Re: souces for I. milesii and I. laevagaeta var. albopurpurea

In a message dated 97-02-20 05:09:03 EST, you write:

<< You might find these on the British Iris Society seed exchange, or on the
 Hardy Plant Society seed exchange. But you need to be a member. E-mail me
 privately if you need more information. >>

Using seed is fine for I. milesii---have done it myself with great results.
 But, I. laevigata var. albopurpurea (Chad told me by email that this is the
iris he meant in his message)  will not come true from seed, even when the
iris is selfed and controls maintained to prevent corruption.   This is true
of all the named  forms of I. laevigata.  But it's fine to grow the I.
laevigata forms from seed---you might even get something you like
better---but odds are you will get mostly purples.  

One of the ways that incorrectly named cultivars get into circulation is for
people to attempt to grow them from seed---and not realize this.  The apogon
named cultivars, e.g. Siberians, Japanese and I. laevigata, have especially
suffered from this practice. For example, there are many pseudo ROSE QUEEN's
circulating especially in Europe (and European nurseries tend to persist in
calling this Japanese iris cultivar by the name "I. laevigata ROSE QUEEN'"
when it is not a form of I. laevigata at all.  I have written to several of
them about it---mostly to no avail whatsoever.)  

This growing named cultivars from seed is also why many historic Siberian and
laevigata cultivars sold by some nurseries are not the true varieties.  This
is one reason I always buy irises from iris specialist nurseries whose
reputation I know---and even then, from time to time, an incorrectly named
historic cultivar crops up.  

Clarence Mahan in VA
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