HIST: identifying old-timers (was Iris Pollinators)
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: HIST: identifying old-timers (was Iris Pollinators)
- From: s*@aristotle.net (J. Michael, Celia or Ben Storey)
- Date: Wed, 7 May 1997 08:38:19 -0600 (MDT)
> I would love to be able to put a name to this and
>the others....where to start? Should I get a scanner and put pictures up? Is
>there another way? a book? a key?...??
There are several different ways to go about trying to name older irises. A
member of the Historic Iris Preservation Society will have good advice
about using the service offered by that section. Even if you don't intend
to join HIPS and send your observations about your unnamed irises in to be
ID'd, I recommend you set aside a few hours to undertake the recording
method outlined by Dave Ensminger at the HIPS website. He has you measure
this and that and write detailed notes about colors and form. Simply going
through that process will make you a much more observant iris appreciator.
http://eagle.tricities.net/~mikelowe/
With so many of the TB cultivars looking so very much alike, often it's the
small, "unimportant" detail that pins down an ID. In my garden I have two
plants with yellow and white flowers so very much alike the only reason I
believe they aren't the same cultivar is one has purple-based foliage and
the other doesn't.
Another step is to assign each plant a code name for reference and then
photograph them in bloom using a good camera that will give you excellent
resolution in close-ups. Write the code name on the backs of the pix and
carry them around with you wherever you might run into older residents of
your area who grow irises. Find out if Mrs. Dillard had any gardening
friends who are still alive. Get their opinions of what the plants might
be, but don't be too readily convinced. Iris flowers can look so much alike
you really have to have bought them with names and grown them for years to
say without a doubt which is which. And still there's room for confusion.
Even if you never get the absolutely correct names attached to your plants,
your photos will be useful over the years in helping you remember which is
which.
celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock, Arkansas
