Showing posts with label Louisiana iris hybridizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Louisiana iris hybridizing. Show all posts

Monday, May 16, 2022

This N That

by Mel and Bailey Schiller

Time has run away from us these past months, and I realized it is our turn for a World of Irises blog post. Last week was a blur. We replanted around five acres of iris rhizomes and hired some help to get the job done. It was amazing to complete in seven days what normally stretches over months!

With that hard task behind us, we would like to share some of the reselect seedlings from the past season. Some of these hopeful varieties could be registered and introduced in the future. 

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C188-1
(‘Seeking Attention’ x Y105-B)

Oh yeah! This bloom is the epitamy of why Bailey hybridizes. Broken coloured flat seedling....the only goal in his mind! This seedling is a good start in the right direction. 

  H63-B

The seedlings re-selected are awesome for their first bloom: excellent branching, height, colour, bud count, and growth habit. We won't have a lot of work to do if they keep growing and blooming like this! 

H14-F
(‘Chaos Theory’ x ‘Fiasco’)

Bailey is making wonderful progress on diversifying flat, novelty irises. The colours that are starting to come through are amazing—this is one to watch!

H163-3

This seedling has intrigued us since its maiden bloom. The standards are a particular draw with the odd blotchy placement of the unusual spots. This past season we have used this particular iris in our hybridizing. We hope to germinate seeds.

 
I118-1
(‘Shaman's Magic’ x ‘Onlooker’)

We have also taken a fancy to arilbred irises. We love them and are striving to introduce our very own into this range. This particular cross only had the one bloom this past season, but we look forward to seeing more of this one next season. 

F8-4
(‘Dark Matter’ SDB x ‘Leopard Print’ SDB)

This little cutie looks like it may shape up to be a broken coloured SDB. We noticed it blooming and it gets to stay for another season.

Last season we experienced the unbelievable loss of my son and Bailey's brother. This season has been a blur and photos have not been the best quality. We hope for a much better season all around in 2022. 

We are also organizing seeds and cross tags from 2021. We managed to successfully produce over 180 crosses that will be planted into germination boxes over the next couple of weeks.  It is still incredibly warm here with next to no rain in sight. The seed will be going straight into boxes and we will water them daily from there. They stay outdoors to get exposure to cold temperatures, frost and hopefully some natural rainfall. 

In 2022, our work at Smokin Heights will be part of the National Iris Convention. It is being held in South Australia and our garden will be on tour Sunday. (Albeit the garden is open every weekend through October for those wishing to pay us a visit.) We sincerely look forward to your company.

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, winter is on its way sooner or later. We look forward to opening Facebook and seeing all the wonderful posts of iris photos from all over the Northern Hemisphere. We are blessed that telecommunications have advanced so far so we can share experiences between countries. 

Happy blooming season everyone!












 







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Monday, January 7, 2019

Diversity of Color in Louisiana Irises - Red Irises

by Ron Killingsworth

"The name Iris is derived from a Greek word meaning "rainbow" and is a fitting name for this beautiful family of flowers." (The Louisiana Iris - The History and Culture of Five Native American Species and their Hybrids, an official publication of the Society for Louisiana Irises.)

The pigments of the iris petals create the brilliant colors of irises.  There are many articles and books written on this subject, so feel free to "google" it and learn as much as you desire.  Our discussion today is simply about the wide range of colors to be found in this group of irises.

The color range of Louisiana irises had been greatly expanded by more than 75 years of hybridizing.

In other postings we have looked at other colors of Louisiana irises, in our search to study the diversity of color found in irises.  Now I want to start this discussion with the Louisiana irises that are red or somewhat red.  Color is a big subject and from reading the descriptions of irises in various registration documents, it is easy to see that not everyone describes one color the same as someone else.  Therefore, if some of the irises shown below are not what you consider red, then just remember that someone else thought it is indeed red!

'Acadian' by S. Conger 1956, is actually registered as rose color.

'Amber Goddess' by Charles Arny 1963, is registered as amber.  Irises from this period provided the colors needed to expand the diversity of color in Louisiana irises.

'Boiled Crawfish' by R. Guidry, 2016, is registered as red and although it is relatively new,
still has the old flower form like the Sidney Conger iris above.

'Captain Bill' by Sidney Conger, 1956, registered as red (Corinthian red) stands with mauve rose falls.

'Chacahoula Fire' by Rusty McSparrin, 2005, registered as orange red but there is much more going on in this iris.
Notice the signals are bordered in red. The pod parent was 'Cajun Caper' by MacMilliam in 1975, a violet iris.

'Cherry Cup' by R. Morgan, 1988, is registered as "full red".  This picture is really of two irises, one immediately above the one below.  Both parents are registered as red.

'Coral Island' by Peter Jackson of Australia, 2017, registered as "coral pink.  What a beauty.  Such "eye catching" signals and style arms. The pod parent is orange and the pollen parent is "ruby red".

'Exquisite Idea' by Heather Pryor of Australia, 2006, registered as "stands lemon, falls golden yellow" but I see some red in this iris, do you?  Also lots of other colors.  It is certainly "eye catching".

'Extra Dazzle' by Heather Pryor 2003, registered as "dark cyclamen rose".  The registration picture shows more green in the signals, and the next picture, shown below, does show more green in the signals.  I do not know if this bloom is older or newer than the one below.

'Extra Dazzle' - a love irises that have an "appropriate" name and this one certainly has extra dazzle.  There are not a lot of Louisiana irises with the signal on all petals.

'Fiesta Gal' by Charles Army, 1987, registered as "blood red". This iris was not used much by hybridizers,
I found only one other with his as the pod parent and none with the pollen parent.

'Fire Alarm' by Caroline Dormon in 1951.  Registered as "carmine self". See 'Wheelhorse' below for a similar iris.

'Flaming Hot' by Ron Betzer in 2016, registered as "stands red-orange and falls red-orange".  If you have access to the iris registration information, look up the parentage of this iris!

'Flash Harry' by Penny Davis of Australia in 2008.  The registration picture looks quite a bit different and talks about "red flush" and "wine red".

'Fringed Gold' by D. L. Shepard in 1992.  I am often asked to name my "favorite" iris and this one is always in the list of twenty to thirty "favorites".  It is registered as "brick red".

'Gladiator's Gift' by John Taylor of Australia in 1990.  Registered as "greyed red".  Looks red to me.

iris.nelsonii - one of the species of Louisiana irises

'Kerry Lynette Douglas' by D. R. Grieves of Australia 2007.  Registered as "greyed red" and "rusty red".

'News Brief' by Henry Rowlan 1982, registered as "red" and "chrysanthemum crimson".  More red here than the registration picture. 

'Our Friend Harry' by Ron Killingsworth, 2011.  I had to include at least one of mine, right?  Registered as "maroon" but I do not know why -- most men do basic colors and I would have thought I registered this as "red".

'Pointe Aux Chenes' by Joseph Musacchia in 2005.  OK, this one is not red but I like it and so here it is!  It is registered as "peach" but I see a lot of red in it.  The picture below is same iris, different view.

'Pointe Aux Chenes' -- look down into the area in the middle of the style arms and see if you think it has some red. Pointe Aux Chenes is, among other things, a wildlife management area in south Louisiana.

'Professor Neil' by Joseph Mertzweiller 1990.  As mentioned above, the tetraploid Louisiana irises, many of them anyway, came from Joe Mertzweiller's work with tetraploids many years back.  'Wheelhorse', described below, was included in the pod parent.

I do not know the name of this iris or where I found it.  We call them "surprises" around here and they pop up from time to time.  Could be a seedling, could simply be a named iris that has lot its identity.  I think it is pretty and red.

'Wheelhorse' by Caroline Dormon, 1952, registered as "rose bitone".  I found 14 irises with this as the pod parent and 24 with this as the pollen parent.  Still a show winner and was one of the irises treated with colchicine by Joseph Mertzweiller in his development of the the tetraploids Louisiana irises, many of which he named for his professor friends, such as 'Professor Marta Marie' (J. Mertzweiller, 1990) and many of them are "redish" in color.

To learn more about Louisiana irises, visit here. To learn more about all irises, visit the American Iris Society.

Next time we will look at yellow Louisiana irises.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Feeling The Blues

By Patrick O'Connor

If you are bored with blue, you might want to move on to greener, or more psychedelic, pastures.  This post is just about the pursuit of pale blue tones in Louisiana iris hybrids.  Kevin Vaughn calls them “icy” blue, and the color has intrigued several hybridizers.
In a way it is odd that it would be necessary to hustle after pale blue Louisiana hybrids since the color is found within the natural range of the blue species, I. giganticaerulea, I. brevicaulis, and, possibly, I. hexagona.  There are rare white forms of each, of course, and the intensity of the predominant blue color sometimes shades gradually toward white.
I don’t know much about the East Coast I. hexagona, but I have seen native stands of brevicaulis in Louisiana that exhibit a considerable range of blue hues within a short distance.  A case in point is a light blue in Gary Babin’s yard in Baton Rouge.  Gary has maintained an extensive planting of brevicaulis in many shades that originated with collections from a nearby wetland many years ago.   Almost all flowers are considerably darker, some a fairly deep blue-purple.


I. brevicaulis from Gary Babin in Baton Rouge

Pale blue I. giganticaerulea growing in LaPlace, LA
Several I. giganticaeruleas or related specimens are another example.  One, found in LaPlace, Louisiana, is the palest blue, nearly white.  Most giganticaeruleas are a darker blue, blue-purple or blue-lavender.
'Eolian'  -  Photo by Robert Treadway.
When I started with Louisiana irises in the late 1970s, Charles Arny’s ‘Eolian’ was the iris held up as the lightest of blues.  It’s still grown and sometimes wins shows, but ‘Eolian’, while lighter than most blue Louisianas, really is not the icy blue that has obsessed some of us.


'Delta Dove'
"Ice Angel'
Three examples of icy blues emerged in the 1980s:  ‘Delta Dove’ (Dunn, R1984); ‘Ice Angel’ (Faggard, 1988); and ‘Southdowns’ (O’Connor, registered in 1992 but first bloomed in 1980).   All these irises approached or met the color requirement, and they also offered a larger, fuller flower than ‘Eolian’.  I can’t speak from much experience about ‘Delta Dove’ and ‘Ice Angel’, having only seen them sporadically, but ‘Southdowns’ is mine and I am well acquainted with its characteristics. 


'Southdowns'
Some people say that it lacks substance.  I say, however, that it is a gossamer thing of ephemeral beauty – that lacks substance.  So what if you can almost see through a petal?  Isn’t everything supposed to be “transparent” these days?  Does the judges handbook suggest that poor substance is a fault?  Afraid so, but it is a great grower and a fine garden iris that looks especially nice at dusk and in a little shade.  ‘Southdowns’ may not be covered by the Second Amendment, but no one is going to take it away from me.
Another attribute of ‘Southdowns’, if you look closely, is that it really is not blue.  The color upon opening consists of fine purple veins over a white ground.  With time the purple lightens, and even at first and from a distance, the eye sees it as pale blue.  Newer icy blue hybrids are actually icy blue.
These early light blues did not seem to come from a disciplined pursuit of that color.  Dunn’s ‘Delta Dove’ might have, in that one parent was a seedling from two whites, ‘Ila Nunn’ and a white giganticaerulea (‘Her Highness’).  The cross was a wide one, however, with the other parent being the famous red ‘Ann Chowning’.  It was a roll of the dice for blues, but they produced a winner.
Nothing is known about the parentage of ‘Ice Angel’, and ‘Southdowns’ came from a bee pod on ‘Cajun Caper’ in the first year I fiddled with seeds.  (I am sure that the other parent was the blue ‘Mac’s Blue Heaven’ but I did not make the cross.  Cajun Caper’ is a red-violet blend with a strong orange suffusion).
'Bywater'
'Faubourg Marigny'
'Estelle Egan'
'Sarah Faith' - Photo by Robert Treadway
Later hybridizing has been more systematic.  There are five irises I would cite as modern examples of work leading to icy blue Louisiana irises.  Three are mine:  ‘Bywater’ ( R2005, Southdowns x Lake Sylvia); ‘Faubourg Marigny’ (R2011, Bywater x Beale Street); and ‘Estelle Egan’ (R2013, Bywater x Sinfonietta).  The fourth is ‘Sarah Faith’ (R2008, Dural Bluebird x Jeri) by the late M.D. Faith.  The last and most recent is Kevin Vaughn’s ‘Aqua Velva’, (R2014, Beale Street x Dural White Butterfly).
‘Bywater’ is actually blue, and like ‘Southdowns’, a very good grower.   The flower form is nearly overlapping, but depending how they are held, some blossoms may appear a bit open.
‘Faubourg Marigny’ is an even lighter blue.  In fact, it opens a pale, pastel blue over a white ground, and it does fade to near white.  Those icy genes clearly are there, however. 
‘Sarah Faith’ got by me.  I have only seen a picture sent by Robert Treadway, who told me about the iris.  It is a beautiful, ruffled pale blue.  Robert says the iris has a nice stalk, too, so everything considered, it was a real loss not to have grown this one, so far.  Judging from just the picture, it is right similar to the next iris.
‘Estelle Egan’ probably is my best pale blue.  It has the color right and adds both ruffling and improved substance.  The iris grows well and forms a nice clump.
I have only seen Kevin’s new ‘Aqua Velva’ one time in a garden, but it looks like a fine addition.  It certainly has a good pedigree, and what a perfect name!
'Aqua Velva'
I am excited about a new iris that popped up in the pursuit of light blues.  ‘House of Blues’, currently in process of registration, comes from a cross of the pastel blue ‘Faubourg Marigny’ and the pastel pink ‘Birthday Suit’.  ‘House of Blues’ may not qualify as icy, but it definitely is cool.


'House of Blues'
If anyone else is intrigued by icy blues, the groundwork done should support real progress.  A good strategy might be to work with strong whites and blues as well as with the existing icy hybrids.  It should be possible to develop pale blue irises with many of the good attributes of modern Louisianas.