Hortus Veritas#1

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Well, my old friend 'Hortus Veritas' has written to me again.  I am 
posting the 1st of 3 parts of the article appearing in the Spring issue 
of NEWSCAST - Region 4.

Enjoy the article.  The 2nd part will be here tomorrow - same bat time, 
same bat channel!!!

Dennis

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The Era of Iris Hybridizing Comes to a Close
Hortus Veritas

As the 21st century approaches, the age of great advances in iris
 hybridizing comes to a close.  Iris breeders have done just about
 all there is to be done.  In the future, new introductions are likely =

to be only minor variations on cultivars already on the market.  =

Those of us who have had great joy in witnessing the creation of
 brown, pink, orange and large-flowered plicata tall bearded irises;
 seeing Louisiana irises with bright colors and ruffled flowers emerge
 from species growing along the bayou; and living at the time I. pumila
 was used to create modern dwarfs of extraordinary characteristics,
 must be saddened.  There just aren't any areas of iris breeding left
 for young people (or not so young people) to work in any more. =

I have heard some people say that cold climate reblooming bearded
 irises comprise opportunities for people starting out to breed irises. =

 Really!  We already have a lot of nice rebloomers.  Just because we
 don't have a good brown, or a good red, or a dependable orange
 rebloomer surely does not mean there is much to do. These missing
 components from the cold climate rebloomer array will almost
 certainly be created in the next year or two.  And just because there
 are many beautiful once blooming irises that are nowhere to be found
 duplicated among the rebloomers does not mean we need them!
It has been suggested that some lines of tall bearded irises seem
 susceptible to rot in areas with wet climates, such as the eastern
 portion of the U.S. This might suggest there are breeding improvements
 to be sought. In modern teenager language,
 my response to this is: "I don't think so."  =

=00
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