Development of Blended Tall-Bearded Irises
From the "The World of Irises" Chapter 4 by Melba B Hamblen and Keith Keppel. © 1978 AIS
INTRODUCTION TO TALL-BEARDED IRIS DEVELOPMENT
----
VIOLET, ROSE, AND RED BLENDS
In the early days of hybridizing, many violet and rosy violet flowers had a great amount of yellow at the haft or incompletely blended into the flower. As breeders worked to clarify the colors and to develop more pure "selfs," the blends fell into disfavor.
Interest in the blends as a class has recently reawakened. Many of the early
Sass blends, such as
'Rameses' which won the 1932 Dykes Medal, and
'Matula' and
'Midwest Gem' are in the ancestry of the best pink, rose, or red blends.
Agnes Whiting relied heavily on Sass lines. Crossing 'Matula' with
Milliken's 'China Maid' gave her
'Three Oaks' and
'Tea Rose'; later generations yielded
'Campfire Glow' and
'Gypsy Rose'. 'Campfire Glow' and
'Lady Albright' contributed to the makeup of
Mayberry's 'Jungle Bird', a rich blend of claret, amaranth and violet. Successive generations gave
'Martel' for
Muhlestein, and
'Pagan' for
Dunn, both glowing red to plum blends.
----
A DAUNTLESS DUO
Carl Milliken made use of the red
'Dauntless' to create the bronzy pink blend,
'China Maid'; for
Carl Salbach 'Dauntless' yielded the lightly blended pinkish lilac
'Miss California'. Both were introduced in 1936. Salbach continued the blend line, producing
'Sultan's Robe' and
'Oriental Glory' in later generations.
Meanwhile,
Tom Craig had crossed 'China Maid' with the Sass plicata
'Tiffany', getting a red blend he called
'Redboy'; 'Redboy' crossed with 'Sultan's Robe' gave the famous bronzy red
'Savage'. Schreiners combined 'Savage', 'Oriental Glory',
'Inca Chief', and
'Lady Albright' to establish a red blend line which resulted in
'Royal Tapestry',
'Glowing Tiara', and
'Paris Lights'.
Gaulter's modern blend line is interesting. From the lavender rose blend
'Mademoiselle' and the peach-apricot
'Glittering Amber' came the strangely colored raspberry and tan
'Claudia Rene'. Later developments from this line include
'Baccarat',
'Cape Town', and
'Grape Festival'.
As parentages have become more complex, blends have at times occurred unexpectedly;
Hamner's 'Gypsy Belle', a blended violet with rusty plum standards and fall margins, came from the yellow and white
'Debby Rairdon''' and the yellow
'New Moon'.
Plough's plum to reddish brown
'Punchline', with its lighter falls and dark fall margin, involves
'Good News',
'Pretty Quadroon', and pink derivatives.
A similar pattern is found in
Blocher's 'Louise Watts', which goes back to
'Amethyst Flame' and tangerine-bearded orchids,whites, and pinks.
======================================================================================================
The World Of Irises continues with
The Search For Fire Engine Red
======================================================================================================
----
GALLERIES OF BLENDS (under Construction}
For more information on historic Irises visit the Historic Iris Preservation Society at
http://www.historiciris.org/
--
BobPries - 2015-10-20