Re: All I know about THUMKIN, Corlew's BB
- To: i*@onelist.com
- Subject: Re: All I know about THUMKIN, Corlew's BB
- From: P*@aol.com
- Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 02:37:55 EDT
From: Pooreplace@aol.com
Morning all & I really mean All this time...
<<In a message dated 98-10-04 01:22:56 EDT, Dorothy Willott writes:
<< Thumkin (Corlew R. 95) BB, 17" M (Mid-season). Standards medium violet,
deeper base and midrib; style arms violet; Falls pale to medium violet;
blended yellow in upper area, shading to brown at hafts; beards violet.
Abracadabra X Olympiad. Introduced by Cooley's Garden 1996.
Since this is a cross of a standard dwarf by a tall bearded iris, it would
normally be an intermediate. However, the most visible difference between
IBs
and BBs is the time of bloom. Apparently, this iris blooms later than most
intermediates and was, therefore, registered as a BB. I wonder if the bloom
time was observed somewhere besides California, where irises bloom at strange
times. Also, 17 inches is just barely tall enough to be considered either an
IB or BB. I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds interesting. >>
Dorothy really nailed THUMKIN... I grow it... It almost blooms by itself...
So very close before the TB's bloom I really thought it was a short tall...
Taller though in my garden than 17", more like about 23 to 27". Mind you this
bed had been heavily fortified with alfalfa pellets as well as Humore when
THUMKIN was planted... Blooms above the foliage quite nicely. More dainty
than most BB's I've known... Very prolific... Great increaser... I've
bloomed it for two years now... Blooms so heavily you think it could bloom
out, but again this fall I see tremendous increases on THUMKIN... I grow it
in my newest front yard beds that have fewer medians there & the first year it
was the absolute first thing to bloom. Most of the IB's out back had already
bloomed and were about done...
I don't have nearly the amount of BB's I should but am working on remedying
that situation... IMHO the colors on THUMKIN are different for a BB and
really quite attractive. I seem to remember it more as a blueish lavender
with khaki-ish type falls. Slightly reminiscent of the colors of SOAP OPERA ,
an older TB. THUMKIN makes an excellent garden plant... Haven't been able to
try it out on the show bench yet... So many blooms on it so quickly that if
you don't get it to the show with the first 2 or 3 open, it's really a little
too messy to try to groom to blue ribbon quality standards.
One more note: I used to loathe SOAP OPERA. Just hated those colors on a
flower & thought that together they were quite mucky... I had dug it & given
it all away twice & it still returned... Over & over again... Then my good
friend Ed Latham who owned Latham's Mens Wear here in OKC (& Weatherford too),
an upscale man's shop, for years & years appeared in my garden one blooming
iris day. SOAP OPERA stopped him dead in his tracks... I was already down on
the ground with trowel in hand digging the bloomin' thing up to hand to him
"bloom & all" and have him take that thing out of my garden once & for all,
when dear Edwin explained: "Kath, it's like a man in a blue Polo with khaki
docker slacks". Need I say SOAP OPERA remains today & is one of the TB's I
look forward to more & more as years go by... I guess it's all just a matter
of perspective...
Mayhaps one day Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Harrison Ford, or
Kevin Bacon will stop in and fall for OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, whose color
combinations have been compared to that which I cannot here repeat... NOT!
It'll never happen & OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE is getting thrown outa here next year!
Kathy L. Poore, Oklahoma City, OK
AIS Region 22, USDA Zone 7
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