Re: TB: Brown Iris
- Subject: Re: TB: Brown Iris
- From: B* S*
- Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 09:34:08 -0400
From: Bill Shear <BILLS@hsc.edu>
Back in the heyday of brown irises (1960s) I grew a lot of them. Favorites
were the old ARGUS PHEASANT and OLYMPIC TORCH. The one I liked best (but
which didn't like me or didn't like the mountains of northern Pennsylvania)
was INCA CHIEF, still very modern in form and with an undescribable
fragrance.
This year Schreiner's introduced TERRA ROSSA, which appears from the
picture to be a brown self. It has come to me as an extra, and I'm eagerly
awaiting bloom next spring.
I also liked the brown/yellow blends with a flash of blue or violet below
the beard; these also seem to be more infrequently encountered these days.
GRAND CANYON was the classic, I also favored NEON RAINBOW. I had some
seedlings from NEON RAINBOW X STARS OVER CHICAGO that were deep oxblood and
maroon with a bright purple flash. They were poorly branched, with small
flowers, and faded badly in the sun, but, wow, that first morning's bloom!
Another pattern seen now only rarely: the yellow-ground plicata with a
NARROW band of red or purple stitching. Looking at old pictures, I found
one of these from back in the 1960s. Unfortunately the slide was not
labelled, but I do recall that the flower was a Tom Craig introduction and
I got it with a lot of others when he went out of business. The name is
hovering just out of reach...
Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>
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