Re: HISTORY: First Iris



The first iris I ever saw was a yellow iris growing in a bog at the edge
of a lake in northern WI.  My father took my mother and I there to see
it.  That was around 1942.  I was delighted to see it but did not get
iris virus until about 1952 when my mother's garden club invited guests
to go to Naches, WA to see the iris that Alexia Gerberg (unsure of
spelling) was growing.  She had a field of perhaps five acres with iris
growing in it.  Many were iris grown from her own crosses.  In fact she
was sitting on a stool with a wooden box in front of it and she was
recording some of her crosses when we arrived.  She showed us how she
kept her records first and then demonstrated how a cross was made and
labeled and protected from bees.  She then led us through her seedlings
and eventually we got to the iris that she was using as parents.  She
did not have many different colors for parents.  I think I remember a
brown, a maroon and the old stand bys, white, yellow and blue.  She
called attention to beard colors and also to the number of blooms.  She
took orders and my mother purchased just a few.  She also told us about
other growers and those with catalogs.  Later I remember the first
catalog I ever got.  It was called "Rainbow Gardens" and I knew that if
I did not have some of those iris I would certainly die of a broken
heart.  I ordered some and enjoyed them. From then on I tried to order a
few new ones each year.  Sometimes I was able to trade for new iris with
friends who wanted new ones from me.  I tried my hand at hybridizing and
had no idea what I was doing.  I got one white iris that was lovely,
good substance, good branching, good bloom.  When I moved I had no place
to keep an iris so I gave it to a friend who had wanted it very badly. 
She still had it many years later and offered to give me a start but by
then I knew my cross was not a spectacular one and did not take a
start.  I wish I had just for memory's sake.  Now I grow a wide variety
of iris and am particularly interested in rebloomers.  The other reward
I have gotten from loving iris is finding some of the finest people in
the world are also iris growers!

Patti 
Central WA USDA zone 5.  Arid

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get your FREE credit report with a FREE CreditCheck
Monitoring Service trial
http://us.click.yahoo.com/ACHqaB/bQ8CAA/ySSFAA/2gGylB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index