TB: HIST:[Etc.] Mysteries

From: HIPSource@aol.com

Greetings.

I'd like put in a plug for the mystery irises among us, and urge that they be 
treated kindly. Mainly I'm talking about the oldies, but not necessarily, for 
irises of any age can easily become separated from their names. 

I've been out looking at the stuff blooming today and I'm struck by the fact 
that some of the best looking irises in my garden are, or came to me 
initially, as unknowns. Now, in the past, as today, a fairly high percentage 
of the irises available was mediocre. In acknowledgment of this raw fact, I 
don't feel I have to drag home every antique I see. I prefer to focus on 
things that announce their beauty clearly, or things which are unusual, or 
which represent a departure from things I've seen elsewhere, or which seem 
genetically complex for their apparent age. Good antique irises have a lot of 
charisma and several I have found are absolutely stunning. In time, through 
analysis, we may be able to reunite them with their names, and with their 
rightful places in the great iris continuum, but for the nonce they are 
gracing my garden and bringing me great joy. 

We tend to be very name-oriented in the world of irises, and this is not a 
bad thing. We like labels and registration descriptions and we know the 
importance of keeping things tidy. There are irises out there which owe half 
their attraction to their names, and there are also quite a few that are 
enhanced by inaccurate names. I've noticed that when something is sailing 
under a wrong name, it often is a name of a better or more famous iris than 
it really is.    

In some cases the surviving documentation and our best efforts will not be 
adequate to unravel the mysteries. In these cases, I believe we must love the 
irises anyway, knowing that our ignorance does not diminish their inherent 
worth. It is important that we salute excellence in irises wherever we find 
it, and not hold things cheap simply because they are anonymous, Nor must we 
feel compelled to affix a name on them hastily simply to avoid that presumed 
ignominy. An iris with no name is to be preferred to one with the wrong name. 
In the case of the former, you have a mystery; in the case of the latter, you 
have a falsehood.

Anner Whitehead  
HIPSource@aol.com



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