WORLD-WIDE IS THE INTEREST IN IRIS 



Letters from Europe, the Pacific Coast, New England and the 

 Prairie Sections Emphasize the Universal Appeal of this Flower 



•HE EDITORS regard it as significant of the flower's 

 Sf "A great appeal that the mails continually bring response 

 = from Iris enthusiasts; and of its great adaptability to 

 all sorts of places that these letters come almost from 

 the four quarters of the earth. A few that seem fairly repre- 

 sentative are appended. 



Experiences With Some Elusive Gems 



R. S. Sturtevant, Massachusetts 



MRS. WILDER'S recent note on her experience with 

 Iris arenaria recalled my own sad time with what I 

 purchased as flavissima. They are, by the way, synonymous, 

 and like in color to Blodowii which in England has the reputa- 

 tion of never blooming. I gave the wee plant a high, dry 

 site in the rock-garden and a semi-shade that to my mind 

 would approximate the full sun of Britain; I was rewarded 

 with one delightful small flower, a mere provocation in real-, 

 ity, for then for four years the plant just existed, was tried 

 in different soil, was watched, tended in vain, and is now no 

 more. Its charm remains and though I have tried repeat- 

 edly to re-import, now perforce, I must try it from seed and 

 I thank Mrs. Wilder most heartily for her report. 



Though raising Pogoniris from seed is most usual with us, 

 raising flavissima in the same manner did not occur to me, 

 probably because of its close relation to the Regelias. The 

 Apogons too come easily from seed and I wonder what fortune 

 others have had with gracilipes and cristata. Both seed 

 well, but the plants have taken hold so well that the seed was 

 neglected and I have no records of germination. The one on 

 a rich bank in semi-shade, the other with its lighter and 

 slightly smaller variety lacustris, as a broad edging to a cool 

 path, form almost indispensable bits of interest and thrive 

 amazingly. In fact I find the true pumilas (not the so-called 

 hybrids) even more difficult to establish. They should give 

 as fine a sheet of color as cristata or flavissima, but their 

 foliage has not the smooth, flowing charm of cristata through- 

 out the season. 



Other out-of-the-way Iris occur to me (though I feel as 

 though I were trespassing on Mr. Morrison's peculiar field); 

 the fragrant graminea, the rich red purple of haft and style- 

 branches conspicuously one; the vivid blue and orange of verna 

 which also forms good clumps of stiff, shiny, evergreen leaves 

 in the rock-garden; then down in a moist open place the 

 livid hue of fulva, the pale yellow of Wilsoni and the wonder- 

 fully rich, deep purple of chrysographes; my experience with 

 these is short. Wilsoni proved disappointing for, contrary 

 to my reading, I had pictured it as fine a yellow as pseuda- 

 corus, the true English "flag," and it is pale, the haft well- 

 veined; chrysographes, however, was fine, far richer and 

 deeper than even orientalis Emperor, the darkest Apogon 



with which I was familiar. The Apogons vary but little from 

 seed on the whole, though we found orientalis with a tone so 

 red as to suggest the haft of graminea and among the chryso- 

 graphes seedlings there was a marked difference in the effect 

 of the orange venation on the haft. Another thought; cer- 

 tain small-flowered seedlings of the bearded Iris, "throwouts" 

 from the point of garden value, are proving delightful in the 

 rock garden. Dwarf they are and with smaller blossoms than 

 many of the rampant pumila hybrids but typical in growth 

 and useful when the flood of spring flowers is at an ebb. They 

 are receiving a trial at least and are far pleasanter in color 

 than the usually blotched blooms of those of Korolkowi + 

 Pogoniris parentage. 



Raising Irises From Seed 

 Sherman R. Duffy, Chicago, 111. 



I HAVE a few seedling Iris, particularly of the pale Dalma- 

 tian (one being a much deeper shade of lavender) which 

 have proved very fine; and I have also some seventy-five 

 various crosses with pallida coming on which have not 

 bloomed, but the most interesting are of the various dwarfs. 

 I now have a procession established so that each year I can 

 look fo*? new -bnes.^ThisVspring -"seven dumpSv>.came into 

 bloom for the first time. i.They were crosses of the Bal-Ceng 

 variety, Blue Beard, and another pale variety. I think I 

 should label these dwarfs " Irish Iris" for the seedlings which 

 have bloomed show shades of green. 



The seedlings seem more robust than the parent plants, 

 one in particular with large frilled shining white standards 

 and falls of golden green edged with white being almost a foot 

 tall. This is the prize of the collection. Another is a bronze 

 green, something of the shade known as Roman gold, both 

 falls and standards being of the same color. A number of 

 these dwarfs of the Crimean hybrid class contain much 

 green in the mottling of the falls. Others which have 

 flowered have white or sulphur standards with various 

 fleckings of pale lavender to deep purple with green and 

 white falls. 



A mass of dwarf Iris in late April and early May is as showy 

 as any of the spring bulbs and in an entirely different series 

 of colors. They are well worth planting in quantity as they 

 are hardy as rocks, take care of themselves and don't seem 

 to care about soil conditions, providing they aren't water 

 logged. They won't stand wet feet. By the use of these 

 Crimean, Bal-Ceng, and pumila Iris, following with the in- 

 termediate, then the Flag (German) types, the Spanish and 

 English, the Siberian, some of the beardless types such as 

 Mrs. Tait, and others, and finishing up with the royal Japa- 

 nese beauties in early July, it is possible to have a continuous 

 performance of Irises for three months. 



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