The Garden Magazine, June, 1921 
249 
SYSTEM ONE — As proposed by A. J. Bliss 
in The Garden, Feb. 7, 1920: 
Class I — White — 1. White seifs; 2. White 
ground plicatas; 3. Amoenas (Thorbeck.) 
Class II — Bicolors — 1. Blue neglectas ( Black 
Prince, Perfection.); 
2. Red neglectas {Monsignor.) 
3. Blue pallida bicolors ( Onflamme .) 
4. Red pallida bicolors. 
Class III — Purple Selfs — 1. Blue seifs {pallida 
Dalmatica): 2. Red seifs {Caprice or Queen 
of May.) 
Class IV — Blends (squalens) — 1. Light. 
2. Dark (Alcazar): 3. Red ( facquini - 
ana); 4. Yellow (Eldorado). 
Class V — Yellow — 1. Variegata; 2. Yellow 
ground plicata; 3. Yellow seifs. 
SYSTEM TWO — From 1919 Catalogue of R. 
Wallace Sr Co.: 
Subdivided into April, May, and June 
flowering. 
Class I — White seifs. 
Class II — White feathered with purple (plicata.) 
(a) Color confined to margins of stand- 
ards ( Mme . Chereau.) 
(b) Color suffused through standards 
(Parisiana.) 
Class 1 1 1 — S.wbile or slightly tinted. F. purple 
(amoena.) 
Class IV — Purple Bicolors. 
Class V — Purple Selfs, (a) Lavender (Albert 
Victor), (b) Blue-purple (Brionensis ) ( c ) 
Red purple (Caprice.) 
Class VI —Yellow Selfs. 
Class VII — S. yellow. F. purple, (a) S. pale, 
(Gajus). (b) S. deep (Honourable.) 
Class VIII — Shot shades, (a) Yellow predom- 
inating (Eldorado.) (b) Lavender predomin- 
ating (Nuce d’Orage.) (c) Purple bronze 
effect (Alcazar.) 
Class IX. — Lilac and rose shades. (Her Maj- 
esty, Isoline.) 
Group I. 
proposed by C. H. 
Hall, Pennsylvania : 
Class A— White: 
1. Blade of Standards uniform coloring 
(self.) 
(a) F. uniform coloring; (1) self; (2) 
bicolors, velvety or non-velvety. 
(b) F. marked or shaded throughout, 
with light or dark borders. (Rhein Nixe.) 
2. Blade of Standards marked or shaded, 
(a) F. uniform, etc. (b) F. marked or 
shaded similar or different from the 
standards. (Mme. Chereau.) 
Class B — Yellow; C. Red ; D. Blue; E. Bronze 
and Gray effects, each class divided as in 
Class A. 
SYSTEM FOUR — As proposed by R. S. 
Sturtevant in The Garden, fan. 31, 1920. 
Class I— Self. (In effect.) 
A. White; B. Yellow; C. Pink, clear or crude; 
D. Lavender, light or dark; E. Blend, pink, 
yellow, or lavender predominating. ( After- 
glow , Queen Alexandra.) 
Class II — Bicolors. 
A — Blade of Fall unveined, velvety or not 
velvety, (facquini ana.) 
B — Blade of Fall veined, velvety or not 
velvety. 
Class III — Plicata. 
A — S. Veined throughout. (Mrs. G. Reuthe.) 
B — S. Margined. (Jeanne d’ Arc.) 
C — S. Inconspicuously marked. (Pancroft.) 
Minor divisions on white, lavender, yellow 
or blended grounds. 
SYSTEM FIVE, as proposed by A. C. Arnv. 
Each main subdivision is separated into 
Early-flowering, Medium-flowering, or Late- 
flowering; and Dwarf. Medium-height, or Tall, 
as needed. Character of stems, whether 
straight, much or little branched; color and 
texture of spathe valves; distribution of color 
on the parts of the flower; size, shape and atti- 
tude 01 the segments; velvety or non-velvety, 
are all used, as found convenient. 
(System Five) Flowers white in general effect. 
A. Flowers white or inconspicuously marked. 
B. Foliage green throughout. Albicans, Kashmir white. 
B B. Foliage colored at the base, Mrs. H. Darwin. 
A A. Flowers conspicuously marked. 
B. Color forming a pattern, Jeanne d’Arc. Parisiana. 
B B. Color occupying the greater rart or entire fall. 
Systems for Classification of Bearded Iris 
SYSTEM THREE— As 
C. Foliage green throughout, Victorine, Anne Leslie. 
C C. Foliage colored at base, Rhein Nixe, Tristram. 
Group II. Flowers Yellow in general effect. 
A. Flowers yellow or inconspicuously marked. 
B. Foliage green throughout, A urea. Shekina. 
B B. Foliage colored at base, Sherwin Wright. 
A A. Flowers conspicuously marked. 
B. Color forming a pattern. Pancroft, Onnoris. 
B B. Color occupying the greater part or entire fall. 
C. Foliage green throughout, Gajus. Knysna. 
C C. Foliage colored at base, Loreley, Marsh Marigolc. 
Group III. Flowers blue to violet in general effect. 
A. Blue predominating. 
B. Standards and falls of the same tone. 
C. Foliage green throughout, Glori de Hillegom, 
C C. Foliage colored at base.* 
B B. Standard lighter than the falls. 
C. Foliage green throughout. Blue Jay. 
C C. Foliage colored at base. Azure. 
A A. Violet predominating. 
B. Standards and falls of the same tone. 
C. Foliage green throughout, Edward-Michel. 
C C. Foliage colored at base.* 
B B. Standards lighter than the falls. 
C. Foliage green throughout. Archeveque. 
C C. Foliage colored at base, Lugarda. • 
Group IV. Flowers red to pink in general effect. 
A. Red predominating. 
B. Standards and falls of the same tone. 
C. Foliage green throughout.* 
C C. Foliage colored at base.* 
B B. Standards lighter than the falls. 
C. Foliage green throughout.* 
C C. Foliage colored at base.* 
A A. Pink predominating. 
B. Standards and falls of the same tone. 
C. Foliage green throughout. Queen of May. 
C C. Foliage colored at base, Avalon (lightly colored). 
B B. Standards lighter than the falls.* 
C. Foliage green throughout. Her Majesty. 
C C. Foliage colored at base.* 
Group V. Flowers of blended colors. 
A. Yellow predominating in the standards. 
B. Foliage green throughout, Tangiers. 
B B. Foliage colored at base, Niebelungen, Dusky Maid. 
A A. Yellow prominent in the standards but not predominating. 
B. Foliage green throughout. Queen Alexandra. 
B B. Foliage colored at the base, Quaker Lady. 
AAA. Blue and violet predominating.' 
B. Foliage green throughout. Alcazar, Lent A. Williamson. 
B B. Foliage colored at base, Jacquiniana. 
A A A A. Red and Pink predominating. 
B. Foliage green throughout. Afterglow. 
B B. Foliage colored at base.* 
*More accurate checking of colors of varieties wili permit placing them in proper color groups. 
HARMONY OF FLOWER AND VASE 
S T IS just as important to put the right flower in the right 
vase as to put both in the right room. There is very 
little excuse for disfiguring containers of any sort nowa- 
days when bowls and dishes, jars and glasses, short and 
tall, slim and squat, patterned and plain, and of every con- 
ceivable hue and all sorts of finishes, await the judicious pur- 
chaser. Every room where flowers are used should have one or 
two, at least, as an integral part of its furnishing, a bit of con- 
centrated color affording either a focus for the keynote color or 
emphasizing it through contrast. 
Whatever the style of your room there is no difficulty in find- 
ing the fitting vase: in vivid tones — rose, yellow, blue, bright 
green — the Chinese; from England lovely subdued lusterware, 
delicate and elusive in coloring, iridescent, singularly alluring. 
Across the waters from Copenhagen comes faience and pure 
porcelain, excellently designed and finely executed. Some of the 
larger porcelains are, literally, unique works of art, of a sort 
especially cherished by the lover of nature, for their decorations 
of landscapes, animal life, or floral forms are all rendered with 
insight and skill. 
For the buyer whose creed is “America first” our domestic 
potteries offer a wide selection of vases, varied and good in type. 
Whatever one’s purse or one’s taste somewhere satisfaction may 
be found ! 
Quite the simplest and most interesting flower arrangement I 
recall having seen was an apple branch erect in a shallow bowl. 
1 had never before realized the beauty and decorative quality 
of mere leaves, so completely does the glorified Apple tree of 
blossom- and fruit-time, always an arresting sight, overshadow 
the Apple tree of modest, mid-summer garb. No need to guess 
its origin — subtle oriental fingers had plainly done the placing, 
and in her servitor my fortunate friend had an artist as well. 
To achieve equally happy results it is not necessary to strip 
our orchards, to hire Japanese housemen, or even to copy Japa- 
nese flower arrangements, superlatively lovely though they be. 
That particular table decoration charmed because it was a genu- 
ine expression of that particular little yellow man’s sense of fit- 
ness, a studied presentation, not a haphazard affair. This is the 
real lesson to be learned from the Japanese; with them flower 
arrangement is not an accident but an art, a language, a means 
of expression. 
To treat the decorative use of flowers with a similar high- 
mindedness does not imply imitation, but on the contrary 
necessitates the development of a method strikingly our own. 
We are so unlike the Oriental, so infinitely less simple and 
less subtle, that a form of expression satisfying to him, though 
appreciated by us, would not be our natural speech — even a 
superficial comparison of the Occidental and the Oriental arts 
makes this immediately apparent. 
The loveliness of many a flower has been dimmed or wholly 
obliterated by being jammed into a squat vase with a lot of 
jostling, unseemly neighbors when it should, in a tall slender 
glass, have soared superbly alone! Many a charming room 
has had its restful placidity disturbed bva mass of squalling color 
violently introduced from out of doors! It really seems a pity to 
squander the possibilities of beauty needlessly; very few things, 
growing things at least, are in themselves ugly, it is faulty 
juxtaposition that makes them so. We give unstinted thought 
to the planning of our gardens, to creating impressive “color 
combinations,” effective “backgrounds” and what not — an 
equally serious consideration of the final disposition of the 
blossoms for which we take so much pains to create a happy 
outdoor environment might achieve an equally pleasing indoor 
arrangement. 
