Hybridizer Hans Peter Sass --(1868-1949)
"Born in Alt Duvenstedt, Germany, and educated there until his parents emigrated to America in 1884 and settled on a farm near Omaha. He did general farming until 1903 when he purchased 80 acres near Washington, Nebraska and began giving considerable time to flower growing. He had always been a student of botany and the writings of Rev. C.S. Harrison turned his attention to Peonies and Irises. Now (1939) owner of Midwest Gardens, Elkhorn, Nebraska. He considers
'King Tut' his most important Iris as its "blood" went into nearly all his later varieties.
'Autumn Queen' is another gem, while
'Rameses' won the
American Dykes Medal"--1939 Checklist.
Among the first winners of the American Iris Society's
Hybridizer Award in 1941.
Hans Peter Sass, one of the most successful plant breeders in America, has laid down his work. He was born in Alt Duvenstedt, Germany, in 1868 and died in Bennington, Nebraska, on September 18, 1949. He studied botany and was interested in propagation from seed before he came to America with his parents in 1884. He bought a small farm near Omaha in 1903 and gave much of his time to growing all kinds of flowers, many of them from seed. By 1912 he had bloomed gladiolus, iris and peony seedlings from his own breeding and a few years later, hemerocallis, lilies and lilacs.
….He was a charter member of the American Iris Society and introduced his first iris,
'Midwest', in 1923. He was one of the first to cross pumila with tall bearded iris, producing the true intermediates, for which he was best known for the next few years. In 1925 he introduced
'King Tut', which he later considered his most important iris for breeding, but it never received any awards. A seedling from it,
'Rameses', became very famous and was awarded the Dykes Medal in 1932. He was not discouraged by the lack of awards for his earlier introductions, nor was he spoiled by the steady stream of them which came later. He brought out each new iris in his modest folder with only a line or two of description. Each year brought more H.M. and A.M. awards, and in 1943 his
'Prairie Sunset' was given the Dykes Medal.
….In 1941 he received the Gold Medal for Hybridizing from the American Iris Society. In 1947 he was awarded the
Foster Memorial Plaque by The Iris Society of England. President Geoffrey L. Pilkington visited America that year and told him of this award in his garden in Bennington, and it was a great privilege to see the pleasure it gave to both of them. Later he formally presented it to him at the AIS Annual Meeting in Evanston, amid the cheers of all present.
….Mr. Sass was very active in his work until a few weeks before his death. He enjoyed the 1949 iris season and made many crosses. His nephew, Henry E. Sass, brought him for his yearly visit to Maple Valley, where he was as keenly interested as ever in the new seedlings, many of which are descendants from his own varieties. With a twinkle in his eye, he carried home a stalk of a new pink one to use the pollen.
How fortunate for him, and for the world, that he was allowed so long and so fruitful a life. His work will never be finished, it will live on in millions of flowers, forever.
Agnes Whiting BAIS Jan 1950, p 72
see also:
wordliris Note: This no longer contains the Sass material. Using Archive.org it is clear that the above description had been there.
See
Henry Sass,
Jacob Sass,
Sass Brothers for additional Sass registrations:
Registrations:
Arilbred: 'Doxa'.
Intermediate Bearded: 'Abelard' 1934,
'Alice Horsfall' R.1932.
'Ambera' R.1930,
'Autumn Gleam' R.1934,
'Colleen' R.1931,
'Cosette' 1936,
'Doxa' 1929,
'EleanorRoosevelt' 1933,
'Gentius' 1934,
'Golden Bow',
'King Junior',
'Laura Hutcheson',
'Mrs. Wicht,
'Nyx',
'October Opera'.
'Old Gold',
'Olive White',
'Papio',
'Princess Marygold',
'Ragusa',
'September Skies',
'Southland',
'Spotless',
'Susa',
'TaWa',
'Ultra',
'White Autumn King'.
Miniature Dwarf Bearded: 'Autumn Queen',
'Black Maroon',
'Elf Queen',
'Frost Queen',
'Laddie Boy',
'October Blue',
'Pink Mauve',
'Pixie',
'Rose Mist',
'Sass Dark Ruby',
'Titania',
'Tony'.
Siberian: 'Amelia Earheart',
'Blue Charm'.
Spuria: 'Sunny Day'.
Tall Bearded: 'Acacia Rose',
'Al Lu We',
'Amenti',
'Amitola',
'Anitra',
'Anna Archer',
'Autumn Flame',
'Autumn Haze',
'Autumn King',
'Avondale',
'Baldwin',
'Ballet Girl',
'Balmung',
'Banded Beauty',
'Blended Beauty',
'Blue Hill',
'Blue Waves',
'Buto',
'Cambyses',
'Carnival Parade'.
'Chance White',
'Chocolate Cream',
'Churchmouse',
'City of Lincoln',
'Clara Noyes',
'Colossus',
'Coritica',
'Cyrus',
'Ella Callis',
'Elsa Sass',
'El Tovar',
'Euphony',
'Eventide',
'Firelight',
'Fontenelle',
'Garden Flame'.
'Giant Baldwin',
Giralda',
'Glad Song',
'Golden Light',
'Grace Ballard',
'Green Shadows',
'Gretchen',
'Hans Peter Sass Seedling #1,
'Iola',
'Imperial Blush',
'Indian',
'Irma Pollock',
'Joan Roe',
'Khorasan',
'King Juba',
'King Tut',
'Lochinvar',
'Midgard',
'Matula',
'Midwest',
'Midwest Gem',
'Midwest Pride',
'Minnie Colquitt',
'Miss Aravilla',
'Miss Camelia',
'Moon Ray',
'Nassak',
'Nebraska',
'No-We-Ta',
'October Maples',
'October Opera',
'Omaha',
'Oriana',
'Orloff',
'Ossar',
'Otoe',
'Patricia',
'Peachblow',
'Peaches',
'Persian Prince',
'Prairie Flame',
'Prairie Gold',
'Prairie Sunset',
'Purple Haze',
'Rameses',
'Red Torch',
'Redwing',
'Rhodora',
'Rose Mist',
'Rose Top',
'Royal Coach',
'Ruddy Dawn',
'Ruth Pollock',
'Sandalwood',
'Siegfried',
'Snow Velvet',
'Snowking',
'Sungod',
'Tarantella',
'Thuratus',
'Tiffany',
'Trostringer',
'Virgin Snow',
'Waconda',
'White Autumn King',
'White Windham'.
--
BobPries - 2011-06-16