“I think you are to be congratulated on having such an outstanding group of 
recent iris introductions. I know of no other hybridizer or agent of hybridizers 
who has brought forth so many good new iris in the last few years. Keep up 
the good work.”— New York iris critic. — Name on request. 
FROM SYDNEY B. MITCHELL, long 
recognized as one of the world’s finest 
iris hybridists, we have, as usual, ex¬ 
clusive introduction. His new crea¬ 
tions are up to the standard set by 
such champions as California Gold, 
Happy Days, Naranja, Golden Bear, 
Bridal Veil, and others. 
AIDA (Mitchell 1938). (Yellow seedling 
X King Midas). Named for the beau¬ 
tiful dusky heroine of Verdi’s famous 
opera Aida, this iris combines de¬ 
lightful form with rich bronzy color¬ 
ing. The standards are golden bronze, 
the falls showing a darker tint, as 
of tobacco. Entirely distinct from 
those of the Jean Cayeux type, being 
more on the copper shades than those 
of the latter. Appropriately named; 
for it is a most attractive beautiful 
iris. 
Standards pure rich frosted bronze 
with a fine glint; falls rich copper- 
bronze. Altogether a very live colored 
variety, very pleasing, and completely 
distinct. Large flowers, heavy sub¬ 
stance, good placement and a free 
bloomer. Mid-season. 36-inch. $10.00 
FAIR ELAINE (Mitchell 1938) (Happy 
Days X California Gold). The great¬ 
est break in breeding since Sydney 
Mitchell opened up the big yellow field, 
and at the same time, the most de¬ 
lightfully beautiful new iris that has 
been introduced for years. Having 
standards of palest soft cream, almost 
white, and falls of deep, rich yellow, 
it carries the soft blending quality of 
a creamed toned iris, and at the same 
time, has all the vividness of a bright 
yellow. 
From time immemorial, white and 
yellow have been one of the most de¬ 
lightful of. all color combinations, and 
Fair Elaine combines there two tones 
perfectly. Actually, the standards are 
creamy, close up, but from a distance, 
the standards seem white. Either way, 
it is one of the prettiest iris we have 
ever known. A showy orange beard 
adds to the attractive contrast. Tall and 
large, of good substance, and perfectly 
branched. 
Fair Elaine establishes itself as 
alone in an entirely new color class, 
and at the same time sets a standard 
for beauty that indicates that it will 
rank as one of “the” iris for many, 
many years to come. One-half the 
hardy California Gold and only one- 
quarter Dykes, its hardiness is prac¬ 
tically assured. In view of these fac¬ 
tors, we believe that Fair Elaine is 
one of the finest introductions we 
have ever listed. As a result, we be¬ 
lieve that it, (as William Mohr and 
Alta California were at the time of 
their introduction) is a super iris, 
deserving a higher ranking than our 
usual top price, and therefore we price 
it, like Golden Majesty, at $35.00. 
Stock limited. Mid-season. 40-inch. 
$35.00 
FAIR ELAINE 
OURAY 
(See general list) 
“I want to tell you how much atten¬ 
tion Ouray created here. It was planted 
in the first position in the Guest Iris 
row and was worthy of the place and 
created as much favorable comment as 
the Red Douglas, Angelus, Cortez and 
Siegfried which were in good form the 
day the main crowd were here, but 
Ouray has been fine for two weeks and 
is still going strong.”—Kentucky. 
FROM OUR OWN GARDENS, we have 
chosen one introduction, but that one 
is a true champion. 
GOLDEN MAJESTY (Salbach 1938). 
(Dauntless x W. R. Dykes) X the 
variety Natoma, which is Alta Califor¬ 
nia X King Midas. We very definite¬ 
ly regard this iris as the best all¬ 
purpose yellow ever introduced, for it 
has “everything”. First, it has color— 
softer, yet richer than we had dared 
to hope for in an iris; then add per¬ 
fect form, branching, substance, and 
you have Golden Majesty. The flowers 
are very large and of. perfect, well- 
domed form; it does not fade; the 
finish is smooth and glistening; the 
substance is good; the branching per¬ 
fect; it is a free bloomer with many 
blooms (usually nine) to each stalk; 
and its height brings its rich beauty 
to a spotlight position — an iris of 
gleaming gold, standing out as if alone 
even among the finest other irises. 
No other iris can be of deeper yel¬ 
low and still be “yellow”, and the 
tone is so rich and glistening that we 
have found no color on the chart that 
can match it. The entire stalk is per¬ 
fectly balanced to give the iris great 
poise as well as beauty, and in addi¬ 
tion, it is deliciously fragrant and 
stands up against both wind and rain. 
Of course, there are many yellows 
being introduced these days, but we 
point out that those we have selected 
have been the careful choice from ac¬ 
tually thousands of fine upstanding 
yellows in the gardens of Sydney B. 
Mitchell, E. O. Essig, and ourselves. 
Our past yellows, such as Naranja, 
California Gold, Happy Days, Alta 
California, Song of Gold, Sunburst, and 
Golden Bear have all been distinct, 
and each one has proved itself to be 
of the same championship rank that 
we predicted when it was introduced. 
Despite these past achievements, we 
consider Golden Majesty to be the fin¬ 
est of all — a truly “five-star” iris. 
As to hardiness •— the half Dykes 
introductions have done reasonably 
well, some perfectly so. Golden Ma¬ 
jesty is one-quarter Dykes, and its 
other three grandparents are among 
the hardiest iris of all. 
Our “top price” for introductions has 
always been $25.00 per rhizome, even 
for super-iris. Only twice before have 
we adjudged an iris so sensational 
that we made an exception to this rule. 
The first was the introduction of. the 
famous hybi’id, William Mohr; the sec¬ 
ond, Alta California, the first import¬ 
ant tall yellow. Golden Majesty, like 
Fair Elaine, is a “champion among 
champions.” It is, we feel, the “ul¬ 
timate” in yellow iris. Stock limited; 
not more than one to a customer. 
Late. 42-inch. $35.00 
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