OT: Wanderings of an iris pilgrim, part 3
- To: i*@egroups.com
- Subject: OT: Wanderings of an iris pilgrim, part 3
- From: B* S*
- Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 10:41:29 -0400
When Tom and Ellen Abrego and I arrived at Keith Keppel's, the clouds had
dissipated and a pretty brisk cold wind was blowing. Despite the late
hour, we were welcomed by Keith, who was walking the rows with Paul Black
and Tom Johnson. Because time was short, I spent most of it just listening
and learning and clicking off photos of Keppel, Ghio and Shoop seedlings
and named varieties. Again, some extraordinary new irises were on display.
The various dark bicolors with red and orange beards were stunning. There
was a row of pink and yellow bicolor seedlings with gradually intensifying
color from one end of the row to another, and much more. I was taking
pictures so fast that there was not time even to note down the seedling
numbers of what I was photographing. Finally time, wind, and rapidly
dropping temperatures got the best of us and we parted company as I headed
back to Portland, but not before getting glimpse of the elusive Iris tenuis
in Keith's home garden. This old skinhead was suffering from a combination
of sunburn and windburn--why didn't I wear the hat I brought?
My last day in the northwest was spent in Vancouver, Washington, just
across the river from Portland, in Salmon Creek Iris Garden, run by Terry
and Barbara Aitken. Another warm welcome from busy iris people, and
another instance of making every effort to ensure that a visitor saw
everything. Here, bloom was a little later than south of Portland, and the
Intermediates and MTBs, as well as good clumps of PCNs, were the
outstanding feature. Terry and Barbara grow orchids as well as irises (I'm
just starting with these plants myself), so the first half hour or so was
spent in the greenhouse admiring Terry's Phalenopsis seedlings. Then into
the iris plantings where again some striking seedlings made themselves
evident, many of them new things from Markie Smith. To me one of the most
important seedlings of Terry's was a very nice ruffled, medium-sized blue
with a blue beard which has been going under the garden name of "25 buds."
And that's no exaggeration! I counted several stalks that all carried
between 20 and 27 buds on very sturdy 30" stalks with four branches (the
lowest 2 rebranched). The flower itself is very nice and with this kind of
bloom production and vigor--Wow! Terry seems undecided about introducing
it but is using it extensively in his hybridizing. Certainly if this iris
proved to be widely adaptable outside the northwest, it would quickly
become a feature of nearly every garden in the country; it has enormous
commercial potential. There were also some startling red and blue bicolors
from MTB/SDB/TB breeding--put a bright orange beard on one of these, and
just imagine. Seeing Terry's Payne Medals casually displayed in a work
room made me regret not being able to be there for the Japanese bloom, too.
But I also came away with a new interest in MTBs, with their ineffable
charm.
I arrived back at Phil's apartment with enough light to photograph a clump
of an old historic, possibly 'Amas', growing outside the building, and
another mysterious historic, a pink with purple shoulders, that I'll have
to submit to Mike Lowe for naming.
Flights back to Richmond were more confused than ever, and I finally
reached home through Atlanta rather than the ever weather-plagued Chicago.
Of course, the next morning my own scabby garden, suffering from two weeks
of 90-degree heat and no rain as well as a week of neglect, looked pretty
discouraging. The TB bloom was over except for a few remaining buds on
'Mesmerizer' (what great stalks on that iris!). The Louisianas and
Spurias were under way but obviously not happy about the heat. As an
example of how hot weather can push a season, there were no visible buds on
my selection of Iris sanguinea when I left, and on my return, its bloom was
over! But a few days later, temperatures dropped, thunderstorms rolled in
(we've now had a week of pretty rainy weather) and my spirits brightened
accordingly.
It will take more than a week or two to consolidate all that I learned on
this trip, and above all I must study my more than 400 photos. It was a
lifetime's dream come true, that much I already know, and there were no
disappointments. On the contrary, everything far exceeded expectations.
So I'll end my ramblings with thanks again to John Jones, Terri and Jay
Hudson, the meeting organizers of Region 14, the Schreiner family, Keith
Keppel, and Barbara and Terry Aitken. Oh, and thanks to you, too, Phil,
for a place to crash. Can I come again next year?
Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@mail.hsc.edu>
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