Re: CULT: Favorites - long

Donald:
   Thank you for your list with descriptions. Although I have never 
seen in person any of these iris, I enjoyed your descriptive details.
Laetitia

--- In iris-talk@y..., "Donald Eaves" <donald@e...> wrote:
> Well, I wasn't going to post this list but the weather is so 
miserable here
> today I can't do what I want to be doing.  Also, while reading the 
other
> lists, it struck me that gardener's preferences come in just about 
as wide a
> variety as the plants they grow (or try to grow anyway).  So my 
list is a
> reflection of my own quirky reactions to the plants and their 
inherent
> characters as I see them.
> 
> My list is based on the anticipation factor of seeing something 
once again
> that has bloomed before.  It definitely is not a list I would 
recommend to
> beginners or novelties.  There are a lot of really nice cultivars 
growing
> here that I would suggest to them rather than those on this list.  
But the
> fact is, while I like and enjoy them enormously, they don't stir the
> anticipation of those on the following list.  I've tried to 
determine and
> explain why it these and not others that make the list.
> 
> 1.  SATAN'S MISTRESS (Seligmann '82) - belongs at the top of this 
list.  Has
> for several years now.  This bloom has qualities of color unlike 
anything
> else I grow.  A dark, dark ruby red (the bud and falls are nearly 
black),
> the saturation of the color is intense, non-fading.  It excels in 
sunlight,
> when the standards seem to capture and hold some of that light and 
release
> it at a slower rate.  Like a diamond catches and refracts light, 
you expect
> to find a red glow being emitted from the bloom itself.  Like a 
full moon
> rising on the horizon, I can't imagine not anticipating and 
enjoying the
> effect.  A slow increaser, but reliable bloomer here, it has very 
strong
> substance and the best resistance to our typical late freezes even 
though it
> is early.  I've never seen any sign of freeze damage when other 
plants in
> the same stage of bud have melted after a freeze.  I've used pollen 
and
> discovered it can strongly pass some of the color effects to its 
progeny.
> It is genetically an arilbred (RB-) with I. korolkowii as a 
grandparent, but
> the appearance of bloom and plant are TB.  So far it has been a 
cooperative
> parent with TBs only and never set a pod.  Though this belongs at 
the top of
> the list, those that follow aren't a list that really has any 
priority on
> the order they are listed.
> 
> 2.  The 'homestead' iris belongs on this list.  A plant that has 
several
> liabilities, it still merits it on the anticipation level.  Very 
early, it's
> about like our apricot crop - you only get to see the blooms about 
once
> every four years.  An aggressive increaser, I've learned it needs 
its own
> spot.  Otherwise it will overrun and crowd out everything else.  
How to turn
> a bed to purple irises!  The growth, then, is both a plus and a 
minus.  It
> is purple with older form, nothing more, nothing less in color.  
But the
> form has some lift and bounce and isn't entirely linear.  The 
stalks never
> flop and fall over.  They are also never straight.  To some degree 
or
> another they always are 'S' shaped.  In an iris with bigger, wider 
blooms
> this would be a big liability.  On this one it lends grace and 
lightness to
> the effect of the clump as the iris perch up and down the stalks.  
It
> wouldn't look as good with straight stalks.  It's hard to know how 
much
> sentimentality plays on viewing this iris.  I grew up with it.  It 
was here
> when we moved here in 1950 and is probably the first garden plant I 
knew as
> a garden plant.  I think it might have been planted by a lady that 
lived
> here before we moved here and then used to babysit my brothers and 
sister
> and myself.  I thought maybe her son could verify that or not, but 
he
> couldn't remember.  He thought she probably did and acquired some 
rhizomes
> for himself.  She was a kindhearted, generous person whom life 
dealt with
> rather harshly, so when it does bloom I like to think it bloomed 
for Ina Mae
> and gave her a brief bit of pleasure at seeing it.
> 
> 3.  WHIRLWIND ROMANCE (McAllister '91) - a bloom that makes my 
fingers itch
> to touch.  So plush and warm-looking in shades of brown, rust, 
gold, pewter
> it is a textural delight.  You would expect it to have the warmth 
of a
> warm-blooded animal and purr if you stroked it.  The globular form 
that I'm
> so fond of in many arilbreds, it hasn't been an especially strong 
grower.
> I've gone to great lengths to ensure I don't lose it.  It seems 
I'll have to
> continue in this mode, since I lost one clump last summer.  The 
remaining
> clump looks really good, but I'll try to have two to increase my 
chances of
> having the anticipation fulfilled.
> 
> 4.  EDENITE (Plough '59).  An iris that sets a mood.  With its 
somber
> red-black coloring and a droop to the form that matches that color
> perfectly, it conveys a mournful and beautiful mood that would be 
utterly
> lost if modern form were imposed upon it.  As an example 
of 'character' in
> the way the parts of an iris work together, there is none better in 
my
> garden.  As pure dark red color goes, I doubt there are many that 
are
> superior in any case.  It will keep a place among my irises for a 
long time.
> 
> 5. ARIL REVERIE (Moores '90).  Exquisite defined.  This small 
arilbred is
> like very fine, very expensive bone China.  Pastel tints of blue 
and ivory
> and white, I was delighted to find that visitors also invariably 
selected it
> as a favorite.  With the eye-catching BATIK in good bloom only two 
clumps
> away, it was no mean feat to be noticed.  Yet for all it's small 
stature, it
> got the notice and the comments.  Delicate appearance aside, It has 
proved
> to be a grower.  While some pretty hale TBs in the area have 
reached the
> point of near extinction after our vicious summer, this one 
remained a nice
> viable clump.
> 
> 6.  JAZZ BABY (Noyd '60).  A weightless bloom.  It gives the 
impression of
> floating off like soap bubbles.  I don't know how it achieves this 
effect,
> but nothing else among my irises has anything like it.  If Lawrence 
Welk had
> chosen an iris to go with his bubbles, it would have been this 
one!  Palest
> lavender - almost white - standards over falls that can be almost 
lime green
> flecked with red, I don't think the color is how the effect is 
managed. If
> EDENITE gives a somber mood, this one leaves a carefree mood.  It 
has a
> tendency to increase rapidly, then nearly bloom out.  I was 
sweating out its
> survival after last summer when it seemed to reach marginal status 
and then
> was k.o.'d by our summer, but the increase is coming along now.  
Still, my
> anticipation will probably wait another season on this one.
> 
> 7.  MOCAMBO (Denney '78).  One of the oddest sounding descriptions 
ever
> given to an iris, I think.  Don't be put off.  This is a nice and 
beautiful
> bloom with great garden presence.  The effect it leaves me with is 
of the
> softest gray near-white standards over navy falls.  It has been a 
strong
> growing plant with prolific bloom.  I planted STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN 
next door
> and it compares quite well in form.  Even the pickiest trained 
judge would
> have to concede it is the superior garden plant so far and STH does 
pretty
> well here.  This IS one I might very well recommend to a novice or 
beginner.
> Something that would be different and also beautiful and easy to 
grow.
> 
> 8.  JEHOSEPHAT'S RELIANCE (McGrath '98).  You don't need rose-
colored
> glasses for this one.  It comes with its own pink aura.  One of my 
stronger
> and more durable arilbreds with strong aril markings, it is not 
really pink.
> But every time I look at it, no matter how many times a day, it 
comes as
> something of a shock to realize it is not really pink, but more in 
the
> lavender or lilac shades.  Close inspection says it's not pink at 
all.  But
> that aura is undeniable and definitely pink.  So it has its own 
pink magic,
> no matter whether it is pink or not.
> 
> 9.  AT LAST (McAllister '93).  My pet name for this one is 'the 
silhouette
> iris'.  It wouldn't matter what color it came in, the form is so 
clean,
> balanced and graceful it becomes moot for me.  As a garden plant I 
have been
> known to be somewhat defensive about this one.  It is not one that 
grabs a
> visitors' attention and can even elicit somewhat negative comments 
due to
> the subdued rusty coloring.  I was not convinced so performed an 
experiment
> after one such visit.  By cutting it along with a couple of more 
flamboyant
> colored TBs, I took them all to work where those same visitors then
> preferred AT LAST.  Context maybe?  Or a situation that invited 
close
> inspection to detail?  I didn't tell them it was one they didn't 
love in the
> garden.  It satisfied me.  Anyway, I don't like to cut iris stalks.
> 
> 10. SHINING WATERS (Essig '33).  After the first year, this one 
wouldn't
> have made this list.  But this wears well and continues to grow on 
me.
> Every year that passes finds me looking forward to seeing it again 
more and
> more.  Tall, stately, and an iris that approaches true blue, it has 
come
> into its own here.  It grows well, it blooms well and when the sun 
has set
> and the light is fading it glows with a luminous blue light while 
everything
> else is fading into darkness.  Planted among many new TBs of modern 
form, it
> still does the job for me.
> 
> Still freezing and windy, but no longer snowing.  The sun is 
shining, but
> those sacks of cubes are going to be freezing when I put them out 
for the
> cows.  The cows will be happy, but my fingers will be numb before 
its done.
> 
> Donald Eaves
> donald@e...
> Texas Zone 7b, USA


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