CULT: Iris from seed

I received this question from an iris lover privately and after
answering privately I thought my answer might be of benefit to some on
the Iris List. (this info is probably obvious to the "old hands" at iris
but it is provided here for the benefit of newcomers and the "not so
expert") 

Question:
> I just finished reading your webpage,and was amazed to find that I might
> be able to start iris's from seed. 

Chris replies:

To answer your question about growing iris from seed.
The short answer is this; yes, iris can indeed be grown by seed.

Now, the really important thing to know here is that Hybrid iris
varieties are propagated by vegetative division. There is a compelling
reason for this. The divisions produce an EXACT replica of the variety
that the division was taken from. (a clone if you will!) The seeds that
would be produced from one of these hybrids will NOT produce the same
plant variety. Sometimes very far from it. In fact EACH seed from the
same pod will produce a plant with different characteristics.
Hybridizers plant thousands of seeds to pick maybe one or two plants to
keep and market. The rest are relegated to the compost pile as being
deficient substandard aberrations or no improvement over an already
named and introduced variety.
This is not to say you could not or should not try growing some of these
seeds yourself. This is also fun. Just don't expect them to be the same
as the parent plants. You also might create something terrific!

Species iris (wild varieties, not hybrid) can be successfully grown from
seed with very pleasing results. Seeds are available usually once a year
from the SIGNA group. (Species Iris Group North America) They are fun to
grow and some really interesting seeds from a wide variety of iris are
available through them. Unfortunately I think the seed sale/distribution
for this year is all done... but try anyway! 
The SIGNA addresses in case you are interested:

SIGNA
Richard Kiyomoto
486 Skiff Street
North Haven, CT
06473  USA

SIGNA
Colin Rigby
18341 Paulson SW
Rochester, WA
98579  USA

Don't forget to join us at the Canadian Iris Society too!
Hope that this info helps. Happy digging in your garden.
-- 
Christopher Hollinshead
Mississauga, Ontario  Canada  zone6b
AIS(Region 16), CIS, SSI
Director-Canadian Iris Society
Newsletter Editor-Canadian Iris Society
e-mail:  cris@netcom.ca
CIS website:  http://www.netcom.ca/~cris/CIS.html
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