Re: Iris blooms on the Gulf Coast

You might try the Louisiana Nursery of the Durio Family, Opelousas LA
(sorry if I've mis-spelled that).  Don't have the exact address with me at
the moment.  They seem to be leading the charge in breeding tetraploid
Louisianas.  It's a big deal with lots of hemerocallis, magnolias, other
plants, etc.  There is a special catalog of LA iris.  I haven't ordered
from them in a while but about 10 years ago I ordered a mixed collection of
12 different varieties, unlabeled. Today they fill a large bed and I have
been able to identify some of them ('Ann Chowning', a great red, for
example) and at least two of them are clearly tetraploids (one I think is
'Professor Jim' or possibly a seedling).  The rhizomes were big, like nice
fat yams.

I ordered more recently from another well-known Louisiana Iris specialist
nursery and was disappointed in the result.  The rhizomes were very small,
arrived late in the season, and some had no roots.  They obviously had been
dried off and were not packed to keep them moist.  All eventually survived
and bloomed after a few years, but it was definitely not what was expected.
I'm not going to name the nursery (which refused to make amends and got
huffy when I complained) because this one case may have been an anomalous,
others have been well satisfied.

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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