Hybridizer Eva Faught (1888 - 1978)

Carbondale, Illinois, USA

Eva Faught was born in Shelbyville, Illinois, in 1888 to John and Eliza Fought (it is unknown why she spelled her last name differently from her parents). She spent her early professional years as a bacteriologist in Springfield, and relocated to Carbondale, IL, when the new offices of the State Department of Health were located there. It was here that she created a garden and started hybridizing with irises. She concentrated mainly on blue and white irises. She introduced irises thru the 1940s and 1950s. In 1955 she traveled abroad to England and then to South Africa, where she visited with her sister. A few years later she retired and moved to Cuernevaca, Mexico, where she built a small home in the style of the Midwest. She passed away in 1978 at the age of 90, having been cared for by an order of Mexican nuns in her final years. Eva Faught was a very harsh critic of her own creations, and is said to have carried a machete with her during bloom season, ruthlessly slashing varieties to the ground that did not meet her exacting standards. Illinois Sunshine was a very popular yellow, but it was two of her blues, sister seedlings 'Cahokia' and 'Pierre Menard', that really brought her renown and a well-deserved place in Iris history. Miss Faught had a shorter career than most in the iris world, but made a very big impact. The development of modern blues would not have been the same without her contributions.

-- Taken from Classic Hybridizers: Eva Faught by Mike Unser, AIS Blog, December 23, 2013.

See below:

• Gardens
• Registrations and Introductions (by Class)
• Registrations and Introductions (by Year)
• Seedlings

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Gardens

Eva Faught did not have a commercial garden. Her introductions form 1946 to 1949 were introduced through Ralph Schroeder, propietor of A Village Garden in Warrensburg, Illinois.

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Registrations and Introductions (by Class)

Tall Bearded: 'Audubon', 'Cahokia', 'Carbondale', 'Eva Sloan', 'Illinois Sunshine', 'Laguna', 'Lavone', 'Lemoyne', Madame Chouteau', 'Morning', 'Pierre Menard', 'Roxy', 'Spring Furlough', 'Sunrise Shadows', 'White Chalice'.

Registrations and Introductions (by Year)

1946: 'Illinois Sunshine'

1948: 'Cahokia', 'Pierre Menard'

1949: 'Morning', 'Sunrise Shadows'

1953: 'Eva Sloan'

1956: 'Carbondale'

1957: 'White Chalice'

Unintroduced: 'Audubon', 'Laguna', 'Lavone', 'Lemoyne', Madame Chouteau', 'Roxy', 'Spring Furlough'

Seedlings

Eva Faught Seedlings used in hybridizing.