Re: JI:first flowers - substance
- To: <iris-talk@onelist.com>
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] JI:first flowers - substance
- From: J* a* C* W*
- Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 20:08:26 -0600
From: "Jeff and Carolyn Walters" <jcwalters@bridgernet.com>
> Dan & Marilyn Mason wrote:
>
> Maybe I'm using the word 'substance' the wrong way in
> regards to iris. If it has a different meaning among Iris
> judges, please correct me.
The latest (1998) edition of the AIS Handbook for Judges and Show Officials
has this to say with respect to TBs (p. 63):
"Substance and Durability (10 points). Substance is the inner tissue
structure that determines how long the flower can maintain its color and
symmetry of form.
Petals with poor substance cannot possibly maintain their shape, regardless
of weather conditions, and a flower should not tatter and flop after a
spring downpour. Compare the clump with others in the same garden. Tall
bearded flowers of today should withstand all variations of weather except
extremes.
Substance aids in retention of color. Flowers that develop white spots and
"burn" in the sun possess an obvious lack of substance and durability.
"Crepey" texture is suspect, as it is usually associated with poor
substance. A flower that does not maintain its form and color saturation
for at least three days should lose the entire ten points."
I am not sure this passage stands as a model of crystalline clarity and
razor-keen logic. It is titled "Substance and Durability", but the second
term is never defined or distinguished from the first. As I read it, it
seems to be saying that whatever the tissue structure of the flower, if it
lasts for three days or more, that structure ipso facto represents
"substance".
About substance in Japanese Irises, the Handbook has the following to say
(p.149):
"Form, Substance and Proportion (20 points). These are grouped because they
cannot easily be separated. (20 lines of text deleted in which there is no
mention of "substance")
The substance, whether heavy or light, must hold the form."
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 2)
jcwalters@bridgernet.com
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