tall flower stem (3^ ft.), and large, well- 

 shaped flower. The color is a light lilac, of 

 rather pinkish tone, shading a trifle deeper in 

 the falls, which are veined darker toward the 

 base. A brighter, clearer color is Her Majesty, 

 though a plant shorter and less robust in 

 habit. The standards are a really exquisite 

 shade of lilac-pink — almost an old rose — the 

 falls have a deeper and more elaborate veining 

 than Queen of May. With the exception of 

 Windham, Her Majesty is the nearest ap- 

 proach to a true pink of any in this group, 

 and when cut or seen close to, the bloom 

 is one of the most attractive of all, but, in 

 common with most flowers having distinct 

 veins or eyes, is hardly as effective in the gar- 



den, particularly in large masses, as the self- 

 colored sorts such, for instance, as Mrs. Allan 

 Gray. This variety is of a pale uniform pink- 

 ish lilac, not so bright as Her Majesty, but of 

 beautiful soft tone and silky texture. The 

 medium-sized flowers are of a particularly 

 neat and graceful outline, and the plant has 

 the odd and delightful habit of often sending 

 up a second crop of flower stems in August, 

 generally considerably larger than the ones 

 of June. Trautlieb is another self-colored 

 lilac-pink, shading to white at the base of the 

 petals; small, but charmingly clear and dainty 

 in coloring. Lohengrin is the least pink and the 

 largest of this group; a superb widely ex- 

 panded, thick-petaled flower of rich silvery 

 lilac, shading deeper on the falls; much the 

 tone of a Cattleya Orchid, as the originator 

 has noted. 



It goes without saying that these "pink" 

 Irises should never be seen near the vivid 

 yellow and red-brown variegatas, and in 

 combining them with the lavender and violet 

 sorts it is well to remember that it is best to 

 use those approaching nearest to blue as they 

 make the pink appear purer and more intense 

 by contrast. 



Of the other English varieties, Caterina is a 

 sort of variant on the incomparable pallida 

 dalmatica; hardly an improvement, though 

 a fine enough Iris in its own way. Its conical 

 lavender standards are of a rather more blu- 

 ish tone than dalmatica; the falls, long and 

 drooping, instead of horizontal, are veined 

 brownish at the base. Caterina is very frag- 

 rant, and a remarkably tall grower — often 

 four and one half feet. 



There are numberless other English sorts, 

 some of which I have not tried, some I have 

 tried and found wanting (like the atrocious 

 Mrs. Arthur Dugdale, surely the ugliest Iris 

 in existence) and still others that are at pres- 

 ent hanging in the balance, like the strange 

 hybrids of Iris paradoxa, Parvar and Paracina, 

 wonderful in theie somber and velvety purple- 

 blacks, but apparently difficult to handle and 

 shy or uncertain bloomers. Last to bloom is 

 the sumptuous Black Prince (or as it is some- 

 times called in this country, Black Knight) 

 introduced ten years ago, but still scarce and 

 expensive, and still the finest of all the very 

 dark purple germanica sorts. 



The Farr seedlings already referred to are 

 some thirty in number, and as variable in 

 merit as they are in size and color. Here, 

 particularly, it must be largely a matter of 

 personal taste in choosing "the best"; never- 

 theless, I think few will be disappointed in the 

 kinds described below, though they might 

 wonder at the omission of certain names. 



Of the thirty, five seem to me to be of the 

 highest quality, comparable with any sorts 

 now grown: White Knight, Anna Farr, Minne- 

 haha, Quaker Lady, and Windham. In White 

 Knight, originated by Prof. Saunders but 

 dissembled by Farr, we have at last what has 

 been so long needed — a late white Iris, as 

 good in its season as the early-blooming 

 florentina. It is solidly white, a big im- 

 provement over such near-white sorts as 

 Miss Willmot. Whether it surpasses Wal- 

 lace's new Kashmir White I do not know, never 

 having seen the latter variety in bloom, but 

 at least it would seem that White Knight is 

 near enough to perfection to suit the most 

 exacting. And as White Knight is the best 

 of white Irises, so Anna Farr is the finest of 

 the light colored sorts. Its standards are 

 white, lightly bordered pale lavender-blue; 

 its falls, thick and of a porcelain-like smooth- 

 ness, are the same pure white, with a few lav- 



ender-blue markings at the base. A noble 

 flower of great size and the highest beauty. 

 Minnehaha, almost equally large and massive, 

 possesses a coloring totally unlike any other 

 Iris I have seen, with standards of a soft, pale 

 creamy yellow and falls of the same shade, 

 deeply veined with converging lines of maroon. 

 This should prove a valuable variety for use 

 in hybridizing, for what we now most need in 

 German Irises are large-flowering sorts in the 

 pale and rich yellow shades of Flavescens and 

 Aurea. 



Quaker Lady should be classed with Isoline 

 for subtle and evanescent charm. Standards 

 are a smoky lavender, with yellow shadings, 

 falls an exquisite soft "ageratum" blue, 

 shading to old gold at base, with a deep yellow 

 beard. Though the yellow shadings light up 

 the flower as if with a golden flush from within, 

 the whole effect is curiously soft and subdued. 



Windham, which might be called a glorified 

 Queen of May, is undoubtedly the finest 

 variety of its color. Standards are an ex- 

 quisite clear, pale lilac-pink, falls deeper with 

 still deeper veinings; both standards and falls 

 shade to white at the base. As perfect in 

 size, form and habit, as in coloring, Windham 

 is indeed an Iris difficult to over praise. 



Very close in merit to the varieties just de- 

 scribed are seven others: Mary Garden, Nav- 

 ajo, Wyomissing, Montezuma, Pauline, Mary 

 Gray, and Juniata. 



I have known persons who actually dis- 

 liked the variety Mary Garden, but, bizarre as 

 the coloring undoubtedly is, to me it has a 

 decided fascination. Mr. Farr's description 

 is so accurate that I quote it verbatim: 

 "Standards pale yellow, flushed pale lav- 

 ender; long drooping falls, creamy white, 

 minutely dotted and veined maroon; stigmas 

 clear yellow." 



Navajo is a huge, striking flower, with 

 bronze-yellow standards, and deep maroon 

 falls lightly veined yellow — a sort of cruder 

 and more startling edition of Iris King. 



Wyomissing, though hardly as remarkable 

 as description or color plate would lead one 

 to suppose, is nevertheless very distinct and 

 delicate — a sort of pale flesh-color, with dull 

 pinkish shadings and veinings at the base of 

 the falls. It combines effectively with the 

 well-known variety Mrs. H. Darwin. 



Another very large and imposing Iris from 

 the same source is Pauline, whose silky petals 

 are a solid, deep, rich mauve, contrasting 

 oddly, yet effectively with its deep orange 

 beard. 



Montezuma is almost as curious as Mary 

 Garden, though hardly so fine. Again I quote 

 the originator: "Standards deep golden, mi- 

 nutely dotted brown; falls yellow and white, 

 veined purple anddotted brown: unique." To 

 which I should add that the total effect is a 

 sort of metallic golden-bronze. 



Mary Gray and Juniata are obviously de- 

 scendants of pallida dalmatica. The first, a 

 large and lovely flower, is deeper and bluer 

 in tone than dalmatica; Juniata is also deeper, 

 but more purple, more on the order of Albert 

 Victor. It is notable for its unusually tall 

 flower stem — five feet — and for its luxuriant 

 mass of long, drooping foliage. 



Glory of Reading, Lewis Trowbridge, Mt. 

 Penn, Powhatan, Rose Unique, E. L. Crandall, 

 and Pocahontas (the last two variations on the 

 Anna Farr type) are all worth growing for one 

 reason or another — the remaining seedlings 

 are unimportant. 



[Discussion of plants other than IRIS will be 

 continued next month. — Ed.] 



