33 
THE MODERN IRIS A FAVORITE 
Lieut. de Chavagnac 
When an Iris blooms in season, that is 
usually in May, we take that-as granted but 
there somie varieties that give a second crop 
of bloom in the fall, perhaps from Sept- 
ember until frost. These are called Fall 
Bloomers or Rebloomers, the French call them 
Remontents. 
You can find numerous varieties listed in 
this group. Some popular varieties are: 
Autumn Queen, Autumn Sunset Dor- 
cas Hutcheson, Jean Siret, Kansas Ingleside, 
Lieut. de Chavagnac and September Skies, 
and there are others. Ordinarily these Fall 
Bloomers are Intermediates and the Sass 
Brothers say they get the fall blooming 
habit from the Dwarf Iris. 
Sometimes these Fall Bloomers have not 
been very dependable, and unless the fall was 
late and moisture conditions favorable, dis- 
appointment was experienced. However, 
there is one variety that can be depended up- 
on to give a good crop of bloom every fall, 
and that is the Dwarf Iris variety Lieut. de 
Chavagnac. I have grown it here in Indiana 
for about eight years and it has never failed. 
This Iris received a Certificate of Merit 
from the Horticultural Society of France in 
1926 as a Remontant, and the first shipment 
to America was to Robert Wayman, New 
York in 1927. 
Apparently this variety is of the chamae- 
iris type; it is about 10 inches high, has red 
purple standards and blackish purple falls 
with some reticulations at the haft and a 
yellow-orange beard. It increases very rapid- 
ly, which probably accounts for its rebloom- 
ing habit. 
There are a few cultural rules that will en- 
courage this reblooming habit. First, it 
should be seperated or dividedq uite often, to 
give sufficient room for new growth and at 
this time compost and some fertilizer applied. 
Immediately after spring bloom is a good 
time to do this, about every two years. Then 
a reasonable amount of moisture should be 
supplied during the summer and especially 
from August on until it blooms again. A lit- 
tle mulch around the base will conserve 
moisture during the hot months. 
Jean SIRET is another variety by the 
same breeder, Chas. Andre, but it is not as 
persistent a bloomer as the Lieut. This one, 
is yellow. It should be possible to develop 
a full line of colors in this class, as seedlings 
from Lieut. Chavagnac have produced even 
whites. 
Dykes states that the species I.rubro-mar- 
ginata has bloomed for him upon several 
occasions, and I have had bloom from it 
often here. A cross of (Lieut. Chavagnac x 
I. rubro-marginata) should give good pros- 
pects of producing some excellent and de- 
pendable Fall Bloomers. 
NOTE: We are very anxious to further any 
efforts of our readers in hybridization, not 
only in Iris but all other flowers. Questions 
and problems will be welcomed and we 
will do our best to have them answered. 
Those having seedlings of Iris of their own 
raising should furnish us with one or two 
rhizomes for our trial ground and if we find 
that it has real value, we will be glad to co- 
operate in marketing it. 
Mr. Welch is one of our best posted Iris 
men and his articles which will appear each 
month in our Iris column will be of consider- 
able interest. Questions on hybridizing Iris 
will be gladly answered. 
Breeding the White Iris 
By Walter Welch, Indiana. 
Today one sees white Iris everywhere, it is 
the mainstay of every good collection. In 
fact, whites are the most highly developed of 
any form in our gardens. It is the great 
peacemaker and will harmonize a planting 
of clashing colors or serve as a foil for bril- 
liant reds and blues. White Iris should be 
used in abundance in the borders and is 
gorgeous as a border for paths and drives 
planted alone. 
White Iris are comparatively a modern 
product, seldom is it found growing wild 
among the species. Probably the oldest 
known white Iris is the species I. albicans, 
which comes from Arabia and was used by 
Gudrun. He goes in for ruffling, wide hor- 
izontal falls, clean hafts and white beards. 
There is no doubt that these are disirable im- 
provements. Snow Flurry with its cool ruff- 
ling, is a landmark in the development of the 
whites, and its notable progeny is numerous. 
At this date, probably Helen McKenzie is 
our finest white Iris but such varieties as New 
Snow, Lady Boscawen, Katherine Fay and 
Spanish Peaks have many adherents. The 
one pure immaculate white of all is Priscilla, 
though it is smaller and less pretentious. 
All of these whites are what we call dom- 
inant whites, as opposed to the recessive 
whites such as MATTERHORN and JAKE. 
It is easy by crossing any of these varieties, 
to obtain a wide range of forms, from which 
you can select most any type that you prefer. 
It has been the practice with our modern 
It will soon be Pansy Planting Time 
THE NEW PANSY 101 
This special strain of market 
grower’s Pansy was developed with 
strict attention to the requirements 
of growers of top quality bedding 
and basket plants. 
It is a full blend of colors with the 
flower type and blotching generally 
characteristic of the ‘English’ Pansy 
type. Plants are compact and very 
uniform, bearing quantities of giant 
waved flowers of excellent substance 
held high on stout stems. 
Pansy seed for spring trade can be 
sown during July; the farther north 
you are the earlier in July the seed 
should be started. In the south the 
seed should be started later so as to 
avoid the hot weather which is very 
harmful to Pansies. 
This is a top quality strain bred 
strictly to specifications. Approxi- 
mately 22,000 seeds per ounce. 
Packet 30¢; 1/4 Ounce $3.00. 
the Mohammedans to decorate their graves 
and by this means was distributed over most 
of Europe and even to America. 
But, strangely enough our modern whites 
did not originate with this plant. Sir Michial 
Foster developed our early whites from other 
sources in Asia Minor; Miss Wilmott is pro- 
bably the progenitor of today’s whites. One 
of the first large whites that gained renown 
is GUDRUN, raised by W. R. Dykes and it 
is still a favorite among the great majority 
of Iris growers today. It is still the largest 
white Iris, and about the only criticism ever 
voiced against it is that it is too large for its 
height. 
Not only is GUDRUN a fine Iris itself, 
but it is a wonderful parent of other fine Iris. 
It will give size of bloom to its progeny and 
is thoroughly hardy. Some of its modern 
children are Franconia, National White, 
Snow Carnival, Blue Blazes and numerous 
others. 
The Iris connoisseur of today has become 
fastidious in his taste and no longer is im- 
pressed with the sturdy and solid quality of 
breeders to use a good blue vvariety in com- 
bination with these dominant whites, which 
they claim makes them cleaner and more 
white. For example Lady Boscawen is from 
(Purissima x Cloud Castle), the latter a blue 
variety, and Katherine Fay comes from 
(Gloriole x Seedling), Gloriole being a light 
blue. From such a cross you could expect 
to get both white and light blues. 
GERMINATING BEGONIAS. 
Each grower will find some one method 
the best for his conditions, thus there is us- 
ually few set rules to follow, not only with 
Begonias but in all other flowers. 
Sow the seeds in sifted garden soil; in pure 
washed sand; in sandy garden soil; and in 
leaf mold, the results were good in the sand 
and leaf mold, a few in the sandy garden 
soil and none inthe sifted soil. 
The most probable answer to this test is 
that the garden soil was too compact, not 
only hard on the surface but more likely lack- 
ed oxygen. A good rule in germinating small 
seed is to have a rather open soil and leaf 
mold or sand is always of benefit, 
