HYB - TB: Reg. 7 Irisarian Reprints #19

> A series of articles reprinted from the Region 7 IRISARIAN with myself as
> Editor in 1990-91.  [Gary Sides--Jan. 1998:  Posted to Iris-L]
> 
QUEST FOR REMONTANCY
LLOYD ZURBRIGG    Radford, VA
	    
When I began hybridizing irises 40 years ago, my first thought was to take
the two best irises I could find and cross them.  This produced PRINCESS
ANNE, an excellent first introduction up in Canada, and is still a valid
maneuver.  Very quickly, though, I began to aim at certain goals.  First,
amoenas; second, rebloomers; third, aril-breds.
	    
The first work with the rebloomers was very discouraging indeed.  I got
fall bloom on several seedlings from the cross, AUTUMN KING X MARTIE
EVEREST.  The following year my garden had to be moved, and foolishly, I
did not take these with me.  No other crosses produced fall bloom in the
short Canadian growing season.  This interest in rebloomers received a
powerful impetus when I moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 1958.  The only
active AIS member in Bloomington was Dr. Raymond Smith of I. U. Department
of Speech, and Dr. Smith's only interest in the field of irises was
remontancy.  He gave me a piece of land in which to grow seedlings and a
few named varieties.  Here, in the longer growing season, a selection from
Canada proved to be remontant, and was introduced.  It was NORTHERN SPY,
from Western Hills X (?) Gibson Girl.  It had been selected because it was
the only reddish iris in this cross of dozens of seedlings.
	    
Dr. Smith's early introductions, such as AUGUST GOLD and DOUBLE MAJESTY,
and later ones such as LOVELY AGAIN and PURPLE DUET, were to be the
foundation of my continuing work with rebloomers.
	    
The interest in breeding remontants was given top and almost exclusive
preeminence by two "natural disasters".  My iris garden was hit by a severe
freeze one year at the height of TB bloom, and the next year a severe hail
storm ruined them just prior to peak bloom.  All the rest opened with
blossoms marked by hail.  Fortunately nothing this traumatic has happened
since.  However, I determined to step up the remontant breeding.  Three
years between bloom seasons was an unbearably long time.  Paul Cook, with
whom I discussed the projected program said:  "Don't expect results before
ten years!"  It was 7 years later that I brought out GRAND BAROQUE, an
interesting ruffled iris of good size, from HENRY SHAW, one of the best
whites of the time, crossed with pollen from Dr. Smith's REPLICATA.  This
new seedling yielded some fall bloom in my new Radford, VA garden, (having
left Bloomington in 1962) and it proved to be a cornerstone in my remontant
breeding during the 1970's.
	   
 I DO was another landmark in my iris Odyssey.  This moderately large,
fairly wide, well-formed flower grew heartily, and rebloomed rather
faithfully, beginning in late September.  It came from GRAND BAROQUE X
(Amethyst Flame x Purple Duet seedling).  Although I DO is short, as were
many of its seedlings, it has the ability to produce things better than
itself, with startling regularity.  (A full sister, BAROQUE PRELUDE, is a
yellow amoena, that also gave some good seedlings, though it has very
little remontancy).
	    
Two of I DO's progeny are IMMORTALITY and BROTHER CARL, both good-sized,
clean whites with a strong will to rebloom, especially the former, which
was a runner-up to the Award of Merit winners this year.  It is one of the
few TB's that can be classified as ever-blooming here in the East.  Both
are widely used by other hybridizers.  The winner at the Region 4 Fall Show
last month was a seedling of BROTHER CARL, and has been named SILVER
DIVIDENDS.
	    
My interest in breeding dwarf bearded iris goes back to the 1950's, but the
most important cross has been between two SDB remontants, namely BABY
SNOWFLAKE and TWICE BLESSED.  The best of the seedlings was a light yellow
with a suggestion of white at the haft and named BABY BLESSED, in honor of
our son, Lloyd Ashton.  It is doubtful if any other iris combines rock
hardiness and lush growth with such determined remontancy, and these
qualities led to its winning the Cook-Douglas Award from AIS this year.  It
is very fertile, and passes the good growth and remontancy to many of its
progeny.
	    
The struggle to get quality pink rebloomers was a rough one.  In 1963 El
Dorado Gardens in Kansas introduced SUMMER PINK, an iris that could send up
summer as well as fall bloom.  This variety was sadly lacking in form and
substance.  Crossed to LOVELY LIGHT it gave me MARY MARIA, and crossed to
LORNA LYNN it gave NOW & LATER.  These two introductions were crossed, and
a reasonably good pink that gave summer bloom appeared among the seedlings.
 It was named JEAN GUYMER.  It in turn has been used in many crosses,
yielding MABEL ANDREWS for me, and PINK ATTRACTION for Earl Hall of Ohio. 
PINK ATTRACTION was first runner-up to Queen of Show in Arlington this
fall.  (Ed.--as it bloomed in my garden last summer & fall, it is certainly
worth using 'though a bit low on buds.)
	    
My best "pink" however, came from the cross: (GRACE THOMAS X VANITY).  The
pod parent is a very ruffled yellow from SPIRIT OF MEMPHIS X RETURNING
GLORY.  SPIRIT OF MEMPHIS was a milestone with hardiness and some rebloom
in a flower of intense ruffling from Jim Gibson's plicata lines.  The
outstanding seedling, named JENNIFER REBECCA, was a true rose-pink self
with moderate ruffling, a hint of lace and excellent branching and
placement.  Although neither parent has ever given summer rebloom--indeed,
VANITY hardly ever reblooms in the East--this new rose-pink sometimes gives
so much rebloom as to almost qualify as an ever-bloomer.  Such was the case
this year in several Region 4 gardens, in a year marked by almost constant
rain.

150 crosses a year is about average here, with something like 25-30 seeds
per cross or better.  The remontants come quickly, and if the seedlings are
set out in May, one may expect 50% bloom the following spring.  This years
seedlings weren't in the ground until mid-June, nevertheless, six seedlings
of BABY BLESSED have already bloomed, and there are some buds on some of
the talls.
	    
The newest quest here is reblooming Space-Agers, irises with spoons, horns
or flounces.  No one knows how beautiful these are going to be by the year
2000!  There are endless possibilities.  TRUMPET CONCERTO is my best
Space-Ager to date, but it does not remont.  Above each fall is a
trumpet-shaped petaloid, reminding one of the form of the cattleya orchids.
 ANNE BOLEYN has great, wide petaloids or flounces immediately above each
flaring fall, and it does carry remontancy.

Remontancy is surely the path to the future in the iris world, and I
recommend it to the young hybridizer without reservation.  In addition, you
get to see new seedlings all summer and fall!
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index