394 
The Garden Magazine, August, 1924 
Two-toned Varieties of Distinction 
color, form, and habit (though I believe both varieties are subject to 
root rot). Its color is a very beautiful pure lavender on the blue tones. 
The smallest collection should include it—perhaps even a collection of 
only one. 
Leonidas is a lovely thing in the garden. Its texture is a bit flimsy, 
and the falls hug the stem rather too much for grace. But it makes a 
flowery mass of pure amethyst that is a joy to behold. Other very 
lovely and free-blooming blue-lavenders, a little pale in tone, are 
Celeste and Cameleon. All are old and inexpensive varieties. 
Quite otherwise are Lord of June (pictured on page 293 of June, 
1924, G. M.), Mlle. Schwartz, and Mrs. Walter Brewster, which 
I name in the ascending order of price—and perhaps of beauty. I am 
not wholly in love with Lord of June, its texture is too soft for the 
great size of the flower. But it can be spectacularly beautiful. Mlle. 
Schwartz is such a glorious flower that after seeing it once, I promptly 
and extravagantly ordered a root. It has the name of being difficult, 
and my small plant rather promises to bear out that reputation. I shall 
grieve, but not be surprised, if it is not here to greet the spring again. 
Yet in the near-by garden where 1 saw it, it grew and bloomed luxur¬ 
iantly. It will, 1 fear, be a long day before the divine Mrs. Walter 
Brewster graces my garden, for it is rather staggering in price. But let 
us wait and watch the catalogues till this blue beauty comes within our 
reach. It struck me as the bluest of the true lavenders that 1 had seen. 
1 hardly know whether or not to recommend Caterina. As Mr. 
Phillpotts has so wisely told us, if a flower is beautiful and long in the 
market, and yet rare, the chances are that it has a serious fault or two. 
Caterina’s fault is not in her beauty, she has enough and to spare of 
that, but she is undoubtedly “difficult.” They say she likes to live in 
California, but we can’t quite move there just to please her. Yet I 
SPECIMEN PLANTING OF TALL BEARDED IRIS 
“Of all the flowers that grow,” says Mrs. Huntington, “ I think they are 
the most superbly decorative in the garden.” Certainly their beauty of 
foliage and form is seen to best advantage in isolated groupings like this 
A MONG the group known as bicolors, with 
standards lighter than the falls but the same 
general coloring in both, there are some lovely flow¬ 
ers. Perhaps my favorite is Perfection. There 
are bigger Iris (though this is not especially small bv 
any means), but if you waive the question of size this 
is an Iris without a fault. The coloring is rich and 
pure, lavender standards and purple falls, both very 
blue in tone and of velvety quality. The shape is 
lovely, with the horizontal falls that I like; and the 
arrangement of flowers on the stalk is most pleasing. 
It is exceedingly vigorous and free, and blooms well 
the year after planting. 
know she can be gracious in New Jersey, for in that wonderful garden 
where Mlle. Schwartz grew so happily, so too did Caterina, and the 
owner of the garden told me she had no trouble with this variety. 
There are gardeners who know how to coax a temperamental plant! 
All of these Iris have much blue in their lavender coloring, especially 
at early dusk, which is divinely becoming to them and gives them an 
almost azure tone. But I know three varieties that I should call closer 
to a true blue even than any I have named. Blue Jay gives a good 
deal of that effect, in a dark rich tone. The individual flowers are 
rather small, but it is tall and free, and makes a fine color mass in the 
garden. The lighter-hued Chester J. Hunt is even lovelier. 1 am 
always thrilled by the beauty of its almost azure standards. The falls 
are deeper and less blue, and the color is laid on unevenly, in a lovely 
clouded effect. This, too, is not up to modern standards of size. Both 
of these are old and inexpensive varieties. Not so is the superb 
Crusader, which 1 believe ties with Princess Beatrice as the Iris 1 
should choose if I were permitted to own but one. Some gardeners 
find Crusader lacking in rude health, others seem to have no trouble. 
Nobody finds it lacking in beauty. It is fairly new, and rates 8.7. 
Probably it would rate much higher if it could always be counted on 
for vigor. In my garden it grows more strongly than any other 
variety. It is tall, fairly free-blooming, huge, with the flowers well 
arranged on the stalk. It has the shape I prefer, with rather horizontal 
falls; and the color has rich blue tones, with a hint of rose in the falls. 
Among the Royal Purples 
I BELIEVE there are not many first-class deep purple Iris, either on 
the blue or the red order. The old Kochii and Kharput are often 
praised, but 1 do not want them. I love Kochii’s black velvet buds, 
but the small red-purple flower lacks interest. The 
redder Kharput is better in color, but too many 1 rises 
lack firmness in the texture of their all-too-fleeting 
flowers, and 1 think we should look to an improve¬ 
ment along that line, wherein Kharput errs badly. I 
have nothing but praise for Purple King, an old and 
very inexpensive variety, that belongs to the Ger- 
manica section and blooms earlier than any of the 
other varieties I am naming. It is an Iris without a 
fault—color, shape (with particularly long falls), 
height, vigor, freedom, leave nothing to be desired. 
And here we have a texture so especially good that I 
remember seeing, in Miss Halloway’s garden, flowers 
of this variety stand erect and firm after days of 
rain that had ruined the younger flowers on other 
varieties near by. 
Among the newer Iris there are a few dark kinds 
of great beauty. I do not know Lent A. Williamson 
well enough for any comment, but Souvenir de 
Mme. Gaudichau is one of the inner circle. It is a 
superbly shaped deep purple; and although not very 
free-blooming when 1 saw it (though I believe it gen¬ 
erally is) I admired it so greatly that I hastened to 
secure a root, for that color is rare, and very desirable 
as a contrast to the lavenders. 
For those should-be-economical gardeners who 
have more sense than I, there are some fine dark 
varieties that cost much less. Parc de Neuilly is 
a beautiful thing, not so fine as Mme. Gaudichau, no, 
certainly not, but a big upstanding flower of rich 
deep purple. And although I personally am not well 
enough acquainted with Archeveque to recommend 
it, 1 have much confidence in the judgment of Mr. 
Sturtevant, who praises it as a telling bit of rich color. 
