Re: HIST: ps - yellow, & musings

From: HIPSource@aol.com

In a message dated 5/23/99 4:03:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time, lmann@icx.net 
writes:

<< One of the really nice things about trying to ID older irises is that I
 am forced to really SEE the flower in all its complexity, something that
 I often don't do with the known ones.  So even if I never find out what
 it's name was way back when, I still get enormous enjoyment from it.>>

I think this is part of the magic, I really do. Irises are tremendously 
complex flowers,  and the oldies tend to have a lot of interesting detail to 
look at. We've bred considerable uniformity into modern irises in the urge to 
get rid of some of the little wierdnesses that you see in many of the 
historics. Little purple and green haft marks, opalescent standards with the 
texture of beaten satin, odd little reddish beards all shaggy on the end, 
dark freckling all over the claw, entended little style crests..... There are 
remarkable variations of texture and markings that are absolutely 
butterfly-like on a lot of them, some of  which are quite variable in 
different lights and atmospheres.  
 
<< Would it be fun for listers to get together a collection of the old weedy 
irises that are characteristic of their locale, then do some swaps and 
compare weeds?  There aren't many that are on every homestead around here, so 
it won't be hard to do in this region, but might be a major  challenge in 
more benign climates.>>

I'm of the opinion that we should be giving some things that have stumped 
Phil official working study names like the rose people do so they can be 
circulated and tracked. Then when someone gets simultaneous bloom on two that 
are identical, we have additional information on both. There are other 
advantages, too. But we must just find something more affectionate to call 
them rather than old weedy ones, although I know that is a term of 
approbation coming from Linda, who likes anything that will survive in her 
garden. And we should remember that HIPS does have an ID Chairman who can 
help members sort out a lot of their unknowns, especailly the more common 
ones. 

Anner Whitehead
HIPSource@aol.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking for a new hobby?  Want to make a new friend? 
http://www.onelist.com
Come join one of the nearly 150,000 e-mail communities at ONElist!
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index