132 
~yiowar (Brower 
December, 1919 
I The 
s 
The Modern Bearded Irises. 
Bearded or “Flag” Irises have made enor- 
mous strides during recent years, even when 
the novelties of today are compared with 
those of not more than a decade ago. That 
Irises of this section have long been associ- 
ated with hardy flower gardening in this 
country every gardener knows full well and 
thousands of gardens amply testify. That 
they have played an important part in the 
embellishing of our gardens in May and June, 
were of unquestionable , beauty and utility in 
other ways, admired because of a flower 
delicacy and freedom of blossoming which 
no other hardy plant possessed in like de- 
gree, are facts also that are freely admitted. 
Yet, with so many good attributes to their 
credit, in the light of recent introductions 
and the gulf which now exists between the 
old and the new, these aforetime favorities 
but occupy a position of mediocrity today. 
Having been for many years more or less 
intimately associated with Irises I have 
Iris— E. H. Jenkins. 
watched with interest the onward march of 
these modern varieties, a development — or 
set of developments since it is not in one 
direction only — which, while leaving the 
older sorts well in the rear, was destined to 
place the newcomers on a pedestal of their 
own. Though that fact might have been 
patent to the most casual observer, I con- 
fess it did not appeal to me in all its fulness 
till I saw them in the heyday of their flower 
beauty in Messrs. Wallace’s nursery grounds 
at Colchester in June last. Flag Irises I had 
Iris. | 
seen before, had both grown the plants and 
culled their spikes by the thousand, still 
such a wealth of novelty, such evidences of 
evolution and epoch-marking in the main, 
constituted a feast indeed, and the picture — 
or pictures, for there were many — was not a 
transient one. The plants, indeed, were in 
their battalions everywhere, their forests of 
spikes dowered with handsomely propor- 
tioned, richly-colored flowers demonstrating 
their superiority over their older brethren. 
It was a great sight, the beds of these waist- 
Iris — Azure. 
high, occasionally breast-high, plants tower- 
ing aloft, effective in the picture and impel- 
ling admiration on every hand by noble 
bearing and freedom of blossoming. For 
such enhanced beauty in this essentially 
summer-time flower gardeners of all classes, 
amateur and professional alike, owe a lasting 
debt primarily to so zealous a worker among 
Irises as the late Professor Foster, and not 
less so to Mr. Bliss, the most eminently suc- 
cessful Iris hybridist, perhaps, we have ever 
known. Notable among the many seedlings 
raised by Mr. Bliss are Azure, Benbow, Clem- 
atis, Phyllis Bliss, E. H. Jenkins, Morwell, 
Knysna, Dimity, Sweet Lavender, Margaret 
Moore, Gulls, and Dominion, the last-named, 
if it must be appraised on the basis of the 
five guineas asked for a plant of it, unequalled 
among them all. It is, however, of the epoch- 
marking type, unique in its flower expanse, 
richness of coloring, and texture of petal, 
and in either direction will take some beat- 
ing. Briefly put, it is a Black Prince glorified 
at once, a tribute and a clue that should ap- 
peal to those who have as yet not seen it. 
Some may pertinently inquire why and in 
what directions are these modern bearded 
Irises so immeasurably superior to their 
older brethren. To this the answer is easy. 
That they are so in many ways, though most 
of all in giant stature, freely-branched habit, 
picture-making effects, and handsomely pro- 
portioned flowers are incontestable facts. 
Formerly all bearded Irises bore their flow- 
ers on short footstalks closely clustered 
against the stem of the plant. This did not 
make for good effect. The coming of Tro- 
jana, a noble species of four feet high having 
freely-branched stems and handsomely fash- 
ioned flowers, however, gave the hybridist 
his chance, with the result that we have to- 
day a truly marvellous array of modern 
Irises characterized by majestic bearing, 
branching, fan-like spread, and freedom of 
flowering, of which a few years ago we had 
not dared to dream. Some of the new com- 
ers branch right to the ground. E. H. Jen- 
kins is a case in point, as may be gathered 
from the fact that at Colchester in June I 
counted some three dozen flowers and buds 
on a single spike. And it is not alone, 
Morwell, Sweet Lavender and many others 
being similarly endowed. To these fine at- 
tributes, too, are wedded those of increased 
beauty, size, and the color of the flowers, 
hence the gains are considerable. Naturally, 
however, they are greatest among the blue, 
lavender, purple and kindred shades into 
which that majestic Iris, Crusader, and bluest 
of the blues, Lady Foster, Lord of June, 
Miranda, Rodney and others akin readily 
group themselves. 
Nor is it in these shades alone that prog- 
ress is so marked ; rather is it more or less 
general, affecting every section— the varie- 
gata forms, frilled plicata forms, bronzed 
and crimsoned squalens, with others all in 
turn. It is, however, more than usually 
welcome in what, for convenience, might be 
termed the red pallida forms, and of which 
Caprice and Mme. Pacquitte were among the 
older exponents. Today, however, these are 
entirely out classed by the rich wine red of 
Ed. Michel, the lovely Rosalind, and the ex- 
quisite Margaret Moore, Mrs. Alan Gray, 
Lohengrin and Isoline following in paler 
though not less beautiful tones. It is, how- 
ever, the startling effect of the rich reds first 
named, their exalted presence and fine con- 
trast amid the almost overmastering rich- 
ness of the blues, violets, and purples that 
impressed one so and caused them to be 
written down as unequaled among the best. 
Phyllis Bliss, inimitable in orchid-mauve, 
Alcazar, supreme even among the giants, 
Archevcque, surpassing all in the richness of 
its coloring, and Prosper Langier, of shades 
akin to the half-century-old Jacquiniana, 
were others among the rest. 
Apart from these, the illustrations today 
will afford readers a better idea of the im- 
proved characteristics to which reference 
has been made, while they are also of two 
distinct types. Azure is one of Mr. Bliss’ 
seedlings, and a bed of it as I saw it in June 
was not surpassed by any for wondrous 
freedom or picture-making effects. It is not 
of the giant class as these moderns go, but 
is remarkable for the stout texture of its 
petals and the richness and outstanding 
rotundity of its intensely rich violet-colored 
falls. The standards are clear lavender-blue. 
The other variety, E. H. Jenkins, also raised 
by Mr. Bliss, resulted from crossing Trojana 
superba and Princess Beatrice, and is a sister 
seedling from the pod which gave Morwell. 
From this cross it is interesting that two 
main types appeared, self-colored like Mor- 
well and bi-color like E. H. Jenkins. In flower 
freedom and branching habit the latter is, 
perhaps, only equalled by Sweet Lavender, 
which is also a bicolor. Both are notable 
for the fan-like spread of their inflorescences 
and the low down branching characteristics 
obviously inherited from Trojana, character- 
istics which, even though they had stood 
alone, would still have constituted improve- 
