That is quite fascinating! I will keep an eye out and I will look in
Elizabeth Lawrence to read what she had to say.
Thanks,
Darlene
On 12/4/2012 11:33 AM, C*@aol.com wrote:
>
> Correction, make that 1629 for Parkinson. There is a story to the
> effect that the plant was brought into England in 1627 as a gift for
> the Queen, and this story may just barely possibly be true, but is
> more likely made up by Mrs. Loudon.
> AMW
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ChatOWhitehall <C*@aol.com>
> To: iris-species <i*@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tue, Dec 4, 2012 11:13 am
> Subject: Re: [iris-species] Deer resistant iris
>
> I ask because for some years I have been engaged in intensive study of
> the horticultural and literary history of /Iris persica/ L. One of the
> odd things about all this, and one thing that started me on the
> subject, is the discovery that /Iris pe/rsica was grown as an heirloom
> plant in some communities of the tobacco lands of the Upper South,
> including North Carolina, and Tennessee. Elizabeth Lawrence mentions
> it in /A Southern Garden/ and there are other documentations of even
> great interest. For instance,/Iris persica/ was in trade in Virginia
> before 1800,//Now, almost as long as the history of /Iris persica/ in
> the literature of horticulture, is the history of it being considered
> almost impossible to keep. I am much interested in this paradox.
> I know that in the middle of the twentieth century some heirloom
> colonies of /Iris persica/ still survived in North Carolina, probably
> around the Pittsboro area, maybe Raleigh, but I have not found anyone
> down there who knows anything about this plant today, and I have
> beaten many bushes and leaned on many connections.
> As you may know, North Carolina has always been a good area for bulbs,
> indeed the USDA tried to get a bulb industry started down there at one
> point.
> I have promised Rodney I will write all this up for SIGNA. I'm still
> doing some poking about. The traditional date of entry for the species
> into western horticulture is 1627 for Parkinson's /Paradisi in Sole,/
> but if an inquiry I have outstanding pays off--someone in
> Switzerland needs to get back to Italy over Christmas to check her
> notes for me --I may be able to document its presence in Europe much
> earlier in the century.
> Meanwhile, I have one seedling of /Iris persica/, which has awakened
> after its summer domancy! It germinated last year, and now has a tiny
> bulb the size of a petit pois! How I hover over it, the little wretch!
> By Gawd, the Persian Iris, has returned to the Upper South!
> So, that is why I asked. Just one of my strange preoccupations, I had
> so hoped someone had maybe given you a handful of bulblets from a
> family garden. They were quite a status symbol.You will want to keep
> your eyes out for them in February. The heritage plants were of the
> form which Sir Michael Foster called "typical", which is the form
> shown in the Botanical Magazine, as Plate 1. It may have been
> collected into extinction.
> Cordially,
> AMW
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Darlene Moore <d*@carolinarubber.com
> <mailto:d*@carolinarubber.com>>
> To: iris-species <i*@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:i*@yahoogroups.com>>
> Sent: Tue, Dec 4, 2012 10:37 am
> Subject: Re: [iris-species] Deer resistant iris
>
> I sent for them from McClure and Zimmerman. I. Bucharica.
> I have not seen them offered from any of the limited suppliers that I
> know of.
> Why do you ask?
>
> Darlene
>
> On 12/3/2012 5:15 PM, C*@aol.com
> <mailto:ChatOWhitehall%40aol.com> wrote:
> >
> > Darlene, which Junos did you plant and where did you get them, please?
> > Thanks.
> > Cordially,
> > AMW
> >
> > I
> > just planted some Junos because I thought the deer didn't like any
> > irises!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Darlene Moore <d*@carolinarubber.com
> <mailto:dmoore%40carolinarubber.com>>
> > To: iris-species <i*@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:iris-species%40yahoogroups.com>>
> > Sent: Mon, Dec 3, 2012 4:15 pm
> > Subject: Re: [iris-species] Deer resistant iris
> >
> > Here in North Carolina zone 6A we have a terrible deer problem, but they
> > have never touched my siberians, germans, virginias or foetidissimas. I
> > just planted some Junos because I thought the deer didn't like any
> irises!
> >
> > Darlene
> >
> > --
> >
> >
>
> --
>
>
>
>
--
Darlene Moore
Carolina Rubber & Specialties, Inc.
Phone: 336-744-5111 Fax: 336-744-5101
Email: d*@carolinarubber.com
