Re: CULT, AB against nature

Jim, don't give up on arilbreds.  Back in the late 1950's and early 1960's
I was successful raising not only arilbreds (C. G. White hybrids) but also
several species of pure arils (I. barnumae, I. susiana, I. 'Judean Silver',
I. korolkowii and I. stolonifera) in the very northern part of
Pennsylvania, in the Alleghany Mountains at an elevation of about 2400 ft.
Surely the climate there was more severe than yours in southern Ohio.  An
article I wrote about this appeared in the ASI yearbook many years ago,
probably sometime around 1962(?).  I got interested in arils and arilbreds
after seeing 'Lady Mohr' in 1956 or 57.

I've also raised pure arils and high-percentage arilbreds here in central
Virginia, where the problem is not the cold winters, as it was in PA, but
the muggy summers.

In Pennsylvania I built raised beds for the pure arils using old bricks,
and filled them with a sandy loam that had been amended with much ground
limestone.  In winter these beds were protected with 8-10" of wood
excelsior, mainly to keep the ground frozen once it did freeze.  In summer,
some old storm windows were used to keep off excessive rain.  That was for
the pure arils.  The arilbreds grew in open beds that were slightly
mounded.  'Jallah Effendi', probably almost impossible to find nowadays,
was successful enough to be considered weedy.  My plants came from the
nurseries of Lloyd Austin and Val Slamova, as well as some gifts from Wiloh
and Tom Wilkes.  (By the way, I wonder if Sharon could provide us with some
history on Austin--bound to be interesting.  I understand he began as a
breeder of pines before switching to irises).

Two locations have been successful here in VA.  One is against a
south-facing brick wall, with an overhanging eave that keeps summer rain
off the pure arils.  I gave up taking care of them several years ago in the
press of other matters, but they are still coming up.  There was no bloom
this year, because a meddling student dug them up and divided them when
they had just appeared above ground.  The arilbreds, mostly Henry Danielson
varieties, thrived in the same bed, without any protection from summer wet
except good drainage, making big clumps.  Some of my own quarter-bred
seedlings also did very well there.

The other location was a steeply sloping, south-facing rock garden.  I
created pockets of sandy, alkaline soil behind the larger rocks and again
planted Danielson varieties.  They did very well, as did I. hoogiana.  But
these, too, were given up as other interests beckoned.  The point is that
it can be done!

The other posts in response to your questions were giving good advice about
the selection of varieties.  I was never able to get 'Oyez' or its only
offspring 'Volunteer Fireman' through a winter at either PA or VA.  Try
some older Danielson varieties that he hybridized while still in the
Chicago area--they were selected to do well in such unfavorable climates.

Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@tiger.hsc.edu>
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