IRIS 
By Walter Welch, Indiana 
PUMILAS IRIS 
Until very recently the gardener has de« 
pended upon the Crocus for the opening 
spring display, followed by an interval when 
bloom was still scarce until the later 
chamaeiris type of dwarf Iris set the garden 
aflame with their bright yellow and purple 
forms. 
Within the past few years a new type of 
Iris has been developed that is a complete 
stranger to the average gardener. Strangely 
enough it is a distant relative within the 
Iridicea family of these early blooming Cro- 
cus. It blooms while yet the Crocus are in 
bloom and continues for approximately a 
month afterwards This new type dwarf 
Iris s known as pumila. 
The Pumila Iris 
Pumila is a familiar name to many gard- 
eners, yet they have probably never seen the 
true pumila Iris, as it has been a common 
practice among even the so-called authorit- 
ies to call all dwarf Iris pumilas. In fact 
the pumilas have never been in commerce 
in America and therefore were unavailable 
to the public. 
These pumilas are a distinct group of 
Iris representing a wild species known ag 
Iris pumila. It is native to a wide area in 
southeast Europe, ranging from Austria to 
the Black Sea, over into south Russia, and 
south to Greece and the island of Crete. 
Forms from different vicinities show a var- 
jation in color, form and characteristics, yet 
they all have a common distinction that 
represents a definite type. ‘ 
They are the earliest blooming of all the 
bearded Iris, usually flowering in early April 
in most areas. They are distinguished by 
their small and dainty proportions, being 
around four to four and a half inches high 
with small well proportioned blooms on 
slender stems and always as a single ter- 
minal flower. This lack of lateral branching’ 
is compensated by having several blooming 
stalks rising from a single rhizome as sida 
fans, which is contrary to the usual perform- 
ance of tall bearded Iris in which a single 
blooming stalk grows from the end of a 
rhizome. The resultant effect is a multipli- 
city of bloom literally covering the plant. 
New Pumila Colors 
Gardeners have become accustomed to 
know only purple and yellow forms in dwarfs 
and with such numerous varieties of this 
kind, some varieties are hardly distinguish- 
able from one another. The pumilas are 
not restricted in their color range, to the ex- 
tent that even though this species is not yet 
fully explored, we can boast of all tones of 
yellow from ivory to orange, pure true blues, 
deep violet to almost black, reddish to rich 
purple, lavenders, orchid, mulberry, mahog- 
any to pure white and in patterns of selfs, 
bitones, amoenas, variegatas, neglectas and 
blends What the future holds, nobody 
knows. ; 
The first of this kind of dwarf to appear 
in commerce were three varieties put out by 
Robert Schriener, named Sulina, Nana and 
Carpathia. They were grown from seed col- 
lected in the Black Sea area. The next 
pumila to reach us was a form collected on 
the island of Crete, in the Mediterranean. 
This was called Cretica and is a distinctive 
color of light rosy purple. The three former 
varieties are violet, reddish blend and yellow 
bitone respectively. 
Hybridizing Value of Pumila Iris 
As we recognized the possibilities of thesa 
species for hybridizing we started searching, 
for other forms and finally obtained an 
assortment that represents the greatest col- 
lection probably in the world. They are 
now on display at the Dwarf Iris Test 
Garden at Middlebury, Ind. One specimen 
is called I. attica, which grows only in a 
particular area in Greece and is the diploid 
form, all of the others being of the tetraploid 
form. For those of you who are interested, 
I may say that the diploid form has two sets 
of 8 chromosomes and the tetraploid form 
has four sets, making a total of 16 and 32 
chromosomes respectively There are other 
varietal forms representing the Crimean, 
aa Austrian, and Hungarian types of pum- 
ila. 
Pumilas not Difficult to Breed 
Breeding of these pumilas is very simple., 
As they are of a similar ancestral origin 
the inheritance factor are exchangable and 
all latent and inherent characters can be 
segreated by simple Mendellian rules. By 
selfing or intercrossing the various forms. 
we can expect to get the full gametic range 
of colors, patterns and characteristics. For 
example we had no blues or whites, but 
by this method they soon appeared, along 
with other colors. The first real blue to ap- 
pear was named April Morn and another a 
neglecta is Blue Spot, then there is Little 
Balkan which is on the mulberry order. This 
constitutes all of the color forms that are 
now available on the market but in the 
hybridizers gardens many other forms are 
flourishing and will soon appear in com- 
merce. 
I am calling your attention to this new 
type of dwarf Iris for two particular reasons. 
First, there are those people who have known 
only the old chamaeiris type of dwarfs and 
some are not very enthusiastic about them. 
Even these older varieties have been improv- 
ed and the person who is still critical of 
“dwarfs” is simply uninformed of modern 
development. Next, I want you to see these 
pumilas, not as a single isolated bloom and 
then passing judgement but grown in a 
clump, several clumps of various colors for 
that matter then you will be impressed and 
convinced of their outstanding value in the 
spring garden. 
GENTIANS 
By Arthur G. Eldredge 
These are strangers to the average gard- 
ener, who parhaps has never seen one in 
the wild. To others, the “bottle” or closed 
Gentian and possibly the fringed type may 
be familiar for they are the most commonly 
recognized species of the eastern states, 
generally never plentiful. G. Andrewsii es- 
caped my boyhood attention in the home 
region of Mass. and it was not until many 
years later in my journeying that it stood 
before me one day on a trout stream in 
Michigan. On the margin of an old logging 
stream was a mossy log, on one end of 
which stood three blue and a white, not over 
six inches in height. What a welcome sight 
after being strangers so long. The fly rod 
was laid aside while the ever present camera 
made a record that has often served a useful 
purpose. 
In the meadows of high mountain valleys 
of the Rockies with rugged slopes for a back- 
ground beyond, the snow streaked peaks 
pointing to a cloud flecked sky of violet 
blue, we discover in the foreground large 
colonies of G. affinis standing amid the 
tawny marsh grass. 54 
There are numerous species from the 
Swiss Alps, among which is one of particular 
interest. It is G. acaulis which like Clusii 
and angustifolia, are stemless plants. At 
high altitudes there are periods of unfavor- 
able weather that prevent the flower from 
opening to receive insect pollenation. These 
species overcome the emergency by a un- 
ique method of  self-pollenation. At first, 
their large flower on a short stem stands 
upright in anticipation that a little sunshine 
will permit them to open for a few minutes. 
As maturity arrives without having any insect 
visitors, the pollen sheds, falling to the base 
of the blossom. The stigma now becoming 
receptive induces the stem to bend so that 
the flower touches the slope. In this posit- 
ion the pollen rolls down the folds, thereby 
373 
burying the stigma. 
Culture of these plants is generally avoid- 
ed because of the idea that they are difficult 
to germinate. Many other seed are in tha 
same class but the reward for extra effort is 
worth while. Correvon can smooth your 
difficulties in growing of alpine seeds. 
In the Gentian family is the genus Sabatia 
whose members we would hardly suspect of 
belonging, if we did not consult the botany. 
Of this group, S. stellaris is a lovely wheel- 
shaped blossom, rose-purple and an inch or 
more in diameter, It’s grassy stems and, 
leaves are invisible at a few feet, so that the 
flower appears to be floating in the puffy 
breeze just above the top of the surrounding 
marsh grass, Spartina. The Gentians are 
quite exceptional in that they give us flowers 
in yellow, red and heavenly blue. 
Primula Malacoides 
By Wolfgang Schrader, Germany 
No kind of plant has produced so many 
variations and novelties in the last 10-20 
years as has Primula malacoides. If one 
admires the giant-flowered types of today, 
one would hardly believe in a relationship 
with modest wild plant that came to England 
from southern China about 30 or 40 years 
ago. It grows there on the edges of the 
rice fields or in moist places as a weed and 
has small blooms only, so that the nurseries 
and seed growers did not show great interest 
for this wild Primula at that time, confining 
it in the main to the botanic gardens. 
It showed good progress there, however, 
thanks to the regular good culture and free 
stand, so that it began improving and getting 
more popular, the more as it was easy to 
be grown. It requires not much warmth in 
winter. simply a bright stand and a regular 
watering. You sow it from mid-June until 
August. Prick out the seedling, shift into 
single pots in the autumn, later into larger 
pots, which are given a bright, clear stand 
in the greenhouse or in warm frames or the 
window of your room.. 
Do not sow earlier than mid-June and not 
later than the end of August. 
The first blooms will open at Christmas 
from the early sowings; the last sowing will 
finish flowering with the first warm days of 
Spring. A good flower too for this period 
between Christmas and Easter when flower- 
ing pot plants are scarce. Brilliant colors 
and a sweet fragrance enhance its value. 
New types have been found to be polyploid 
against the former small-flower2d bushy 
growing plants and a marvellous novelty will 
be offered this year with giant fringed petals 
of a brilliant carmine-rose, also one with 
big balls like a large Primula cashmeriana. 
The varieties now most recommended in 
Germany are the following: 
1. Hyacinth-flowered rose. 
2. Hyacinth-flowered white with lilac hue. 
3. Large flowered ‘First Spring’, a soft 
salmon-rose. 
4. ‘Rose Basket’, double rose and of an 
erect growth so that several plants can be 
petted together to make super blooming 
plants. 
5. New large flowered deep Red. 
Primula malacoides is free of the annoy- 
ing qualities of P. obconica, the leaves of 
which may cauce irritations of the skin. 
(We expect to list some of these new var- 
ieties this season). 
THE HARDINESS MAP 
You will find elsewhere in this issue the 
hardiness map we have remarked of in past 
issues. 
The value in this will depend upon correct- 
ions and additions made by our readers. It 
is impossible for one person to know def- 
ceuntry but you know if certain shrubs or' 
trees are winter-hardy in your section. Drop 
us and postal when you can. 
_ We wish to locate sources for the follow- 
ing seeds: 
Ioiseleuria procumbens. 
Pachistime myrsinites. 
12A 
12A 
