GREETINGS-^r 1940 
At last we offer you a few of our own named seedlings. Thousands have been 
discarded, because—even though they were admired by many garden visitors—we 
did not consider them worthy of introduction. We have been grov/ing the finest new 
varieties of iris from all possible sources for many years, and to produce seedlings 
unlike and beAer than these is not an easy task. Then, too, we have been visiting 
the Sass gardens several times each season lor a long time and watching their 
carefully developed breeding lines bring out such universally acclaimed beauties, has 
kept us from getting too excited about the seedlings in our own back yard. Such 
gardens are an inspiration to breeders and at the same time a healthy check on their 
premature enthusiasms. 
For several years the Sasses have been coming to see our gardens each spring, 
because we have become good friends and because we often had new varieties in our 
trial beds that they were anxious to see. Our seedlings attracted very little attention 
and we were doubly convinced that we must do better. So we studied parentage 
records and breeding lines harder than ever and planned our crosses still more 
carefully, confident that such methods could and would bring resplts. 
And last year it happened. Dozens of really good seedlings appeared as if to 
make up for lost time. Our blood pressure began to rise in spite of our determination 
to remain calm, cool and collected until outsiders gave their approval. Garden 
visitors gravitated toward the seedling beds and the rest of the garden was almost 
neglected. Tnen the Sasses, Hans P., his brother Jacob and his son Henry came 
and spent a whole day helping us to evaluate them. Up and down the rows we went, 
comparing, numbering, pollenating and discussing further crosses. Mr. Hans, in his 
quiet way said, “You have several that should be named and you must keep a 
hundred cr more for breeding.” He pleased us greatly by asking for some pollen 
from the red seedling that has since b^een named Rouge Bouquet, to use on his new 
red. Now we all know that it would be the height of presumption for an amateur 
breeder to ask for pollen in the garden of a well known hybridizer—but for the 
Sasses, whose irises are world famous, to ask for pollen of one of our seedlings— 
that was a high compliment indeed. 
A very deep yellow seedling seemed to impress Henry most as he piloted his 
father, Mr. Jacob, over to see the ‘break’ as he called it, which has since been named 
Golden Spike. Jacob said it ‘wasn’t bad’ and later asked if he might take a bud 
home to compare witih one of his next day, adding slyly that he ‘might use the pollen’. 
Lt made us very happy to see how interested and pleased they were with our seedlings 
—it was as if they had been their own. And in a way they are for we have been 
gratefully learning all we could from them for years and we have used their 
originations very freely in our breeding because they have the qualities we want— 
hardiness, beauty and pure lineage. And so before they left we checked and 
numbered a few over a hundred to watch another year. But Mr. Jacob said, “You 
won t need to watch that deep yellow another year, it’s ready to go now.” A few 
days later Dr. and Mrs. Everett were here and he said, “I’ll go further than Jake— 
ril say it must be introduced.” And so, with the suggestion of many Omaha friends 
and our own memory of Golden Spike Days there, “Golden Spike” it is and we are 
proud of it. 
Mrs. Currier was particularly interested in a dusky blend of Creole Belle x 
Matula in tones cf heliotrope and a touch of bronze, which has been named for the 
Indian princess Monona. That is also the name of our county, so when we told Mrs. 
Currier she suggested that the white seedling that she had also tagged in blooming 
time be called Woodbury for her county. Woodbury has sufficient stock to introduce 
this year, Monona must wait. 
The red seedling 3977 that Mr. Hans Sass liked best had also been chosen a few 
days before by Mrs. Tinley as her favorite among the reds. Later she suggested for 
it the name Rouge Bouquet, from the lovely poem by Joyce Kilmer. 
Amitola x Sandalwood brought many warm blends of rosy brown and amber 
tones. Several were numbered and saved and in June when a gift of a lovely pair of 
Nylon stockings came from Wilmington, their sheer, lustrous beauty and tawny 
coloring reminded me of one of them, 3961, so it has since been registered—Nylon. 
Another of this family, of similar coloring has been named Rose Amber. A few 
other seedlings have been registered and will be under observation this year. We 
hope that our garden visitors will help us to evaluate them and decide which are 
worthy of introduction. 
