Re: REF: The Gardener's Iris Book

From: <HIPSource@aol.com>

Greetings:

I, too, have just received a copy of Dr. Shear's new book and I would like to
comment on the photographs, a subject Mike Lowe may have been hesitant to
praise too loudly since he helped with them.

This book has some wonderful pictures, and I like them lot. There are
photographs of a variety of attractive irises of all kinds, including some not
often seen such as spurias and junos and Calsibes, and the majority of them
are clearly identified by cultivar name. There are also close-up photos that
show the wonderful details that are so fascinating about the various kinds of
irises: the little crests on tectorm, the astonishing stripes and dots of the
arils, the veining of the crests on the beardless natives, the seeds of
foetidissima. Lots of kinds of irises are touched upon, both species and
hybrids, beardless and bearded. Nor do the bulbs get short shrift, as they
usually do. And some iris relatives or imposters are also included. There has
been a worthy attempt made to show more of an iris than just a trite head
shot, and often the plants are shown with companion plants in garden settings.
Hooray! 

There are also some very valuable photos of how to do chores around the iris
patch, such as digging and dividing or dealing with the dirt. And then there
are the photos of things one simply needs photos of, things that we often have
have discussed here and felt the limits of language in so doing. Among these
are the "water marks" in the leaves that distinguish the true aquatic irises,
a clear photo of the sexual apparatus of the iris for fertilization purposes,
and some exceptionally clear color photographs of the despised borer in its
various incarnations, including a stellar one of the moth. The picture of a
borer in a rhizome is a little washed out--he isn't pink enough-- but the
image is haunting and the lesson is clear.  

And then there are photos of specific unusual cultivars that one hears about
and wonders about like the mysterious HOLDEN CLOUGH and the improbable PALTEC,
and the astonishing I. susiana. And good clear photographs of several of the
irises with variagated foliage. It is a very cheerful and very colorful book
and is nicely designed and laid out. Lucid and attractive, and not daunting to
a beginner. The price is very modest and accessible and you should certainly
plan on giving this to all those folks you have wanted to introduce to irises,
or anyone who you think might like to read up on different kinds of irises
without getting bogged down. And your local chapter should make sure your
public library has a copy, too. 

In the acknowledgements Dr. Shear speaks of the Iris-l and how we helped him
with the book. I'm not conscious of my having myself made a great
contribution, but it is very nice to see this acknowledgement written there as
a record of the value of the vital interaction that we have been fortunate to
enjoy in this forum. 

Anner Whitehead
HIPSource@aol.com








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