Weleome Wat... 46 Foreword with a Glauce Gackward 
Look what's happened to the dollar, 
Moans the shopper in the store, 
It will only buy the half of 
What it did ten years before. 
That's not true at Edenwald, 
For iris dollars, you should know, 
Purchase many times the beauty 
That they did ten years ago. 
That’s right, folks! It’s hard to realize, in these days of inflationary 
prices, that present day iris values are the best bargains ever offered 
in iris beauty. Nor does one have to go back ten years for a revealing 
comparison of iris costs. For example, note the “down to earth” prices 
of a few favorites which were rare and expensive only five years ago. 
Price Price Price Price 
Variety in 1949 Now Variety in 1949 Now 
(Chivalivyass $10.00 $1.50 advan Wouse =e $12.50 $2.50 
Danube Wave ........ 5 Ome OU) ada Vio hie 5.00 1.00 
Distance mee eee 9.00 1.50 Lake Shannon ........ 6.00 1.00 
Extravaganza ....... 8.00 1.50 ie hiceeO 1 7.00 1.50 
Gulisstteam see 6.50 1.00 [Piva “Akelteram EOD 150) 
Harriet Thoreau .... 3.00 a5) Solid Mahogany ... 5.00 1.00 
Helen McGregor —.. 10.00 2.00 Three Cheers —...... 6.00 aD 
Illinois Sunshine... 5.00 1.00 Typailielo: Say eee 15.00 2.00 
Kearsarce 22 5.00 1.00 Winston Churchill. 10.00 1.00 
During this period, higher costs of growing, handling and shipping 
have presented problems necessitating small advances in minimum 
prices and in minimum orders. But due to our central location, the 
35% increase in parcel post rates which took effect last October, will 
not prevent us from offering attractive bargains in moderate priced Col- 
lections, as you will discover as you turn the pages of this, our thir- 
teenth annual catalog. We hope you will also discover an inkling of 
the sincere desire to please which has always characterized our rela- 
tions with our customers. 
TILLAVISION IN COLOR! AT PRICES 
ANYONE CAN AFFORD 
(And No Commercials) 
Tillavision is not the same as television, but it makes a mighty enter- 
taining summer substitute and promotes better health. You won’t find 
the word in the dictionary because we just made it up. You till your 
garden and produce a vision—hence “tillavision.” 
Planting flowers, we think, is almost as instinctive as building shel- 
ter. But like many of the finer instincts of man, it seems to lie nearer 
the surface in women, bless their gentle souls. When primitive man, 
clad in hides, stone axe over his shoulder, dragged his captive spouse 
by the hair into his cave, little did he reckon that only a year or two 
later he would pause to sniff the flowers planted around the portal and 
carefully wipe the mud off his feet before entering. 
DOES YOUR DOG ADMIRE THE 
FRAGRANCE OF THE FLOWERS? 
No other animal, besides man, seems to perceive the beautiful in 
nature. Has anyone ever spied even such a highly domesticated animal 
as a cow gazing rapturously at a sunset or pausing for a single moment 
to admire the wild flowers being slupped up by her greedy tongue? 
We have come to regard the increasing appreciation of flowers as an 
accompaniment of culture and nowhere is the evidence of cultural 
progress in America more clearly written than in the circulation figures 
of gardening magazines, the swelling membership of garden clubs and 
the trend toward suburban residence. 
IT’S NOT A HOME UNTIL IT’S PLANTED 
No house, surburban or otherwise, looks complete until it’s “planted.” 
Nor is it essential to have spacious grounds to enjoy flowers. We have 
seen many back-yard city gardens that were gems of charm and beauty. 
And of all the flowers one could grow, none are more adaptable to a 
garden large or small, urban or suburban, than the iris. Infinite in 
variety, with a color range not even approached by any other flower, 
easy to grow, drought-resistant, rapid of increase, fragrant, adapted to 
specimen or mass planting, priced to fit any purse, here is the garden 
flower par excellence, a thrilling experience for the beginner and for 
the fancier a limitless delight. 
Daylilies too, although lacking the boundless color range of irises, 
have their own excellent characteristics, indispensable to modern gar- 
gone These qualities are more fully described in later pages of this 
catalog. 
Page 2 
POPULARITY POLLS, MEANING OF “‘fspe” 
Following the description of some varieties of tall-bearded irises are 
key letters denoting that such varieties were favored in recent polls of 
“100 BEST” according to four different viewpoints. Their selection 
is designated by one or more of the small-case letters “fspe.” 
This interesting feature of our catalog is made possible by the gen- 
erous co-operation of two competitive dealers, Mrs. Elizabeth Nesmith 
of Fairmount Gardens, Lowell, Mass., and Mr. Robert Schreiner of 
Schreiner’s Gardens, Salem, Oreg. These world-famous hybridists have 
again privileged us to indicate their 1954 choice of best varieties, the 
letter “f” standing for Fairmount and the letter “s” for Schreiner’s. The 
letter “p” signifies “Popularity Poll” and results from the voting of 
members of the American Iris Society for their “100' Favorite Irises.” 
> 
The letter “e” denotes Edenwald selections. 
Interesting as these selections are and impressive as they may be, we 
always feel impelled to point out that differing opinions may result 
from personal preferences, regional differences in growing conditions, 
lack of acqaintance with competing varieties or the human tendency 
to “follow the crowd.” In the selection of 100 varieties one gets into 
an area of “equal merit.” The plain truth is, there are just too many 
fine irises of equal charm and desirability for accurate differentiation. 
Each year, also, The Hemerocallis Society asks its members to vote 
for their 25 favorite daylilies. The resulting poll of 100 varieties is 
printed on page 3. We wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to the 
Society and its publicity director, Bess Ross, for making this data 
available to our readers. 
COLD FACTS OFTEN WARMEST PRAISE 
The descriptions of our long list of varieties do not, we know, do 
justice to their charm and beauty. Space limitations hold us to factual 
rather than fanciful wording. Besides. we have an ingrown reluctance 
to indulge in the slightest degree of overstatement. We'd rather that 
you found everything finer than we claim. The varieties we list have 
been carefully selected and we consider them the best of their price 
class. We are confident that you will be pleased with any that you 
purchase. And that brings us to the question of— 
WHY BUY EDENWALD PLANTS? 
We make every effort to grow fine vigorous plants and select only 
the best of these for shipment to our customers. Grown in our rugged 
midwest, midsouth climate, without irrigation, they are noted for their 
first-year blooming tendencies and inherent vigor. The best way to 
prove these qualities is right in your own garden and our suggestion 
is, if you have not already tried Edenwald plants that you send us a 
trial order. You need not risk much to find out plenty. 
YOU ARE INVITED 
You are always cordially welcome to visit Edenwald Gardens during 
the blooming period or at any other time. Tall-bearded iris bloom is 
normally at its height about May 20th, Japanese iris about mid-June 
and daylilies in July. Our location is 2 miles north of the city limits 
of Vincennes on Indiana 67, one mile north of its juncture with U. S. 
41. 
Thanking you for your patronage, your kindness in recommending 
us to others and for the many “love letters” you wrote us, we remain, 
Sincerely yours, 
EDITH & WALTER BUSS, 
“Ede & Walt.” 
The map at right shows our central location which enables us 
to supply you with freshly-dug plants which will find themselves 
“at home” in your garden and will not need an extra year for 
acclimatization before blooming. The circle is drawn on a 600- 
mile radius, hardly more than a day’s drive. 
