FAIRMOUNT GARDENS I 


Choreword 
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OST gardeners look forward to spring as a welcome release 
M from the dreary months of winter, and with all the trouble 
"4 and turmoil in the world at the present time it is doubly so 
this year. Our government recommends that we continue our 
growing of flowers for they consider it a splendid builder of 
morale. What better relaxation can we have than working with 
the soil. providing ‘the time devoted to it does not interfere in any 
way with our help to our government. Always during periods of 
stress men have turned to Mother Earth for strength and inspira- 
tion, and this idea has been expressed perfectly in the quotation 
“To cultivate a garden is to walk with God”. 
So again this year we are sending out our catalogue to you 
with the hope that you may find it of interest and helpful in 
choosing plants for your garden. 
It is a painstaking task to select new ‘ris for introduction, and 
to this end in the blooming season I spend several weeks visiting 
the gardens of different breeders in many parts of the country 
looking over their seedlings, and choose only those that I think are 
worthy of the high standard we try to maintain in the introduction 
of plants through our garden. 
Also I use the same care and thought in the selection of new 
named varieties from other dealers for I do not intend to add any 
plants to my collection that are not among the best in commerce, 
This year we have the pleasure of adding four hybridizers to 
the list for whom we introduce, and I will give you a brief sketch 
of their work for the readers of the catalogue have expressed great 
interest in my telling them a bit about the different breeders. 
Our American Iris Society President, Mr. W. J. McKee, of 
Worcester, Mass., needs no introduction to the iris world, In 
public life he is a business executive with heavy responsibilities in 
the present war work. He finds his relaxation in the hobby of 
gardening with special emphasis on the breeding of tall bearded 
iris. 1 am very much pleased to have the honor of introducing his 
new iris named Mary Vernon that won the Award of Highly 
Commended in 1941. It is a lustrous brown-red and golden bronze 
combination of color that is most brilliant and effective in the 
garden. 
Mr. Wentworth Caldwell of Nashville, Tenn. is one of the 
younger generation of iris enthusiasts for which that city is justly 
famous. He is a delightful southern gentleman and is all too 
modest about his hobby of breeding iris. I have watched his seed- 
lings with great interest for several years, and last season chose 
his lovely iris Tishomingo as being most worthy of introduction. 
It is a large clear light Wistaria blue self of very flaring form and 
the strongest smooth substance I have ever seen in an iris bloom. 
Dr. Robert J. Graves of Concord, N. H., a Director of the 
American Iris Society, is a doctor and surgeon, and as is the case 
with so many professional men his hours away from his profes- 
sion are taken up with gardening, especially in hybridizing the 
bearded iris. His success is remarkable, and he has produced some 
of the most outstandng iris that it has been my good fortune to 
see. Dr. Graves is very mcdest about his seedlings, and insists 
that a great deal of credit in growing the iris is due to the work 
of his gardener, and this may be true for never have I met anyone 
that so thoroughly loved and cherished flowers as does this man. 
But whatever the secret of their success, it 1s true that they have 
produced some of the finest new iris, and I am very proud to pre- 
sent to the public Dr. Graves’ introductions. They are: Franconia 
a magnificent white that is illustrated on the front of the catalogue; 
Hi-Ho is a very large cream and yellow with great garden value; 
And Thou, a pale Wedgewood blue of sturdy form and growth; 
Katharine Larmon, a deep brown blend with great refinement and 
charm; Snow Carnival, a very large ruffled white of flaring form. 
Three of these, Franconia, And Thou, and Snow Carnival each 
won an Award of Highly Commended in 1941. ; 
Mr. Clarence C. Connell of Nashville, Tenn. has given wus 
many fine iris, the most famous being Dauntless, probably better 
known throughout the world than any other iris of American 
origination. This year I am delighted to introduce two of his new 
iris that are most distinctve and of great merit. They are: Com- 
rade, a bright dusty pink with a strong suffusion of gold through- 
out, this iris was named as a dedication to the memory of Chan- 
cellor Kirkland and Mr. Washington, and it is a splendid tribute 
to these two great men; Picotee is not a large flower but it is the 
clearest blue and white plicata and has great garden value. These 
two iris live up to the high standard set by Mr. Connell in his 
introductions. 
As in previous years I have the pleasure of presenting to the 
public the new Introductions of the following prominent Hybrid- 
izers. 
As many American Iris Society members know, Mrs .T. A. 
Washington and her daughter Mrs. Walter Reckless of Nashville, 
Tenn. have moved their iris garden to their new home in the 
country and this year it will make a grand showing, They are 
carrying on the hybridizing work of Mr. Washington, as well as 
growing the last seedlings produced by Mr. Washington. From 
this group we selected three for introduction this year. They all 
have great individuality and are very worthy of a place in any 
garden. They are: Boss, named for Mr. Washington, is a large 
and very handsome red brown iris of exceptionally firm substance, 
and the finest I have seen in this color class; Soldier Boy is a very 
unusual blend of mauve and tan with a golden halo in the center 
of the flower; Sailor Boy is a deep strawberry red self that stands 
out afar in the garden. 
We have introduced several very fine iris for Mr. Kenneth D. 
Smith of Staten Island, N. Y. and Yellow Glory that we are pre- 
senting this year is considered to be among his best. It is a large 
flower of firm substance, deeper in color, and later flowering than 
his well known Yellow Jewel, and bids fair to be liked even better. 
I have grown this iris for three yars, and at blooming time it is 
always the center of attention in the garden, This iris won the 
Award of Highly Commended in 1941. 
Mr. John Dee Wareham of Cincinnati, Ohio is first of all an 
artist and his keen sense of color value seems reflected in his iris 
seedlings. This year we are introducing four of his iris that are 
very distinctive and of proven merit. Full Sail, a sturdy and ex- 
ceptionally well branched white with just the faintest flush of 
pinkish lavender throughout the flower; Vision Fugitive is a cool 
white and cream yellow of exquisite poise and finish, and always 
attracts the attention of garden visitors; Gin Fizz, cool and frosty 
in finish this firm ivory white has great lasting qualities and is a 
distinct addition to any garden; Java Sky is the most magnificent 
blending of colors that can be imagined, if you can visualize the 
colors of Prairie Sunset, Stardom, and Dubrovnik all blended in 
an iris bloom then you will have some idea of its brilliance. 
Dr. Henry Lee Grant of Louisville, Ky. has produced many 
fine iris, and those we are presenting this year live up to the high 
standard he has maintained in selecting seedlings for introduction. 
They are: Bit O’ Heaven, a fascinating reverse bicolor of light 
yellow and white; Burnished Copper, a rich gleaming copper that 
is much brighter than Copper Lustre; Display is a deep Spanish 
red bicolor of late blooming habit; Duet, a charming blend of 
honey beige and violet; Gold Dome is deeper in color than Golden 
Fleece and with much heavier substance; Sparkling Blue, a flax 
blue self that is very tall and well branched, and has an exception- 
ally long season of bloom. 
Mr. Carl Carpenter of Owensboro, Ky. is an ardent gardener 
and for several years has been hybridizing iris. Many American 
lris Society members that were in Nashville last May will remem- 
ber two very outstanding seedlings of Mr. Carpenter’s that were 
blooming in the Douglas garden, They are: Joy (38-11) is a 
blending of orange, red, and violet and was the most brilliant iris 
in the garden; The other Belle of Dixie (40-75) is a dark opales- 
cent blend with boldly flaring flowers of very heavy substance. We 
are introducing these two and also Silver Lustre that is a very light 
violet blue self with a silvery sheen dusted over the whole flower. 
Last year Mr. Geddes Douglas of Nashville, Tenn. upheld his 
reputation of producing exceptionally fine iris, and his seedlings 
were the center of interest in his garden at the time of the Ameri- 
can Iris Society meeting in 1941. This year I am introducing the 
following three iris of his origination that each won the Award of 
Highly Commended in 1941. Chicory Blue has large beautifully 
formed flowers of medium blue with great clarity of color, heavy 
substance, and especially fine branching. Sharkskin is a very large 
flaring white with an almost velvet finish on the falls, tall and widely 
branched. Snowdrop is a very floriferous late blooming white with 
exceptionally pure coloring and is a gem for border planting. 
