us so many of our finest yellows, Prof. Mitchell, 
sends a lovely blend called Rosy Asia, and Peacemaker, 
palest China blue. Other Western hybridizers con¬ 
tribute the stunning coppery blend Fiesta, huge 
golden-tan Far West, Deseret, a brilliant and unique 
variegata, and Mount Cloud, a fine near-white. 
England, which once sent us so many fine irises, 
accounts for anchusa-toned Blue Danube, shimmering 
Natal, coolest Chartreuse green, Golden Hind, deep¬ 
est of all yellows. From our own Southland come 
that fine showy purple, Cyrus the Great, Sam Davis, 
a stalwart red, and our own introductions of this 
season: Exclusive and Indian Hills. New England 
contributes another fine red-violet in Purple Giant, 
a blue violet in Monomoy, and in Copper Piece, a dash¬ 
ing blend. 
Many of these very new sorts which we are still 
holding in the trial section will, of course, even¬ 
tually move into our First Hundred. 
Until recently the development of the iris has 
been rather irregular with some color classes far 
stronger than others. Thus, for years the white and 
yellow sections have lagged far behind the blues 
and purples while the red class was at one time prac¬ 
tically non-existent. Happily the weakness of some 
color sections stimulated interest in them on the 
part of many hybridizers, so that today the iris 
color range shows a far more uniform development. 
It would be interesting to check through the vari¬ 
ous color groups and note the status of each today: 
thus the whites are strong; the plicatas strong; the 
amoenas relatively weak (though in the great Shah 
Jehan, Marquita and Wabash we have three very fine 
ones); the light blues very strong, the medium blues very 
strong; the deep violets exceptionally strong; the blue 
blends relatively weak (though Serenite and Persia are 
two of our finest irises, bar none); the mauves and 
mauve blends fairly strong; the pink blends fairly 
strong; the light pinks relatively weak; the deep 
pinks of moderate strength; the purples strong; the 
“reds" and coppers very strong; the browns strong; 
the variegatas strong; the yellow blends strong; and 
the yellows themselves strong to very strong. 
Only a few years ago there were but twelve color 
classes. Already we can forsee an extension of the 
present seventeen. Further development of cream- 
colored irises may well justify a separate color sec¬ 
tion for this group —- so important in the landscape 
picture. The yellow plicatas may someday become 
a section by themselves. The blend sections may 
break in several ways. Indeed the introduction each 
year of irises in colors and combinations of colors 
never before seen constitutes one of the most intrigu¬ 
ing aspects of iris growing. 
What are the most unusual irises today in respect 
to color? We nominate: Shah Jehan, Serenite, Sieg- 
6 
