Visitors 
Every year at iris time, our gardens are 
the show place of Berkeley. Thousands 
of visitors, some of whom have come 
hundreds of miles for the express pur¬ 
pose of visiting our gardens, are inspired 
by the beauty of our iris. The picture 
shown above, is of a portion of the crowd 
on one of our busy days, and the view of 
the gardens on the inside front cover 
gives some idea of their exquisite 
beauty—but you must see our iris fields 
in bloom to fully appreciate them. We 
extend to you, and to your friends, a cor¬ 
dial invitation to visit our gardens. 
Song of the Blues 
“In the light blue class, Shining 
Waters; Eleanor Blue in a slightly dark¬ 
er tone; Sierra Blue in a medium blue 
tone; and Brunhilde, a very dark tone, 
make up a quartet of blues shading from 
light to dark and set a very high 
standard.” — A. I. S. Bulletin 
Speaking of New England garden tour: 
“Gloriole ... is a top-notcher in the light 
blue class.” —A. I. S. Bulletin. 
Missouri — “One of, if not the best 
blue.” —Georgia, in A. I. S. Bulletin. 
Shining Waters — “A beauty — hardy 
and blooms over a long range of time.” 
—Georgia, in A. I. S. Bulletin. 
MRS. VALERIE WEST The crowning 
achievement of Mr. Bliss, the great 
English breeder. A rich, lustrous iris 
whose grandeur is recognized where- 
ever it is grown. 
Broad massive bronze standards with 
falls of deep velvety maroon purple. 
Stems well branched, and free bloom¬ 
ing. Sold out last year. We have a 
fine supply of Mrs. Valerie West, but 
in view of the unprecedented demand, 
we do not advise delay if your order 
includes Mrs. Valerie West. (And it 
certainly should include Mrs. Valerie 
West if you do not have it.) Mid¬ 
season. 36-inch. 25c; 3 for 60c 
NARANJA (Mitchell 1935). “A bell¬ 
ringer,” says one Mid-Western iris ex¬ 
pert—certainly an apt description, for 
this variety surely has met with an 
enthusiastic response. Like opinions 
include the following: 
“Naranja . . . has no rival. It has 
bloomed for me two years now. I have 
seen no iris with its coloring, but if 
another does appear it will have to 
go far to meet Naranja’s other charac¬ 
teristics. It is surprising how it holds 
its color and substance in wind and 
heat—a first grade iris without a com¬ 
petitor”—Nebraska. “Of the newer iris 
I saw in New England, Naranja was 
the most distinctive”; “Naranja was a 
gorgeous thing ... an orange that at¬ 
tracted you way across the garden”— 
Mass.; “We were particularly pleased 
with Naranja. It did well for us, and 
in my opinion, is one of the outstand¬ 
ing new varieties. I have seen no 
other with the same color.”—Califor¬ 
nia; “Most distinctive in richness of 
coloring, and seems to me another 
break.”—Mass; “Naranja as I saw it, 
both at West Hartford and in my own 
garden ... is a true companion for 
your two earlier giant yellows—Cali¬ 
fornia Gold and Happy Days. Naran¬ 
ja is the darkest of the three and at a 
distance approaches orange”—New 
Jersey; and “Naranja, on a one-year 
plant, did splendidly in my garden, 
and from a color standpoint I consider 
it one of the most outstanding new 
th : ngs that bloomed last year, being 
really a new color break with its 
strong orange tone in the falls. I pre¬ 
dict that Naranja will be a forerunner 
for other orange toned varieties”— 
Mass. 
We ourselves describe Naranja as 
follows: 
Richest of all the yellows, thanks to 
the definite orange cast of the falls. 
Distinctly orange while in bud, and so 
striking in color and size that it 
brought the first offer before the first 
bud had started to unfurl. Stands tall 
and straight, with huge blooms, hav¬ 
ing excellent substance. 
Dominated by the orange coloring 
of the falls, which, matched to the 
Ridgway color chart, are “zinc orange” 
at the haft, with yellow markings in 
center, and remainder of falls “ochrac- 
eous orange.” Standards bright em¬ 
pire yellow, with orange yellow beard. 
Has all the attributes of color, form 
and habit necessary to rank this re¬ 
markable iris as one of the standouts 
of recent breeding. H. M., A. I. S., 
1936. Late. 40-inch. $15.00 
Carl Salbach • • • 
Others, Too, Enthuse 
We find the following pleasing com¬ 
ments about iris of our introduction in 
the February, 1937, Iris Society Bulletin: 
“California Gold, a veritable mine 
of gold, so fittingly named — a tall 
deep yellow — gleaming in one bed, 
while its rival, Happy Days, reigned 
in another. What Iris has created a 
greater furore? And then there is Na- 
tividad, an exquisite creamy white that 
looks as though a yellow candle was be¬ 
hind it, gleaming through the standards 
and falls. And Rubeo! Standing out 
from all the rest — tall and straight, 
branching low and wide — its standards 
a deep rose with darker maroon falls of 
perfect texture, making a beautiful red 
PERSIA 
clump in the sunshine. Still I have not 
told of Naranja — that glorious brilliant 
orange thing that stands 44 inches tall 
and gleams like a topez in the sun . . . 
Natoma, similar to Rameses, fine form, 
perfect stalk, vigorous, and a good bloom¬ 
er .. . Dark Knight — a magnificent 
thing, rich and dark, that catches the 
eve like a magnet — a late bloomer that 
does so much to prolong the season . . . 
Eleanor Blue is a joy, while Neon sus¬ 
tained its reputation as a standout. Tioga 
did wonderfully well for me, as did Tipo 
Red also.” (New England). 
“Without doubt, China Rose has the 
most orchid-like coloring of any iris yet 
produced.” —Illinois. 
“My Eleanor Blue was the talk of the 
town. Everybody who saw it was just 
crazy about it . . . All my California iris 
were fine this year.” —Iowa. 
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