HIST/ Richmond's Alley Irises--(long)

Greetings,

Richmond is an old town and some amazing things are growing in the byways and
alleys of some residential neighborhoods. In iris season we enjoy peering
over fences to see what blooms have emerged from the many clumps of otherwise
anonymous foliage that are scattered in gardens and along alleys and tucked
alongside the trunks of trees. Although the iris was declared the official
flower of the city in the 'thirties, largely through the lobbying of the
Garden Club, it could not be said that interest in bearded irises has
remained high in this city and most of the irises one sees are historic
cultivars. Many are familiar and expected; some, as I said, are amazing.

A little knowledge of the social history of the city helps to track down
these irises. Some survive as family heirlooms in affluent neighborhoods,
some persist in areas where the population is ageing, some have migrated to
those neighborhoods on the bus lines where many of the inhabitants worked as
domestic help to the members of the Garden Club. Some are found along those
avenues fashionable in the earlier years of the century. Some are being
swapped around now among the baby boomers----GREAT LAKES is making a comeback
here, and looking good. 

PALLIDA is everywhere, of course, in dank shade and full sun, deeper ones and
paler ones, even some rosey ones. Lots of GERMANICA as well, some nicer than
others. There are yellows of all descriptions and ages, and so also with
whites. Occasionally one sees a copper. All these irises have names, but we
do not know them yet. There are many representatives of the deep bitones with
velvety falls of the 'twenties and 'thirties. One sees the venerable INDIAN
CHIEF, and, occasionally, the chestnut LOUVOIS and sober AMBASSADEUR. In this
same vein is purple ALCAZAR, ubiquitous, beautiful, and hardy as rock. We
know a place where it lines an alley for fifty feet. And we know a planting
of another purple, WILLIAM A. SETCHELL, that makes that look like small
potatoes.

We had been told to expect to encounter LORELEY, but never have. We have seen
WABASH only twice, and both in gardens. The distinctive neglecta HELEN
COLLINGWOOD is around, as is MULBERRY ROSE, but a lone stalk of PINNACLE
growing out of wiregrass next to a trash can was startling. No less startling
was the garden which featured only a 'forties black, much divided, bordering
the vegetables. 

Perhaps the most amazing discovery has been along an alley in a depressed
neighborhood. There, for some thirty feet, overrun with chickweed and
infested with aphids, blooms a strange grey white iris with a golden heart.
Its presence in the landscape is eery. Now, we know this iris because we grow
this iris. It is none other than MOONLIGHT, bred by Dykes himself, and a
major progenitor. As a parent of the iris W. R. DYKES it became the
foundation of many modern yellows, and it figures also in the pedigrees of
many modern pinks. It is, as they say, a famous iris.

We wish you happy explorations.

Anner Whitehead, Richmond, VA
Henry Hall,    henryanner@aol.com
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