HIST: Sun Dancer, and the Sundances

In a message dated 8/2/2007 9:25:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time,  
irisgrower@cableone.net writes:

It seems  I started something with asking about Sun Dancer, not knowing it
was an  historic.


Linda, I don't think the other shoe has dropped on this one, yet. May  I toss 
in a couple of thoughts?
 
First, my own reading of the 1939CL shows that "Sun Dancer" was registered  
in 1935, but was never introduced to commerce. There are no citations  to the 
literature, or anything. So the best we can say about it is that Walter  
Timmerman of Kansas City registered an iris by that name in 1935, and gave  the AIS 
registrar the parentage, which is noted in the check list. The  color code is 
actually S6M, which means that it is a midtoned--neither dark nor  
light--blend with yellow tones in it, which means it is not a clear color, but a  complex 
one. The S in that code refers to the old term  "squalens," which suggests a 
dingy sort of blend. 
 
Bottom line,  because there is no indication that this 1935 iris ever  left 
the hybridizer's garden, and it left no trail in the commercial  catalogs in 
the five years after registration and before the finalization of the  Check 
List, I don't think it is remotely likely that this  iris has shown up in your 
sale lots. 
 
Now, above the listing for the Timmerman iris in the 1939CL, is a listing  
for another TB originated by Mrs. Nesmith, who registered it with AIS in  1939. 
It is coded as a medium toned variegata type--meaning, in this  case yellow 
tops and red bottoms--- with a slight fragrance. The name  is SUNDANCE. There is 
not a lot of information in the 1939CL about shows and  awards and such, but 
then it was a brand new registration.  By  checking with the 1949CL, however, 
I see that this iris was introduced in 1940  by Mrs. Nesmith, who did business 
as Fairmount Gardens in Lowell,  Massachusettes--bigtime famous and wide 
distribution-- and that it also got an  Honorable Mention from AIS--this is a 
national award--in 1940. 
 
If the iris in question is indeed an historic, I'd say it was more  likely to 
be the Nesmith one. 
 
I'd sell it as an Unknown unless I got some firm and confidence  inspiring 
confirmation from the donor, and it sounds like they are already  confused about 
the name. It is always interesting to look names up in Check  Lists and other 
sources and speculate but you can't assume that because you  can sorta kinda 
match an iris with a check list entry that you  have identified the plant. 
But, being a smart girl, you had already figured  that out, right?
 
Incidentally, there was also an iris called "Sundance" in 1930, named by  
Earl Sheets of Washington DC. It was a dwarf and was never introduced. The  
Registrar apparently released the name to Mrs. Nesmith upon Mr. Sheets'  
information that his plant was extinct. That sort of thing was done at one  time but 
proved to be a bad idea. In this case, however, all those  folks knew each other 
well. You don't have Sheets' dwarf iris there,  either.
 
For what this may be worth.
 
Cordially,
 
Anner Whitehead
Richmond VA USA  
   



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