Viette, pronunciation, fragrant iris

Carolyn S. asked:

  >> Where is this nursesry [Andre Viette] in relation to Fairfax Station,
  >> VA?  Sounds like a nice place.  Do they do a catalogue?

Why Fairfax Station? Anyway, from there you'd go out west on I-66 to where it
meets I-81, go south almost two more hours. Don't know which exit it is coming
from that direction, but it's near Staunton, off Rt. 250.  Basically a
three-hour trip from the DC area.

The Viette catalog, usually out by February, costs $3, has few pictures but
many plants. This year's edition is *still not out, partly I understand
because it is to include many more pictures than in the past.  Have to say
this trend makes me apprehensive. Somebody pays for all that color. A look at
the iris prices will make you knowledgeable iris buyers blanch, and rightly
so...they are ridiculous.  He is also thought of as a daylily person, but I'm
not wowed by his selection or prices, there, either.  But for perennials across
the board, it's a place I'm very grateful is nearby.

Re: I. pseudacorus and other bot. pronunciation:

Tom T.-L. said:

 >> BTW, I don't correct anyone's pronunciation of botanical names in
 conversation; it's not an easy matter to correctly pronounce words in a
 foreign language that we encounter mostly in reading. There's no point in
 making people feel self-conscious or defensive. (The result would just be less
 talk about species, which would be a shame!) <<

Hear, hear!  Fussiness about this is what makes many gardeners shy away from
using botanical names at all, which is a real shame. As the world gets smaller
and smaller, these are the international names that allow gardeners from
different countries to know they're talking about the same plant. Because
botanical latin isn't a living language, even though in professional use, there
are going to be much wider differences than in a language spoken daily and with
dictionaries for authority.  To me, your aside about Bee Warburton says more
about the great lady herself than about those of us who are saying it wrong.

BTW, I understood the derivation of I. pseudacorus just fine, except I've
always pronounced Acorus ah-COR-us.  It's going to be a struggle, but I'll work
on it.  One obstacle is that the correct way sounds so much uglier, like a
machine gun. <g>

Re: fragrant iris

I don't want to make anyone repeat a whole discussion if there's something in
the LIST archives that will do, but I was a little surprised to see just a few
scattered cultivar suggestions in response to the question on fragrant iris.
Are there or have there ever been AIS awards for fragrance?  Are very fragrant
bearded iris so uncommon or so common that it would be tough for list members
to nominate their 'top five' most fragrant (any size from MDB to TB)?

 Nell Lancaster, Lexington, VA   75500.2521@compuserve.com    USDA zone 6b
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index