Re: rebloomer id
- To: i*@rt66.com
- Subject: Re: rebloomer id
- From: C*@aol.com
- Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 14:09:13 -0400
In a message dated 96-10-05 09:04:04 EDT, you write:
>One of them, I acquired from HQ, a hardware store, and was labeled
>as Royal Knight, a dwarf iris. I have also seen Royal Knight listed in the
>Dutch Gardens Spring 1996 catalog on p.130 as a 13" dwarf bearded iris
>that flowers twice a year. The flowers have not opened yet but they are
>going to be purple. The bloomstalk with 3 buds is 18" tall. The foliage
>is 18" tall and 1" wide. I have looked in the checklists from 1989 back
>and found a Royal Knight in the 1969 checklist registered by R. Brown in
>1960 as a 38" TB. Is this a more recent iris? Can TBs and dwarfs have
>the same name? Do I have a non-AIS registered iris?
> My second one was acquired from a friend who acquired it from a
>from a friend. It is a very dark purple rather small iris with a whitish
>beard. It first bloomed on Monday, its second bloom is now finished and
>there are 3 more buds. The bloom stalk is 22". The foliage is 17" tall
>and 3/4" wide.
> My third one, also acquired from a friend, is going to be white,
>will open today or tomorrow. The bloomstalk is 25", very thick, and has
>2 buds. The foliage is 16-17" and 1-3/8" wide.
> Are there additional clues I should look for? Are the
>rebloomer possibilities too many to narrow it down to what I might have?
> Regardless of their identities, I am very excited since these are
>the first reblooming irises I have seen blooming in ANY garden!
> The named rebloomers that I ordered from Schreiner's a year ago
>either died during the winter or did not bloom at all in the spring or in
>the fall. I did acquire many rebloomers at the CVIS sale in August,
>primarily from my iris storage man in northern VA, but for those I must
>wait another year!
>
>Phyllis Soine, Richmond, VA USA
Phyllis, If you can bring bloom stalks of any or all these irises to the
Region 4 Fall Meeting this weekend, it may be possible to identify them.
Regarding the naming of irises, a name may be used only once in the official
registration. Therefore, the "Royal Knight" you bought is travelling under
an improper name. There are a number of big wholesale nurseries in the
Netherlands that unfortunately do this all the time...with all kinds of
plants, including irises. However, when you have an iris that reblooms
changes are that it has a proper, registered name. A small dwarf purple
rebloomer sold by a Dutch nursery could be a number of things and probably
something fairly historic, e.g. the old LIEUTENANT DE CHAVAGNAC or Iris
subiflora (which probably deserves the title "first known rebloomer."
The second one you describe could also be several things, e.g. CRIMSON KING,
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, or even KOCHII. And the third...also, but without seeing
them these are only speculations. It is very likely that someone could
identify these if we could see them...certainly Lloyd Zurbrigg or the Lowes
would know that they are not, and probably what they are. Clarence Mahan in
VA
