22 
(Browar 
February, 1920 
The Iris. 
History of Iris Growing. 
Note by the Editor— 
This article was a part of Mr. Wister’s suggested 
program for the American Iris Society which ap- 
peared on page 8 of the January issue of The Flower 
Grower. It is a very complete, brief review of the 
progress'in Iris growing to date. 
No coherent review of the history of 
Iris growing, and of Iris growers and 
breeders has ever been published. In- 
formation as to the introduction of the 
various species can undoubtedly be 
found in botanical publications, but of 
the early beginnings of garden Irises 
little is known. The following review 
of the ascertainable history of bearded 
Irises, will show how very fragmentary 
our knowledge is, and it is hoped it 
will suggest what great interest a real 
knowledge of history might bring to 
the lovers of the Iris. The history of 
the Rose is quite complete, and through 
the labors of Peony enthusiasts we 
now know fairly clearly the transition 
from the wild Peony, through the skill 
of French breeders during the last 100 
years, to the magnificent garden Peony 
of today. The story of the transition 
from the wild types of pumila, pallida, 
and variegata to the modern Irises of 
our gardens, should prove equally 
fascinating. 
It is known that Louis Van Houtte, 
of Ghent, Belgium, introduced many 
named varieties of Irises from his 
nursery for a period of years beginning 
about 1865, and it is presumed that 
these were among the first improved 
Irises. It can be assumed that many 
of our older and now surpassed varie- 
ties originated here, but we do not 
know which varieties they are, nor do 
we know which varieties are referable 
to other early European breeders. It 
seems likely that some of VanHoutte’s 
varieties, upon reaching France were 
renamed, and it is known that early 
French varieties were sent to England 
to be sold in mixtures at auction, and 
that varieties particularly pleasing to 
English nurserymen, were by them 
given English names. These careless 
methods are undoubtedly responsible 
for many of our confusions in nomen- 
clature. 
In England Peter Barr was the 
pioneer in the introduction of new 
Irises, and we have record of many of 
these introductions, most of which 
were undoubtedly his own seedlings 
from varieties of France or Belgium, 
but some of which may have been 
simply selections from purchases made 
abroad. As his work was pioneer 
work many of his varieties have been 
surpassed, but among them are many 
varieties which are still popular, such 
as Albert Victor, Arnols, Celeste, and 
Dr. Bernice. The dates of introduction 
are not known, but the more impor- 
tant varieties probably came after 
1890, which indicates what a very 
modern flower the garden Iris is. In 
England also, between 1885 and 1902, 
Reuthe and Ware introduced nearly 
twenty named varieties, which have 
now become of minor importance. It 
must have been about this time that 
Caparne, on the Island of Guernsey, 
conceived the idea of crossing the early 
blooming Alpine and Crimean Irises 
with the late blooming Germanica, 
Pallida and other sections, with the 
result of not only giving us a large 
number of early forms, but also in giv- 
ing us an entirely new race — the Inter- 
mediate Section. Before 1902 he intro- 
duced 37 Intermediates, among them 
such fine forms as Dauphin, Diamond, 
Dolphin, Ivorine, King Christian, and 
Royal, which have reached America 
only comparatively recently. In the 
Dwarf Bearded Section he named over 
100 of his seedlings, but most of these 
were discarded by the English nursery- 
men who tested them before 1910, and 
probably but few of them have reached 
America. 
Mention of the new Intermediate 
Section, brings us naturally to the 
work of Goos & Koeneman of Nierwal- 
ler, Germany, whose introductions 
reached America before those of Ca- 
parne. It is known that this firm pur- 
chased many Irises from Caparne, and 
it is believed by some, that Fritzhof, 
Halfdan, Helge, and Ingeborg, may 
have been Caparne seedlings, and not 
seedlings of G. & K. Certain it is that 
they have all the characteristics of the 
Caparne set, while the late blooming 
introductions of G. & K. have charac- 
teristics entirely their own. Among 
these latter are the splendid King of 
Iris (properly Iris Koenig,) Rhein Nixe, 
and Gagus; a number of others were 
equally recommended some years ago, 
but their coloring is so crude as to dis- 
please many people. 
In France, since 1900 the progress of 
the Iris has been great. Verdier is 
known to have raised many seedlings, 
but at present we have record only of 
those varieties introduced by the Vil- 
morins after his death. Among these 
are the magnificent Jeanne d’ Arc, La 
Neige, Prosper Laugier, and Edouard 
Michel. Inspired probably by Verdier 
the firm of Vilmorin-Andrieux, of Paris, 
have given us since 1905 or 1910, in- 
creasingly good Irises. Among their 
earlier introductions were Tamerlan, 
Australis, and Oriflame; about 1912, 
Alcazar and Archeveque ; about 1916, 
Dejazet, Opera, and Ambigu. In re- 
cent years their tendency has been to 
breed more and more with derivatives 
of Amas (macrantha) which, probably 
with a little admixture of Trojana, are 
giving them Irises with enormous flow- 
ers, but unfortunately the plants tend 
to be a little shy blooming. 
Near Paris also the firm of Millet & 
Fils, have been breeding Irises for 
some years, and they have sought for 
extreme freedom of bloom rather than 
extra large size. Among their varie- 
ties are Souvenir de Mme. Gaudichau, 
Romeo, Col. Candelot, and Corrida ; they 
were introduced about 1914 and are as 
yet little known in this country. 
Cayeux & LeClerc, of Petit Vitry, 
near Paris, have been introducing Iris 
seedlings since 1906. Their three best 
varieties are probably Ma Mie, Mme. 
Blanche Pion, and Petit Vitry. 
On the Mediterranean coast west of 
Montpelier, lives the greatest French 
Iris amateur, M. Ferdinand Denis. He 
has been conducting breeding experi- 
ments for many years, and was the 
first to use the species Ricardi, which 
has given his seedlings great size and 
height in his climate, but some of them 
unfortunately are not so well adapted 
to northern climates. Among his varie- 
ties introduced during the past five 
years are Mile. Schwartz, Mme. Claude 
Monet, Mme. Durande and Mme. Boul- 
let. Troost and Dalila are older, and 
are now listed in American catalogues. 
In England since 1900 even greater 
progress has been made. There the 
late Sir Michael Foster, of Cambridge, 
is considered the father of the modern 
Iris. By crossing Oncocyclus species 
with bearded Irises he gave us the 
famous Dilkash, Parvar, Shirin and 
others which flourish in England, but 
which have not proved complete suc- 
cesses in America. Among Apogons 
he gave us many varieties of Spuria 
and Monspur. But to Americans his 
greatest achievement appears to be 
the fact that he was the pioneer in the 
use of the species Trojana. From this 
species Caterina, Crusader, Lady Foster, 
and Shelford Chieftan inherit their 
height, size, and their graceful stems. 
These were introduced before 1913. 
Older varieties are Mrs. C. Darwin, Mrs. 
H. Darwin, and Mrs. Allan Gray. The 
last named variety contains blood of the 
species Cengialti, which apparently had 
not been used before this. All the Foster i 
varieties were introduced by R. W. 
Wallace & Co. of Colchester, who are 
today the leading Iris specialists of the 
world. 
Since 1900 also, Amos Perry, best 
known as a specialist in Rock Plants, 
has given us some fine Dwarf Bearded 
varieties, and also some late blooming 
varieties among which are Her Majesty, 
the famous Black Prince (often wrongly 
called Black Knight), and more lately 
some Cengialti seedlings, and also 
some fine Siberica varieties. Wallace 
has introduced also a number of seed- 
lings of Mr. Yeld, of York, among 
which are Dawn, Neptune, and Lord of 
June. All the Yeld varieties are ex- 
ceptionally vigorous and strong grow- 
ing. Wallace has introduced this yeari 
the first of the seedlings of Sir Arthur 
Hort, another amateur who has ob-! 
tained extreme size in some of his Tro- 
jana crosses. Mr. W. R. Dykes, his 
great book completed, has turned hisi 
attention to breeding as a means of 
discovering the parentage of some of 
our older varieties rather than the crea- 
tion of improved new forms. Two of hisf 
seedlings, however, have already be-i 
come popular in England, namely, 
Goldcrest (not the variegated variety of 
that name) and Richard II. It was; 
Mr. Dykes who, 20 years ago, induced. 
A. J. Bliss to take up Iris breeding in a 
scientific way, for scientific purposes: 
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