Raring to Go

Iridescent violet standards are unusually sunfast. Its flaring falls show off a broad beard and stippled signal that are unusually prominent for a quarterbred.

From Soul Kiss X Whirlwind Romance, For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB-.

Red Earth

Pale greyed yellow-orange standards. Slightly darker ground of falls shows in a clear 3/8" rim around a solid overlay of red-orange. Arrow-shaped signal spot formed of brownish-black stripes. (Sojourn x Almost) X Welcome Reward. A fully fertile ½-bred that's given me many impressive offspring, mostly in shades of yellow and reddish-brown – for example, #88-1-8, which is shown in the 1991 ASI Yearbook – but also a burgundy-on-ivory-and-lilac seedling whose flower closely resembles those of the tetraploid ¾-breds, but whose plant is like those of the ½-breds. A carrier for pink. I was searching for a name for this one when I read an article about the annual Red Earth festival held in Oklahoma City. Aha! A perfect fit because the color of the falls is very close to that of the red clay of Oklahoma.

Redwing's Brave

Smooth violet standards, reddish purple falls. Deep purple-black lines in signal area. Heart Stealer X Mary of Magdala. I've used it for a range of "pinkish" varieties, as well reddish-violets. Not as sunfast as Mary of Magdala or Deborah's Song, but produces nice, more sunfast seedlings when paired with varieties like these. A fully fertile halfbred that I recommend to beginners. Try it with Merriglow. Someone had suggested the name "Redwing" for this one, but that name had already been used and as I thought it needed a more masculine name it evolved from "Redwing" into "Redwing's Brave".

Rhinestone Cowgirl

Near-self of soft magenta-rose that looks like it has been dusted with glitter. Promising for future developments in the pinkish lines. Heart Stealer X Whither Thou Goest. Judging from its pedigree, and the variation that appeared among its sibs, I expect it to also be useful in work toward veining and the pseudo-plicata pattern. "Rhinestone" came to mind to describe its sparkle. "Cowboy" followed naturally, as in the Glen Campbell song. But, cowboy? No way! This one has to be a Cowgirl!

Rose Colored Glasses

ROSE COLORED GLASSES  (McAllister, 1995)

An excellent example of pleasant surprises in the seedling patch, this pastel ground and intricate dotting and veining came from a line of pinkish-violets.

Its veining looks near-black to the naked eye, reddish-violet through UV-filtered glasses, and near-red through some sunglasses – as we learned in a three-way garden debate about its color. Even iris look different when you view the world through "Rose Colored Glasses".

A fully fertile halfbred from Heart Stealer X Whither Thou Goest, this has even produced quarterbreds with aril-like dotting and veining. Some of its seedlings show plicata-like patterns, some have heavy veining and nice signals. 

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB.

Rose of Sharon

Iridescent rose-violet standards. Dusty rose-violet falls, covered with a wash of color that starts with terracotta along the hafts and blends to almost blood-red near the black-purple beard. Martha Mia X Expert Advice. Good for a range of pinkish, pinkish-violet, and smoky tones as well as more flamboyant colors. A fully fertile ½-bred I recommend highly for beginners. While searching for a Biblical name for one of Gene Hunt's seedlings, I ran across "Rose of Sharon". I decided it would be the perfect name for one of my own introductions and, somewhat suprised that it hadn't already been used, put it on my list. The next day, I matched it with a previously selected seedling that had enough rose in it to justify the name.

Simply Luscious

SIMPLY LUSCIOUS  (McAllister, 1994)

A quarterbred from unconventional breeding as the pod parent was a halfbred, Casa Vicente, and the pollen parent a quarterbred, Joint Venture. 

A cocoa-pink, almost-bitone-but-near-self with chocolate beard and a chocolate veining and stippling. Casa Vicente X Joint Venture. 

A ¼-bred from ½-bred x ¼-bred breeding, which has shown no signs of fertility so far. 

I really tried to find a descriptive name, but the best description was "pink and yellow miniature marshmallows melted into a cup of hot cocoa". How do you express that in three words or less? Finally, "Simply Luscious" bubbled up somewhere from my subconscious.

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB-.

Singing Bird

Pinkish-violet standards. Yellow ground of falls shows through at the heart and a rosy overlay blends from yellow through apricot to dusty rose at the outer edge. Burgundy beard and signal spot. Heart Stealer X Mary of Magdala. A fully fertile halfbred that has produced some good pinkish-yellow blends, as well as a spectacular smoky-lilac when paired with Whirlwind Romance. There's nothing in the appearance of this one to suggest its name – so where did the name come from? While I was sitting in the garden one beautiful spring day, quietly making notes, the birds were marking territories in song – reminding me of the name of a many-times-great grandmother, Singing Bird. Aha! That would be a good name for an iris!

Son of Boaz

Dare I say, an "improved" Boaz? Much like its valued parent, and long known to garden visitors as "Boaz, Jr." – but the markings are more precise. Both its white-ground standards and its ivory falls are finely veined and dotted mulberry. The mulberry dotting is most intense around the deep burgundy-black beard. Boaz X Jean Ralls.

Song of Babylon

Pale lilac standards. Tuscan yellow falls are covered with a network of heavy rust veins. Sheik X Esther the Queen. A real "toughie" I've used as a "podder" for pollen from weaker plants with special flowers. Note its initials, because this is a long story. When the seedlings from the first-round selection of this cross were lined out they went into a new bed in a unfenced area – a bed that did not meet with the approval of the Great Pyrenees puppy. She'd dig them up. I'd plant them back. She'd dig them up. I'd plant them back. Finally, I gave up and abandoned the bed. In spite of this – no water, no fertilizer, no care – a lone survivor came up the following year. Gus thought that we should try to save it, dubbing it a "tough little S.O.B." Although we did not know which clone it was, at least I knew its pedigree so we moved it to a bed of seedlings undergoing evaluation. It not only thrived, but surprised me with a very nice flower: pale lilac standards; yellow falls covered with a network of heavy rust veins. It deserved an equally nice name, but by that time Gus' label had stuck and "Song of Babylon" was coined to match the initials it already bore.

Tattletale

TATTLETALE  (McAllister, 1998) 

This gray-violet bitone is covered by a smoky overlay when it opens. In full sun, the overlay burns off then the violet fades to tattletale grey as the flower ages and makes the large black, tongue-shaped signal even more prominent. A clump of flowers of different ages commands attention. A fully fertile halfbred, from Edith Seligmann X (Martha Mia x Moon Dust). For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB.

Things to Come

A harbinger of coming attractions in the near-arils, both flower and plant. Standards have gold filigree around the edge of an amethyst ground. Golden ground of falls shows only the edge, with center complete covered with deep ruby red. It was the forerunner of a type of 3/4-breds that are proving more gardenable. I wasn't the first to introduce an unbalanced tetraploid 3/4-bred, of course, but there haven't been enough of them for the group to gain popularity as a whole. This one comes from Balalaika Music X Thunderstorm, and has the excellent growth habits of its I. hoogiana heritage. Limited fertility with tetraploid arils, none in tests with halfbreds. Members of the IRIS-L may recognize this as the one Clarence Mahan dubbed "Fleur de Puce". 

Toldjaso

Standards have golden yellow veins on buff ground; falls have fine rust veins on yellow ground. Presumably triploid, from Child of God X Persian Embroidery. It's an unusually good pollen parent for its type, giving superior substance to its offspring. I've used it primarily for yellows and yellows marked with rust, but it's also given me an excellent, sun-resistant reddish-brown. In case it's not obvious, the name is a contraction of "Told You So". I have favored using the aril as the pod parent, of course, but the flowers don't always cooperate. Gus believed that it was better to make the reverse cross than not to make the cross at all. This was from Child of God X Persian Embroidery – a cross I wouldn't have made without his prompting – and while this is presumably triploid it has an unusual degree of fertility that still falls short of that of a fully-fertile halfbred. Standards have golden yellow veins on buff ground; falls have fine rust veins on yellow ground.

Topped With Cream

Creamy white standards. Chrome-yellow falls have a pale pinkish blush and almost solid burgundy veining in the signal area. A nice surprise from a cross (Desert Princess X Rose of Sharon) made for pinkish shades! Proven fertile but I have nothing to report because I've given away most of its seeds. The obvious name for this one would have been Banana Cream Pie – but that was already taken, so I had to settle for a less picturesque, but still accurate, description.