RIVERVIEW GARDENS 
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Saint Paul, Minn. 
Irises For The Garden 
Desirable tall bearded Irises. In this group much of the revival of interest 
in the hybridization of Irises has arisen, and most of the attention in the late 
years have been paid to this group by the hybridizer. They are generally known 
as the German Iris, which however, is not the correct name because the specie 
Iris germanica is only one of the ten or twelve that have been used in developing 
the modern tall bearded Irises. 
Modern Irises display many glorious color blendings, and every season sees 
some new and unexpected combinations. It is perhaps difficult for those who 
have not the good fortune to live with them to realize how greatly the Iris has 
altered and improved in the last 10 years. Only a short time ago Mme. Chereau, 
Monsignor, Queen of May, Her Majesty, Mrs. H. Darwin, and Sherwin Wright 
were the finest of the garden varieties. But what is the comparison of these 
old varieties with the new sorts? There just isn’t any. 
New Varieties One’s garden cannot be up-to-date in any sense of the word with 
Far Ahead of the old varieties, for the best modern Irises are far ahead of 
Old Favorites the common older varieties in size, brilliance, variety of coloring, 
and in beauty of form and substance. 
To determine the use of Iris for garden pictures they must have clear-cut 
colors, but this is not all—this color must be furnished in a graceful and pleasing 
manner. In order to do this it must have as one essential, substance—substance 
being the resistance of the flower to unfavorable conditions. For example, Lord 
of June, a fine large blue, is being discarded because of the fact that a hot wind 
or a heavy rain will completely destroy any open flowers. This surely is not a 
good example of a fine garden Iris. Furthermore, an Iris must have substance 
in order to display and maintain its form, which is one of the most pleasing and 
distinctive qualities in any variety. Then comes poise, which includes pleasing 
proportions and setting of the stalk, size and height, freedom of bloom, and 
satisfactory growth characters; but above all, color is the primary requirement. 
Importance of Iris in Just what are the value of the Irises in the garden pic- 
the Garden Picture ture? Light, bright colors or white show to advantage 
from almost any distance in front of a dark background; 
whereas the reds, purples, and bronzes show off best against a light background. 
Occasionally a single stalk will catch the eye in outline against the background, 
but for the most part we need masses of color of varying heights to paint the 
garden picture. Normally the background is fhe deep green of the foliage against 
which the light tones or contrasting colors of the Iris will stand out. If a mass 
of dark purple is planted in front of a deep green background the carrying 
quality of that mass is lost from a distance. For effect one must select whites 
and yellows and the lightest of the lavenders and blues. This is just one of the 
things that must be taken into consideration in planting for mass effect. 
The color grouping of flowers is never simple, and in the case of the Iris it is 
very complex; so many colors, often overlay upon or blend into one another, 
making an Iris bloom. But for general garden effect Irises may be classified 
either as seifs, one distinct color; bicolors, two distinct colors; and blends, a 
combination of colors overlaid or blending into each other. 
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