SHAKER'S PRAYER, LENORA PEARL, LEMON POP
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: SHAKER'S PRAYER, LENORA PEARL, LEMON POP
- From: C*@aol.com
- Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 11:04:33 -0700 (MST)
In a message dated 97-01-31 08:11:08 EST, you write:
<< Hmmm, well, now we have ruled out BUMBLEBEE DEELITE as ineligible;
SHAKER'S
PRAYER as beardless and not modern enough in form; we have a bunch of
not-so-good reports on LENORA PEARL ...
How about LEMON POP? It is marvelous here, and I was very happy to help
vote it the Sass Medal. >>
I want to say that I have not ruled out SHAKER'S PRAYER because it is "not
modern enough in form." One person's opinion, or a hundred opinions, do not
make a value judgment true. What is "modern"? What is so good about
"modern"?
The Iris Pond introduced this iris, and at least a half dozen Siberian
breeders told me I should not have done it when they saw its colored picture
in my AIS Bulletin ad. One asked, "How could you introduce such a
species-looking iris?" The following year when SHAKER'S PRAYER was seen in
its marvelous clumps at the 1991 convention, it became only the 2d Siberian
iris ever to win the President's Cup. All the people who had said negative
things apologized to me except one.
Later SHAKER'S PRAYER won the Walther Cup, the first Siberian iris to do so.
No iris in contention came close to beating it. Then it won the Award of
Merit. Then it won the Morgan-Wood Medal in a race that wasn't even close.
Not modern? Modernity has no monopoly on beauty.
As for LENORA PEARL, a few negative experiences do not negate a multitude of
positive experiences. I have lost many iris cultivars that thrived for other
people in my area. When SONG OF NORWAY won the Dykes, I voted for it even
though it died on me twice. I found out that most people around here grew it
just fine.
As for LEMON POP, it is a great IB! Great grower here and beautiful!. It
would do the Dykes proud if it won, but I think that is also true of SHAKER'S
PRAYER, and possibly true of LENORA PEARL (I do admit I am concerned about
the negative reports...but I am not yet convinced the negative experiences
are typical).
Clarence Mahan in Virginia, who is obviously "on a roll" but who voted for
BUMBLEBEE DEELITE for the Dykes two years ago, and who doesn't not share the
view that it would be undeserving had it won.
