Re: Flight of Butterflies
- Subject: Re: [sibrob] Flight of Butterflies
- From: Ken Walkup k*@cornell.edu
- Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2006 09:31:06 -0400
Hi folks,
Just got back from my vacation & wanted to add my bit on the
subject of FOB. I've never doubted that it was a selection of the species
I. sibirica, albeit one of the minimum size ones (similar in stature to
Little Blue Sparkler, to name another.) Grows around 24" for me, although
I have lost it. My experience has been that when you cross sibirica with
sanguinea or any of the modern hybs which are predominantly sanguinea, the
offspring may resemble either parent or something in the middle, but the
seed pods will look more like the sanguinea parent. FOB has pods which
look like pure sibirica to me, ie, not as long in relation to width as
sanguinea pods. Bob, did I understand you think FOB is NOT a pure sibirica?
I have iris friends in Eastern Mass. who tell me FOB is not a good
grower there. It's just one of those odd facts about our favorite plant;
most are very widely adapted, but not all. I can't for the life of me
figure out why it would grow well here (central NY), and not in eastern
Mass. or the mountains of NY. It's become a pass-along plant around here,
but I know from first hand experience that there are some impostors around.
I remember trying a few crosses on it, but never got one to
take. The parts are very small, and I had trouble physically getting the
pollen in the right place, so maybe that was the problem.
Ken
At 09:48 PM 6/25/2006, you wrote:
>Flight of Butterflies is one of my favorite Siberians.
>I purchased it from White Flower Farm the year they
>introduced it because it was said to be a dwarfer
>Siberian. There are many gardeners like myself who
>prefer smaller plants but it seems few of us remain in
>the Iris Society where bigger is always perceived as
>better. As a representative of the counter-culture I
>might also point out that Garden judging usually is
>performed on Farm rows of Irises, and I sometimes
>doubt the validity of such as recommendations to
>gardeners as opposed to collectors. Many Plant
>Societies over time decline because their cognoscenti
>are looking for something different than the gardening
>public. Flight of Butterflies is a wonderful garden
>plant that fits in the smaller, modern perennial
>borders. I spoke to Jean Witt the registrant of
>Flight Of Butterflies as to the fact that I thought it
>a charming dwarf and she was somewhat surprised. She
>had registered it at up to 90cm and I am sure that's
>how it had performed for her. But the plants
>distributed widely by White Flower Farms were somewhat
>smaller, and that is how they advertised them. It is
>possible that F of B can grow this well but wherever I
>have seen it is definitely smaller that adjacent
>Siberians. I suspect it is all a matter of
>environmental conditions rather than errors on
>anyone's part. As to its background, just because seed
>is labeled a certain way is no reason to accept that
>as fact. Some of the best collectors, best botanical
>gardens, and most fastidious gardeners all have
>instances where something turns out different from as
>labeled. That is one reason for checklists. There is
>little doubt in my mind that F of B is not a pure Iris
>sibirica. There is variation in every species and the
>purpose of the Founders of SIGNA medal is to award
>variations within species that are exceptional garden
>plants.
>
>--- Irisquilt@aol.com wrote:
>
> > I am not a botanist or horticulturist by formal
> > training but came up through
> > National Garden Clubs Judges program including AIS
> > Judges schools since the
> > mid '60's. It sure looks like I. sibirica as does
> > Shaker's Prayer. I had a
> > similar iris in my garden that just appeared in the
> > late '60's and Steve Vainer
> > was in the garden and I asked him about it and he
> > said "it was not finished" and
> > I am still wondering what I was supposed to do-it
> > does show in my
> > parentage's. However it was tossed many years ago as
> > inferior. After many years of
> > hybridizing-from Mr. Cassebeer, Dr. McGarvey, Bee
> > Warburton, Dr. Currier McEwen,
> > Steve Varner, Robert Hollingworth, Marty Schafer/Jan
> > Sachs, + numerous others
> > ....... to name a few-selecting and improving the
> > forms and colors of siberians
> > a'la SSI. New people are coming along and newly
> > discovering which in the '60's
> > were considered species. At a later date I may find
> > photos that had
> > description and send it to the list. In fact I have
> > located it.
> > anna mae miller
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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