HIST: Attention Reg. 4 Members

Greetings.

As you may be aware, I am in Virginia, and have written quite a bit on Iris 
subjects for various AIS publications. I am chiefly interested in the social 
history of Irises in the first half of the twentieth century, especially in the 
mid-Atlantic states and the upper South. I am currently researching what I 
expect will turn out to be two articles, each approaching the subject from a 
different angle for different publications. I am investigating the history of  the 
bulbous species *Iris persica* in America.  

I think it is possible that some of you may have information or stories or 
memories valuable to my research. Accordingly, I have been trying to get the 
word out to you via several routes but am not having much success. I submitted a 
research notice to the regional newsletter, but apparently it was not possible 
to include it in the issue which arrived today. Because time may be of the 
essence, would you please be so very kind as to glance over my notice below and 
see if it rings any bells? I thank you. 

Please respond privately to:

Anner Whitehead, Richmond VA <ChatOWhitehall@aol.com>

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SEEKING IRIS PERSICA

Once upon a time, one of the cherished "passalong plants" of the upper South 
was Iris persica, a bulbous Juno Iris, known as "the little grey Iris," or 
"Fair Maids of February."  

Iris persica is a small greenish-grey Iris with velvety purple spots and a 
brilliant golden crest. To some noses it is fragrant. It blooms very early in 
the Spring, usually in February or early March, but this can vary. The foliage 
is more fleshy than that of Iris reticulata. An article in the AIS Bulletin in 
1934 tells us it was then being grown in several gardens around Clarksville, 
Tennessee, and had been for decades. Although its origin was unknown, some 
people thought it may have came there from Virginia, and this could well have been 
the case, for it was grown in the Old Dominion before 1800. According to 
writer Elizabeth Lawrence of North Carolina, who spoke of Iris persica in her book 
*A Southern Garden*, it was also grown in gardens in Chatham County, and 
Raleigh. 

For a proposed article for *Magnolia*, the journal of the Southern Garden 
History Society, I welcome communication from anyone who now grows, or has ever 
in past grown Iris persica, or has heard anything at all about it having been 
grown within Region 4, or elsewhere. I would also welcome referrals to any 
individuals known to have first-hand horticultural knowledge of this rare and 
lovely heirloom Iris species. 

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