The Garden Magazine, August, 1922 



361 



dalmatica with its spreading falls still holds our interest, we ap- 

 preciate also the fine branching of Alcazar, the compact 

 rounded flowers of Hope, or the translucent quality of the sub- 

 stance of Mrs. Alan Gray. Height we want so that the flower 

 is nearer the eye; we 

 like the contrast in the 

 bordered falls of Iris 

 King and B. Y. Morri- 

 son, the clear venation 

 of dark on white in the 

 throat of Koya, the deli- 

 cate tracery of Mrs. G. 

 Reuthe, the richness of 

 Monsignor or Arche- 

 veque, the blended tones 

 of Mady Carriere or 

 Mme. Cheri; there are a 

 thousand and one niceties 

 to be discovered. 



It is the clump only 

 that all small gardens 

 can afford. We may 

 have variety and yet 

 as each space is small 

 provide for contin- 

 uous bloom through- 

 out the season. Irises 

 are lovely in flower but 

 at other times the con- 

 trast of their bold foli- 

 age in gray frosted or 

 yellow-green tones should 

 be considered. 



We enjoy the Iris 

 leaf as depicted in Ja- 

 panese art but we for- 

 get it in the garden, 

 and crowd or submerge 

 it in rampant annuals 

 rather than utilize it to 

 rise from some mat of 

 l]ow-growing perennial, 

 its outlines a pleasure 

 against perhaps the soft 

 mistiness of Gypsophila. 



Collecting a Favored 

 Few 



FINALLY we come to 

 the varieties that for 

 many reasons we must 

 have, even though they 

 are not up to the stand- 

 ard in one or more 

 points. Often they are 

 novelties as much talked 

 of as was Black Knight, 

 once expensive, now 

 out-of-date, a wonder- 

 fully rich color, but the 

 flowers unpleasantly 

 crowded on the stem and 

 the growth, from all I 

 have heard, or exper- 

 ienced, less than poor. 

 Size impresses the most 

 casual observer and what 

 but size makes Ori- 

 flamme — not unusual in 

 color, substance so poor 



that the standards flop, and a flower so large that the stalk 

 appears clumsy, the clump a crowded mess — worth growing? 



Color is a more worthy character and what Iris "fan" is 

 not familiar with Eden Phillpotts' rhapsodies over Isoline, a 



lovely thing but un- 

 graceful. All these are 

 obvious qualities and 

 there are others highly 

 valued by the breeder, 

 but not even seen, per- 

 haps, by the general 

 gardener. 



How many have 

 noted the varying ways 

 of branching, the lasting 

 quality of a flower, the 

 arching of standards, the 

 position of falls or even 

 the number of flowers 

 to a stalk and their sub- 

 stance, that indefinable 

 something that gives 

 strength and yet at the 

 same time a fineness of 

 surface like the bloom 

 on a plum, a sheen or a 

 shimmer and an added 

 intensity to color? 



The much heralded 

 Dominion, raised by 

 Mr. A. J. Bliss, has 

 substance to the fullest, 

 and though my defini- 

 tion may differ, I appre- 

 ciate that quality in 

 pallida dalmatica and 

 in the new American 

 introductions, Ava- 

 lon, Sindjkhat, or Ra- 

 jah. 



Quantity and Price 

 Considered 



JUST a word as to the 

 worth in dollars and 

 cents of these three 

 classes, mass, clump, and 

 specimen, as I see it. 

 For the first I must buy 

 in quantity, the very 

 number of blooms for- 

 bidding individual ap- 

 preciation, and I may 

 easily spoil the effect by 

 purchasing new and ex- 

 pensive varieties; for the 

 second, three plants (or 

 one, given a couple of 

 years time) would satisfy 

 my need and a great 

 many things may be had 

 at a nominal cost; but 

 for the third, the speci- 

 men, only curiosity, 

 pride, or enthusiasm may 

 set the limit. Who would 

 not try Gov. Hughes, 

 "the beard much heav- 

 ier than in any sort!" 

 I have most of Mr. 



R. S. Sturtivant, Photo. 



WHERE IRISES ARE HAPPILY AT HOME 



Trooping thus to the water's edge, Irises are at their 

 lovliest; slender Siberians are shown here growing 

 in the Sturtevant garden at Wellesley Farms, Mass 



