74 
Obe Slower (Brower 
May, 1920 
The American Iris Society. 
T he month of May for many of us is The 
Iris Month, ushered in by the Alpine or 
pumila hybrids which insensibly give way 
to their larger brethren, the intermediates, 
of which Ingeborg, Walhalla, Dorothea, or 
Prince Victor are good examples. Both these 
races, the hybridizer, W. J. Caparne, has writ- 
ten of as of the same complex parentage, the 
results of crossing and recrossing all the dwarf 
early forms and with such later species as 
germanica and pallida. You will find them 
in three sizes; Schneekuppe, Ivorine, and 
Dorothea, the last the largest, are represent- 
ative, but it is curious to note that, at least 
here in Massachusetts, the larger forms 
rarely set seed whereas many of the dwarfs 
are prolific. There is also among them all a 
great dearth of self-colored light lavenders 
and deep clear yellows, nor do I know of any 
of variegata coloring. Cengialti which was 
first used by Sir Michael Foster has given 
various shades of lavender, in Mrs. Alan 
Gray a pink-lavender, in Alexander a purple 
and these bloom slightly later than the famil- 
iar Kochii, Kharput, or Amas. With the omis- 
sion of the Alpine hybrids, there are about 60 
named varieties to choose from for garden 
effect before the great color pageant of pal 
lidas, variegatas and their many variations. 
Thirty years ago only the germanica vari- 
eties that come from Asia Minor and Southern 
Europe (never Germany) were found in our 
gardens at this season and this is but one of 
the many indications of the possibilities of 
hybridization. I hope that many of you will 
enter into this fascinating experimental 
work, — the procedure is simple. 
HYBRIDIZATION. 
The terms pod or pollen parent are easily 
understood. First remove the stamens from 
the selected pod-parent, then selecting pollen 
laden stamens from the other parent (a small 
pair of tweezers is convenient for handling 
them) brush off from this sufficient pollen so 
as to well-cover the stigma of the pod-parent. 
Fully opened flowers should be used and 
the stigma seems to be more receptive for 
fertilization when it has started to roll out 
from the style-branch and is slightly pu- 
bescent. Secondary fertilization by bees is 
rare, but for careful records, break off the 
falls; bagging the fertilized flower does not 
seem necessary. The outline drawing in the 
April Flower Grower depicts the parts of an 
Iris flower and Mr. William Rollins has given 
full details of the process in Horticulture 
issues of July 27 and August 3, 1918. 
(The complete articles by Mr. Rollins may be found 
in The Flower Grower for the months of January. 
February, March and April 1919— Editor.) 
Wet weather is often fatal to pollination 
and there is a great variation in the fertility 
of different varieties. Monsignor, for example, 
has no pollen, but proves a fair pod parent ; 
Kochii in this latitude may form pods, but no 
seeds and so the ratios may vary greatly. 
Avoid, at least at first, all the intermediates 
and germanicas as it takes many a trial to get 
a result, but the pumila hybrids are almost too 
easy and many of the late blooming ones are 
likely to seed well. Just as in other lines of 
breeding select the finest individuals, 
though it is unfortunate that what you may 
consider fine may prove quite the reverse as 
a parent. Eldorado has carried its size and 
narrow segments, but not its strong coloring; 
pallida Dalmatica gives height and size, but it 
has been so widely used that the seedlings are 
often not sufficiently distinctive and rarely do 
you find its fine flaring falls and satiny texture. 
It is rather bromidicto say that like produces 
like, but many of us appreciate the near-pink 
tones even though the blooms are small; 
white may come from any cross and in the 
breeding of unlike varieties there is a great 
uncertainty as to results which adds greatly 
to the joys of anticipation. 
STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE. 
The standards of excellence which we are 
using this season for the guidance of judges 
and prospective exhibitors in Iris Shows may 
prove of assistance in judging the merit not 
only of your seedlings, but of the selected 
parents. Later we plan similar scores for in- 
doors and out that will more surely reflect the 
opinions of all our members. Keep this in 
mind and as you walk through your garden 
consider just why each variety is good or poor. 
As a cut flower, a variety must be 
distinctive, the stalk showing a pleas- 
ing relation of height, branching and 
size of flower, the bloom of clear and 
attractive coloring, each in its respec- 
tive class comparing to advantage with 
one of the following, viz : Ingeborg, 
Amas, Mrs. Alan Gray, pallida Dal- 
matica, Alcazar, Cater ina, Rhein Nixe, 
Monsignor, Loreley, Iris King, Jacquesi- 
ana, or a better plicata than Mme. 
Chereau. Conversely a variety that is 
low-growing with unbranched or poorly 
balanced stalks, the flowers of uneven, 
dingy coloring, irregular form or small 
size must have some great outstanding 
quality to deserve recognition. I will 
give these in tabular form, each quality 
with its point value : 
FOR AN INDIVIDUAL VARIETY. 
Outstanding quality 4 
Stalk (5) 
Height, (over 30 in.) 2 
3 or more branches 1 
9 or more buds and flowers . . 1 
Poise.. 1 
Flower (11) 
Color 4 
Form 2 
Size 2 
Substance and Texture 2 
Fragrance . 1 
Total 20 
The standards of excellence for a 
collection have a more limited scope, 
though there will be many Iris shows, 
some of you are too isolated to take 
part and some (shall I write frankly ?) 
too indolent to prove your interest. 
FOR A COLLECTION. 
Apply to each vase. 
Quality of blooms 2 
Freshness 2 
Elegance of stalk 2 
Rarity of variety 1 
Apply to exhibit as a whole. 
Variety of height and color. 2 
Naming, arrangement, etc.. 2 
HANDLING IRISES FOR EXHIBIT. 
Our information on this point is very 
incomplete but the following sugges- 
tions may help somewhat. In the an- 
nouncements Local members are 
given an opportunity to procure de- 
tails of dates, classes and so forth from 
the local member in charge of each 
exhibit. 
An exhibitor should always go over 
carefully the wording of the schedule 
and become familiar with the Rules. 
Follow them strictly. Varieties en- 
tered for competitions should always 
be labeled, (the A. I. S. is providing 
small cards) always enter the required 
number in each class, no more and no 
less, and arrange them with some show 
of appreciation for the general effect 
to avoid color clashes, or crowded 
effects. One would not expect that 
anyone would show bruised or injured 
flowers but you will see many at al- 
most any exhibition. 
The A. I. S. is offering Silver and 
Bronze Medals, in such number as the 
number of exhibitors at each show 
seems to merit. There will also be a 
Certificate of less value and for Mer- 
itorious seedlings awards of Honorable 
Mention. The Award Cards I think 
will be considered attractive and dis- 
tinctive, well worth showing off and in 
many cases plants of fine varieties are 
also to be won. 
It is well to know in advance what 
sort of vases are to be used as Irises 
should, if these permit, be shown with 
their full length of stalk and just a 
sheaf of foliage. Make the cut-flower 
appear as nearly perfect as it might 
appear as growing in your garden. 
The exhibitor near at hand has a 
great advantage, he can select his 
stalks just as the first flower unfolds, 
carry it by hand or in a pail in an au- 
tomobile, each stalk upright, held away 
from its neighbor by a packing of 
crumpled paper. The more distant 
are handicapped by the necessity of 
packing the flowers and as yet we can 
offer little advice from experience. 
Always pack a few more stalks of each 
variety than the schedule calls for, 
selecting such as show buds in differ- 
ent stages of development, sometimes 
just showing color, sometimes so near 
to bursting that you must tie them 
with soft wool. Do all this the day 
before the show and keep the flowers 
in water, in a cool place until you are 
ready to pack. Flowers that come out 
in water lose in size and often a little 
in their depth of color. 
Many just pile the budded stalks into 
ordinary flower boxes, one on top of 
another and then select the better ones 
to exhibit, it would be better to pack 
them carefully in tissue in shallow 
trays but neither method permits of 
carrying full-blown flowers, which is 
most desirable at times, particularly 
for seedlings or when a special effort 
is worthwhile. And, by the way, never 
trust your boxes to ordinary transpor- 
tation, keep them by you throughout. 
Miss Sturtevant takes a box about 8 x 
12 x 48 inches, runs across and through 
the center, strips of cotton cloth at 
various distances apart, then lays in 
each stalk, pins it down to the strip on 
either side at various points with a bit 
of tape, so that there is no chance of 
slipping. Depending upon the develop- 
ment of the flowers, there may be 12 
to 40 stalks to a box and exhibiting 
more than 100 to 150 stalks in this way 
is about the limit. Thus one can ex- 
hibit stalks with two or more large 
blooms in as perfect condition as 
