Re: space age irises?
- Subject: Re: space age irises?
- From: t*@Lanl.GOV (Tom Tadfor Little)
- Date: Tue, 27 Feb 96 14:49:33 MST
Joanne asks about "space age irises"
|I came across this term in a magazine I was reading(can't remember which one).
|What are they,has anyone else come across this description.
These are bearded irises that have some sort of protrusion at the end
of the beard. The protrusions can be either horns (very small pointed
structures, looking like the end of the beard is just disconnected from
the petal), spoons (actual small petal-like structures at the end
of the beard), or flounces (rather large, ruffly things sprouting
from the beard).
Lloyd Austin (who died about 30 years ago) coined the term "space age
irises" to describe these novelties. (The term recollects the time when
every new product or business was "space age" or "atomic"--words that
have much less marketing value these days.)
These are interesting irises, and have their own devotees. Perhaps
the most popular is 'Sky Hooks', a nice cream-colored TB with violet beards
and horns. Many "space age irises", however, are grown simply for novelty
value, and haven't really achieved the quality or popularity of their
"normal" counterparts.
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Tom Tadfor Little tlittle@lanl.gov -or- telp@Rt66.com
technical writer/editor Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
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