Hybridizer William Arlie Payne (1881-1971)

Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

Received the American Iris Society Hybridizer Award in 1964. The Payne Medal for Japanese irises is named in his honor. See the Payne Medal for a fuller description of his accomplishments.

From The Bulletin of the American Iris Society, No. 201(April 1971): Arlie Payne died February 13, one week after his 90th birthday. He had been in good health until his death. He was born on a farm near Terre Haute, Ind., and there he early learned the effort and rewards in winning the fruits of the earth. After graduating from Central Normal College in Danville, Ind., he returned to Terre Haute to learn pattern making. Three years later he went west to spend two years in a redwood lumber camp, and then returned to Terre Haute as a portrait and outdoor photographer. A year later he began attending classes at the Chicago Art Institute, and worked for a Chicago photographer. There he met Clara Gaertner, who became his wife in 1907. They returned to Terre Haute in 1908, and after a brief adventure in real estate, he returned to pattern making.

He began raising peonies as a hobby. This move led him to enter the landscaping business "as a means of personal expression." He bought sixteen acres of land south of Terre Haute and returned to the soil for a livelihood. In the late 20's he learned about Japanese irises. Earlier, while in Chicago, he had made a warm friendship with Dr. Cho-Yo, who had been in charge of Japanese art at the Columbian Exposition and who started him collecting Japanese ceramics and prints. In 1932 Arlie Payne made his first crosses with Japanese irises, and during the next thirty-four years he was to raise 100,000 seedlings, number 1349 and register 170. Early in his work he committed himself to developing "a race suitable for outdoor American plants." There had to be a beautiful flower; the plant had to be hardy, vigorous and of good form compatible with the flower. He used thirty-two varieties as source material, but depended principally on six Edo varieties to establish his line.

He kept meticulous records of every cross, and each cross was meticulously protected against accidental pollination. He used Ridgway's Color Standards and Nomenclature in recording flower descriptions. All of his original records, breeding charts and analyses of results have been given to AIS. Arlie Payne entered 48 of his varieties in competition with 198 other varieties in the 1963 Internationale Garten Ausstellung, and won the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals with his BLUE NOCTURNE, FASHION MODEL and ORCHID MAJESTY, respectively. A year later he won the Silver and Bronze Medals at the Vienna Internationale Gartenschaus with THE GREAT MOGUL and CONFETTI SHOWER, respectively. In 1964 he was awarded the Hybridizers Medal by AIS. Upon invitation from the Japan Iris Society, he spent seven weeks in Japan as their guest during the 1967 blooming season, following the bloom from south to north. His friends remember him as a quiet but warm and friendly person. He was an aesthete and humanist. He loved natural beauty and the arts in all their forms. His life was devoted to adding to the beauty which he so much enjoyed and wanted to share with everyone else. — W. E. Ouweneel

Registrations/Introductions:

Japanese (A-M): 'Aura', 'Bejewelled Mogul', 'Blue Nocturne', 'Blue Streamline', 'Bluetone', 'Brite Sprite', 'Butterfly Prince', 'Carnival Queen', 'Cascade And Billows', 'Chocolate Maid', 'Classic Modern', 'Cobra Dancer', 'Confetti Shower', 'Cresting Waves', 'Dame Fortune', 'Dancing Waves', 'Danseur Noble', 'Danseuse', 'Dappled Dragon', 'Dark Rhythm', 'Dazzling Debutante', 'Debonair Colossus', 'Debonair Prince', 'Dishevelled Beauty', 'Distant Echo', 'Dream Princess', 'Dusk And Dreams', 'Enchanted Lake', 'Enchanted Swan', 'Fairy Carillon', 'Fall And Frost', 'Fashion And Fancy', 'Fashion Classic', 'Fashion Fete', 'Fashion Model', 'Fiery Steed', 'Flush O' Violet', 'Flying Crane', 'Flying Stag', 'Flying Tiger', 'Fondest Expectations', 'Frills And Spangles', 'Garden Capri ce', 'Garden Enchantress', 'Gay Enchantress', 'Gay Festoon', 'Gay Firefly', 'Gay Temptress', 'Gayety', 'Glint O' Copper', 'Glitter And Gayety', 'Glitter And Glamour', 'Grand Patriarch', 'Happy Awakening', 'Immaculate Glitter', 'Imperial Ballerina', 'Imperial Fireworks', 'Imperial Imp', 'Imperial Purple', 'Imperial Raiment', 'Imperial Robe', 'Imperial Splendour', 'Imperial Venus', 'Imperial Violet', 'Ivory Glow', 'Ivory Mantle', 'Jewelled Beauty', 'Jewelled Sea', 'Joyful Greeting', 'Joyous Troubador', 'Joyous Youth', 'Lady Gay', 'Lilac Fairy', 'Lilac Garden', 'Lilac Pageant', 'Love Goddess', 'Magic Opal', 'Magic Ruby', 'Magic Spark', 'Memorial Tribute', 'Midwest Idyll', 'Midwest Splendor', 'Milady's Fan', 'Miss Coquette', 'Miss Simplicity', 'Mist O' Morn', 'Mulberry Splendor', 'My Fancy',

Japanese (N-Z): 'Night Blizzard', 'Night Festival', 'Night Music', 'Nippon Miss', 'Nocturnal Shadow', 'Nocturnal Splendor', 'Ode To Joy', 'Orchid Majesty, 'Oriental Amethyst', 'Oriental Ballerine', 'Oriental Elegance', 'Oriental Fantasy', 'Painted Princess', 'Pillar of Fire', 'Popular Acclaim', 'Powder And Paint', 'Premier Danseur', 'Prima Ballerina', 'Princess Aurora', 'Queen's Chalice', 'Red Titan', 'Reigning Beauty', 'Restless Sea', 'Rose Adagio', 'Rose And Silver', 'Rose Cavalier', 'Rose Fantasy', 'Royal Sapphire', 'Ruffled Swan', 'Scheherazade', 'Scherzo', 'Seafury', 'Shadow Play', 'Sheer Elegance', 'Sheer Fascination', 'Sheer Glamour', 'Silver Cascade', 'Silver Crest', 'Silver Filagree', 'Silver Frills', 'Silver Surf', 'Singing Sprite', 'Siren Song', 'Sky And Water', 'Smiling Beauty', Snow Glitter', 'Snowy Ruffles', 'Solemn Farewell', 'Spirit Lake', 'Spirit Of Shadow', 'Strut And Flourish', 'Sure Allure', 'Swirling Waves', 'The Great Mogul', 'Token of Friendship', 'Velvet Majesty', 'Venetian Night', 'Venetian Velvet', 'Vintage Festival', 'Violet And Silver', 'Violet Enchantress', 'Violet Lustre', 'Violet Splendor', 'Violet Voltage', 'Wabash Enchantress', 'Welcome Greeting', 'Western Symphony', 'Whiff O' Smoke', 'Whippoorwill', 'Whooping Crane', 'Wind And Sea', 'Windswept Beauty', 'Winged Chariot', 'Winged Serpent', 'Winged Sprite', 'Wings Aflutter', 'Wings Of Triumph', 'Winter Festival', 'Wistaria Enchantment', 'Wounded Dragon'.

-- Main.RPries - 2012-05-18