REB: Top Ten Rebloomers...and a small tribute to Lloyd Zurbrigg

I'm posting here a very abbreviated summary of the reblooming iris
symposium, found in the current issue of the _Reblooming Iris Recorder_.
Members of the Reblooming Iris Society were asked to vote for their
favorites, but could only vote for those that had rebloomed for them (or
that they had seen reblooming in their area) during the last 2 years. The
list thus represents not only popularity, but reliability.

Immortality (Zurbrigg '82)          44 votes
Queen Dorothy (Hall '84)            39 votes
Feedback (Hager '83)                38 votes
Baby Blessed (Zurbrigg '79, SDB)    31 votes
Earl of Essex (Zurbrigg '80)        27 votes
Corn Harvest (Wyatt '77)            26 votes
Buckwheat (Byers '89)               24 votes
Pink Attraction (Hall '88)          23 votes
Jewel Baby (Hall '84, SDB)          22 votes
Harvest of Memories (Zurbrigg '85)  21 votes

The complete version lists many, many more irises (all that received votes)
and has a breakdown by hardiness zone, so that one can distinguish
cold-climate rebloomers from warm-climate ones.

Not to make this too much of a plug, but the annual symposium alone is
worth the price of RIS membership.

I also want to take this opportunity to give a special personal "hats off"
to Dr. Lloyd Zurbrigg. When I first became interested in irises 20 years
ago, I was fanatical about rebloomers. (Imagine, if you can, a novice
irisarian who had planted 100 or so irises his first year, and then had to
wait for the months to slowly tick by...when up comes a bloom stalk in
September!) Today, rebloomers are listed in Schreiner's catalog, featured
in slick natural gardening magazines, and competing for high awards. But in
the 1970s, anyone who proclaimed an interest in rebloomers was likely to be
rewarded with a sneer, or indifference at best. We loved our rebloomers,
but they were DOGS!

There was, however, an inspiration to reblooming enthusiasts: Dr. Zurbrigg,
who was steadily building up a line of rebloomers with improved form,
substance, and range of color. He wasn't the only one breeding them of
course, but his irises were truly standouts in the ongoing quest for
"respectable" rebloomers. I planned a hybridizing program involving
rebloomers, but never really drummed up enough courage to write to Dr.
Zurbrigg to thank him for the inspiration. I remember the first time I saw
Baby Blessed in bloom. My reaction was one of overwhelming relief. I didn't
need to worry about breeding reblooming SDBs--it was all taken care of! My
hunch proved correct: this iris has spawned a whole race of high-quality
reblooming medians in a wide range of color.

Anyway, I left for college in England, and left my hybridizing plans
behind. But then one day I was taking an afternoon walk through the Oxford
Botanical Gardens and noticed a freshly planted bed of irises! That would
have been a pleasant enough surprise, but I went closer and looked at the
names, still legible where the seller had written on the fans: they were
Zurbrigg rebloomers! I didn't have any way to grow irises in college, of
course, but this was enough to remind me of what is important in life. I
immediately sent home for my copy of _The World of Irises_ and kept it on
my bookshelf as a reminder.

When I resumed growing irises 4 years ago, the first thing I noticed was
the tremendous strides made by rebloomers, in quality, reliability, and
respectability. Not to minimize the tremendous work of other recent
reblooming hybridizers, but I see this wonderful development largely as the
fruition of Lloyd Zurbrigg's persistent labor.

So when, several months ago, I saw the subject line "SUBSCRIBE IRIS-L LLOYD
ZURBRIGG" flash across my monitor, I had the interesting sensation that my
devotion to irises had come around full-circle. Although the internet is
indeed the great equalizer, putting novice and pro together without fuss or
formality, I confess to a bit of lingering awe. Iris-L presents
opportunities for enthusiastic beginners that some would have died for 20
years ago. Not only can we stand on the shoulders of giants, we can enjoy
their company.

Now, after finally having said all that, I can comfortably get around to
saying what I should have said months ago:

Welcome to Iris-L, Dr. Zurbrigg.


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Tom Tadfor Little                   telp@Rt66.com
Iris-L list owner * USDA zone 5/6 * AIS region 23
Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA)
Telperion Productions  http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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