Development Of Orange 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
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THE QUEST FOR ORANGE
Amazingly, the story of orange irises parallels that of the apricot class in the number of Award of Merit winners. The five AM winners in the orange class begin with Bro. Reckamp's 1961 introduction,
'Celestial Glory' ((
'Mary Randall' x
'Techny Chimes') x Hall 54-11), a smooth, heavily substanced golden tan orange with red-orange beards and full ruffled form. Hamblen's
'Orange Parade' ((
'Pink Tower' x '
'Radiation') x
'Pink Formal') x
Glittering Amber' sibling with marigold-orange standards, spanish-orange falls and deeper toned beards, was also a 1961 introduction. Fay's
'Chinese Coral' ('Mary Randall' x Lapham G-20) x
'Fleeta', was introduced in 1962. This is a broad petaled pinkish orange with bright chinese-coral beards, tailored form, strong stalks and excellent garden value.
Award of Merit Winners 196"
In 1963
Bro. Reckamp released his second AM winner,
'Mission Sunset' ((
'Techny Chimes' x
'Fleeta') x
'Celestial Glory'), a deep golden orange with a wash of chartreuse in the falls and bright red beards.
Plough' 1969
'Son of Star' (
'Flaming Star',
'Palomino',
'Apricot Glory',
'Ballerina' and
'Marilyn C') is an intense orange blend with a flush of pink at the midribs and red-orange beards accented by a yellow center area in the falls.
The challenge of breeding a good orange iris that will thrive in all areas has resulted in many outstanding introductions in this color class. Although they have fallen short of perfection, usually because of their inability to adapt to variable climatic conditions, each one has contributed to general improvement in clarity of color, form, branching and vigor. Varieties that appear in pedigrees include:
Suiter's 'Orange Frills' and
'Orange Crush';
Brown's 'Tantallon' and
'Neon Magic';
Fay's 'Orange Chariot' and
'Radiant Light';
Marsh's 'Prairie Blaze' and
'Tangerine Sunset';
Shoop's 'Spanish Affair' and
'Spanish Gift';
B. Jones's 'Bright Butterfly';
Mayberry's 'Orange Vista'. .
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"The World of Irises" continues with
The Development of Plicatas
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For more information on historic Irises visit the Historic Iris Preservation Society at
http://www.historiciris.org/
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BobPries - 2015-11-04