One way to solve the problem of the discontinuance of old and new irises that you think are superior, but that seem to be under-distributed, is to provide them free or in trade to other members when you divide a clump.

Ghio had long discontinued his "Bubbling Over" and when I recognized that it was a vigorous, floriferous, bubbly, fragrant, survivor of total neglect, heat humidity, rot and borers, I made sure that about 6 people who wanted it, got it by mail. Everyone involved were pleased to reimburse me for postage, and did, quite promptly. The rest of the rhizomes I either replanted or took to our local society sale. I feel glad that it is now distributed a bit more widely, and hope that those who received it will do the same in turn.

I seem to recall that Joe Ghio is in his 80s so it's quite understandable that he is cutting back. From what I see in Brad's seedlings, I look to Brad to take up the torch for Joe, as Joe gradually retires. I'm sure Joe sees and appreciates Brad's continuance of his beautiful ruffled forms. I would think it would be gratifying to see one's life endeavors continued.

Iris Sisters has also reduced her inventory as the physical work is too much. A lot of our favorite people are feeling the pains of advancing years.

Tom, I am not criticizing Mid-America nor anyone else for failing to keep certain iris in stock. Of course no one can possibly manage an infinitely growing list of iris.

It is one thing if they keep a clump to use in hybridizing, and quite another to grow enough of each variety to be able to list it for sale. Brad's post in which he describes having to delay introduction because he doesn't have enough for something to be listed to the public brings home the realities of the process.

This why I think it will have to be iris lovers like us who have to take up the slack, perhaps with the assistance of a non-profit like the iris society - maybe a good start is making a database of what might be for sale that is more robust. This could include not only commercial growers but say club members who'd be willing to sell something from their garden.

A lot of us trade or give iris away to members here (thank you) or to friends offline. But some of us don't want to be bothered with that. Someone may want an iris, but can't find a trading partner because the other person hasn't anything available that they want, etc.

I don't know, but it seems to me that AIS membership may be declining. Perhaps creating a program like this as a member benefit might help increase membership and deal with preservation. A club might want to sponsor a specific database, such as "older iris by Joe Ghio" or some other category that allows some group to bite off a manageable piece of the task. All this is just brainstorming on my part, because it is helping me procrastinate doing work. :)

The reason I mention a role for the iris society is it is a non-profit and could do some sort of fundraising to pay people some sort of stipend to manage these databases. The good thing about it is that this involves mainly computer work/communications rather than physical infrastructure or hands in the dirt effort.

All these iris one might be looking for are someplace - maybe even someone's local garden store that doesn't sell online. Or some gardener that doesn't even know this forum exists. I think a major help is to network knowledge or where these iris are actually growing for those who are seeking them.

With non-profit backing, a local school could get students involved to help and promote interest in iris with young people, for example. They'd get database management as gardening knowledge - all useful things to learn.

The biggest challenge is coordinating the resources and because the AIS is so connected all over, it seems like a project that might invigorate the organization and expand membership to people who are not looking to go to meetings in person, or do shows or many of the traditional activities of the society.

tveguy3 said: The first one, 20-133 (17-69A x 16-83B Star Turn X 13-50B (Just Witchery X Magical) A
and the Last one, 21-161 (19-84E X Musicality) Really grabbed my attention. Once again, I'm short on time to more carefully assess them right now and I'm sure I'll will find more that I'd want when I have more time.

Lyn, Iris Sisters seems to have a lot of the older ones, and I think they take on many of the Keppel irises that he moves out to make room for his next season of irises. I learned long ago that as much as I'd like to keep every iris that I see, that there are limits to what I can keep. Those limits are shrinking as I age and have to accept that I just can't do as much as I used to.
A large company like Mid America that makes their total living from selling iries, can't hang on to varieties that they don't have a viable market for. They need to have stock in the ones that they can sell. I'm sure that they have a few of their favorites that they keep on hand for their own personal enjoyment, and some for breeding stock for hybridizing, but they are in business and have to make decisions on what they keep and what they discontinue based on good business sense. Those of us who only have an emotional involvement in irises, can hang on to the ones we're attached to, as we're not making a living from them. What happened to that iris finder link that was useful in helping us find rare or hard to find irises? It would be nice to have that updated. Also there is a forum on here for finding sources of irises to trade, I haven't seen that active in a long time.

Maryann.. I'm thrilled your still on here and hoping some of the ATP group from years ago were still active Thank you for commenting on my iris kids it's been a long process ..life the past couple years has been beyond busy just trying to keep up with the storms has been a challenge there was a tornado last march, 2 major hail storms and a tenant caught one of the rentals on fire right before I left for Oregon did not leave me much downtime to relax or spend sitting in front of the computer and go over pictures Thankfully this year has been much different

Deryll. Welcome to Iris and Thanks I wish the field and beds always looked like that as you know there is a constant battle going on with the weeds some years I win and keep ahead of them and other years Im happy when Mother Nature freezes them Im guessing your November has been on the warmer side like us we have had most of the month here in the 60's pretty rare for midwest weather Ive been able to get a lot of projects that were going to wait for spring done so Thankful were not frozen yet not ready for the long winter!

Tom.. you've got a good eye love your picks you will have to help me go through them in the spring ..the orange one 19-35A is the furthest along I think there 35-40 plants after I lined it out but if it keeps growing well that one will have a future it checks all the boxes and the color is awesome ..the 19-101 cross was good my favorite was the pure white its really lacy and good stalks probably had 60 of them in bloom from the cross together and had one of the garden clubs over when they were at peak and they wanted a lesson in Hybridizing so we went over form and branching, bud counts and studying the plant for increases so then I gave them a challenge we have all these similar colors all very pretty which one is different and has the best of the qualities that we just talked about there job was to play hybridizer and pick 1 from the bunch to keep it was fun to see there reactions and choices trying to choose just 1

Laurie.. 21-196A was saved I loved the form on it and it was used in some crosses this year as I'm trying to keep advancing that form onto other colors some things show lots of progress and others is like a snails pace especially Reds I get all these pretty colors but not quite what Im after yet with the form.

Joshua.. Thanks it was my favorite of the group couldn't think of anything else like it which is always the goal something unique loved the sunset colors on the falls with those beards was very happy with that one !

Derlyin..Im glad you like the pictures have had some good things bloom the past few seasons which gives encouragement to keep going with them I miss the catalogs we used to get especially Barry's from Australia it always came this time of the year to get me excited and show what's possible for new color patterns really wish I could have seen his seedling beds before he retired.
We are just getting started with the pictures Ive been a busy bee you will have to send me a list when we get to the end of your favorites it helps when I know people want to grow them in there garden as that is my goal I want to create plants us Gardners look forward to in the spring they are what helps us get through the cold winter months here

Daisy.. You bring up some good points about branching and bud counts and my thinking is the more buds the better and after spending many springs in Salem with Keith his branching standards have started to rub off on me his plants are incredible and you can guarantee that if your buying one of his it is a beauty nothing escapes out of there unless it fits his criteria.
But the pollen dauber in me also can appreciate having the opportunity to work with plants that are not necessarily a finished product and still need some work to get them there those are the jewels that give us the chance to unlock new colors and patterns many of Barrys things were that way he thought outside of the box and I think his goals were to produce something different that people looked forward to every spring and where would we be without his creations.. A good example of this would be (Decadence) the branching is tight and I used to see the (Judges) complain online about it but the majority of them don't hybridize anything and they missed what an amazing breeder it is the database here is showing it has produced 420 registered children and there will be 1 more from me coming from it from me ..where would we be at today if he would have thrown it away because it lacked show branching. just my thoughts on it.

Lyn.. On the Mid America plants I think Thomas catalogs his own for 4 -5 years unless it is an excellent seller especially lately he has had a large number of new intro's don't quote me on the exact number but probably close to 200 every year counting the smaller ones ..those all require a lot of space and time to dig and move every season if something does not sell good it won't stay there long he just has too many coming along what helps is he also has a huge customer base across seas that supplies Australia and Europe with plants and it takes a lot to keep up with the worldwide demand goes to show how good he is that he can keep up that pace .. last years popular Lovely Livvy was sold out In May while I was there so depending on how much he sold maybe holding things back for adequate stock ?

Im glad your into Luminata's me too will have some to share pics of soon I especially like the fancies and have some good reds coming they are a bright splash of color in the garden early in the season ..Baltimore is one I enjoy every year it really does well here comes from 2 very good parents so I want to work with the pedigree but has been a tough parent for me very rarely has pollen just the past couple years having some success with it as it sets pods should have a bunch more kids bloom from it in May.

I certainly hope in the future we can get more people involved in Iris I think it starts by using the resources that are now available like social media and getting pictures of gardens and flowers out there in the world it amazes me when I post pictures on my instagram page and get replies from over seas or messages wanting to buy them from different countries it just shows the reach it can have for commercial growers .. one thing I am trying this year that is new for me is locally trying to bring in more people to iris by getting the nurseries involved .. one garden center in our area had an iris show and some of the people putting it on come stopped by here and we picked out whatever they wanted for the show so we could give the general public a taste of what's new in the iris world it sounds like it was a hit ..

My neighbors run a garden center that sells annuals and baskets in the spring throughout the summer they provide Country Entertainment for people to be able to get out of the city and bring the kids to get on rides and feed the animals in late September/October they put on a fall fest with tractor rides/corn maizes/ pumpkin patches/fall mums/ weekend concerts the highway in October lines up with cars to look like a mall entrance they stopped over during bloom this season and quickly fell in love with the Iris and it was the perfect year for it because I cut back the field plantings to half of what they were so I could make room ..normally what I'm getting rid of is tossed but instead the commercial plants and unwanted seedlings were given to them to start an Iris Festival here in the spring they will sell the cut flower stalks/ open it up for photographers and have wine tasting in the evenings with the goal of getting more people involved with Iris they average around 30k visitors in the fall if we get a small portion of that here in the spring to see the iris it will lead to many good things. I think they were able to plant 10 200ft rows out of those plants once the plants settle in will be an amazing show Im looking forward to seeing my little experiment grow into something bigger for the community here and planting seeds for future Gardners.

(Baltimore X Innocent Miss) 21-187A

One of the 1st projects I started with was trying to add the Ghio form to Blues at that time in 2013 very few new Blues were being introduced and we still have that problem today not much has been done with them and I have found out why.. after what seems like thousands of seedlings blooming it is hard to get anything different in this color class one of the 1st crosses I made with that goal in mind was 2 of Barrys plants Ride The Waves and Just Witchery one for the color and the other for the form .. for those of us who like to hybridize you know its pretty rare to get what you were looking for Colorwise crossing to modern day iris together will not lead to the colors you want normally so was absolutely thrilled when this bloomed.. I should have named it Beginners Luck because I can't seem to make much more progress yet .. It is at Schreiners but once again they want more stock of it so hopefully 2025

13-64 (Just Witchery X Ride The Waves) named Paia Bay after my favorite Surf Beach in Maui

I think I may have to have that one once it becomes available. Just beautiful!

Wow, you're lucky to get a seedling from Baltimore. I've tried to use it both ways every year since I've had it with no luck. Some years it has no pollen at all so I couldn't try that way. Nice yellow and blue with ruffles.

Paia Bay is going to be popular I think. Just so ruffly and a nice blue too.

Lyn and Marilyn, thank you for the acorns!

Lyn brought up the idea of getting the AIS or clubs or whatever to preserve/sell some of these disappearing irises.

Daylily lovers have long had a recourse/alternate source in the form of the Lily Auction, where you can look for/find/buy both plants no longer in (regular) commerce, as well as seeds (from designated crosses). https://daylily.com/cgi-bin/au...

I was surprised to find that there really wasn't something similar in the iris world.

Granted it's something of a mishmash, because you have both small commercial growers and people selling out of their back yards. It is also pretty much a matter of Buyer Beware, both for the quality of the plants (can you trust the seller, are his plants good sized and true-to-name?) but also in avoiding the dreaded daylily rust (what is the seller's reputation there, and/or does the plant come from the north (where rust may be winter killed) or does it come from the Rust Belt?).

But, this system works. It HAS worked for many years now. Some of my daylilies were obtained from that site. (Yes, some worked out, some didn't, but when a plant is hard to find elsewhere, the system works. Sometimes you just have to have patience waiting for that particular plant to pop up, but there is even a mechanism there, iirc, to put feelers out. (It's been some years now since I've bought any more daylilies.))

So maybe the iris society, as a whole, could get its act together and do something similar?

Sorry to keep hijacking your thread, Brad. That blue seedling is great.

I cannot love it enough!!!!

ARUBA1334 said: One of the 1st projects I started with was trying to add the Ghio form to Blues at that time in 2013 very few new Blues were being introduced and we still have that problem today not much has been done with them and I have found out why.. after what seems like thousands of seedlings blooming it is hard to get anything different in this color class one of the 1st crosses I made with that goal in mind was 2 of Barrys plants Ride The Waves and Just Witchery one for the color and the other for the form .. for those of us who like to hybridize you know its pretty rare to get what you were looking for Colorwise crossing to modern day iris together will not lead to the colors you want normally so was absolutely thrilled when this bloomed.. I should have named it Beginners Luck because I can't seem to make much more progress yet .. It is at Schreiners but once again they want more stock of it so hopefully 2025

13-64 (Just Witchery X Ride The Waves) named Paia Bay after my favorite Surf Beach in Maui

The other attempt to get something new in the violet/Blue color range was this gorgeous colored Iris it has been one of my best growers makes big plants, beautiful stems and love the contrast between the violet flowers and those powder blue beards especially impressive in clumps as shown in the pictures it has been a reliable bloomer here through some tough years and should do well all over the country..a special Thanks to Debra who came up with the name

13-102A (Friendly Advice X Ride The Waves) Blueberry Shortcake



I did quite a few crosses with it for a couple years as it has such good qualities and was hoping bred into some blues would get some different shades of violet/Blues with lines on the falls coming from the pedigree but it is a very dominant color I had almost a 150 ft row full of seedlings from it bred with other blues and most were the same color as it there were a few crosses that have some potentials and I saved some of them to
breed with..

19-28 (Clean Energy X Blueberry Shortcake)
A

B


19-196 ( Songsmith X Blueberry Shortcake)
A

B

C

D

E

F


19- 21A (Full Of Hope X Blueberry Shortcake)


16-48B(Magnanimous X Blueberry Shortcake)


17-17B (Gambling Man X Blueberry Shortcake)

ARUBA1334 said:
17-17B (Gambling Man X Blueberry Shortcake)

Love this color combo.

Dang... There simply isn't room enough, or energy enough, for all the irises I'd want!

Question for you Brad - these seedlings have wonderful color and form, but do you pay any attention at all to fragrance?

Blueberry Shortcake is the iris of my dreams!
I am fascinated by the way the color of the crosses with it come out - some resemble one parent, some the other, some neither one. Every one is stunning.

Brad had sent me Blueberry Shortcake a few years ago. It sure is a wonderful grower here, and a regular bloomer. Many of my garden visitors were enamored by it. A couple iris judges wanted to know if it was going to be introduced. I told them, "I hope so". They will be glad to find it with a name now.

The seedlings that you kept sure are beautiful. You might get some lines on the falls of the next generation if you cross them with others that have them. I love the Full of Hope cross.

Brad, I'm really interested in the business arrangements of the "going pro" process. Would you mind explaining a bit?

My questions:

1)how many plants do you have to deliver to the grower for it to be catalogued?

2) Do you get paid when a plant sells or do you get some kind of advance? Or you have to pay them something in advance?

3) Do you have to agree to exclusively sell plants through them in order for them to do intros? If so, for how many years does the contract last? Do you have to put all your intros with them, or can you place other varieties elsewhere? Wondering how you handle iris that your grower doesn't want to take, but that you feel are ready to be introduced.

4) Who sets the price of the iris? What percentage does the grower take?

5) How much input does the grower have on which cultivars are listed? For example, do they say, "I'll take 20, you pick" or do they choose which ones they want to take?

If these questions are annoying please don't feel obliged to answer.

Good questions, Lynn. I've been curious about that, myself.

I tried Blueberry Bliss, but was disappointed with its poor substance and yanked it out.

Blueberry Shortcake seems to be quite similar in color, so now I want it. Brad, do you have it for sale? I love that blue/violet color!

I have no idea either, but I'd guess it would be individually negotiated between the grower and the seller, so there could be a variety of resolutions to each question. I'm thinking a noted hybridizer might be able to negotiate a more favorable contract than a beginner. But it's all speculation on my part. Also a less worldly renowned vendor might require less than a big well known vendor. Kent might also provide some help here, since he's more recently begun the process.

Same here. Since I saw it, it's hard not to think of it constantly.

DaisyDo said: I tried Blueberry Bliss, but was disappointed with its poor substance and yanked it out.

Blueberry Shortcake seems to be quite similar in color, so now I want it. Brad, do you have it for sale? I love that blue/violet color!