The Heralds of Spring

By Virginia Spoon

After a long cold winter, nothing invigorates my spirit like going out to the garden and seeing the spring bloom of the irises. The tiny miniature dwarfs are the earliest of the bearded irises to bloom.  I love the early bulbous irises that bloom even earlier such as danfordiae and reticulata, however, the tiny bearded dwarfs are my favorites.

 Miniature dwarf irises blooming in early April. Photo--Ginny Spoon

We have a large collection of miniature dwarfs and it is sometimes hard to find a place to put them so they won't get over shadowed by the larger irises. We put one large planting on a bank and when they are blooming  in March and April they cover it with a carpet of color. 

           Miniature dwarf iris planting at Winterberry.  Photo--Ginny Spoon

Shorter than the standard dwarf bearded irises (8-16 inches), the miniatures top out at 8" tall. They are tiny and to be enjoyed to the fullest, they should be planted either in a rock garden setting or a raised area. They bloom early too, so you may want to plant them close to your house so you won't miss any of the bloom.

                     Miniature dwarf iris 'African Wine'.  Photo--Ginny Spoon

"Pixie Flirt' is a vigorous grower and it can grow into a marvelous clump in just a few years.

                                             'Pixie Flirt'  Photo--Ginny Spoon

Winter Aconite,  Snowdrops, small narcissus such as 'Tete- a- Tete' make good companion plants for the miniature dwarfs.

                                      Winter Aconite  Photo--Ginny Spoon

The bulbous iris reticulata is a good companion plant, and they bloom even earlier than the dwarf irises, sometimes even in the snow. 

                                                   Iris reticulata  Photo--Ginny Spoon

 ' Atroviolacea'   Photo-- Ginny Spoon

The miniature dwarf 'Atroviolacea' is usually the first bearded iris to bloom for us, sometimes even in the March snow.

                        

                            Miniature daffodils 'Tete-a-Tete'  Photo -- Ginny Spoon

        'Early Sunshine' usually follows second behind the bloom of 'Atroviolacea'. 

                                          'Early Sunshine'  Photo--Ginny Spoon

                                               'Kayla's Song' Photo--Carol Coleman

We were excited that our 'Kayla's Song' received the Caparne Welch Medal in 2018.

We are members of the Dwarf Iris Society and if you would like to join us contact our membership chair:  Rose Kinnard (RKinnard@minesmo.org

Our Future Iris Hybridizers

by Ginny Spoon

Who will carry our iris hybridizing program into the future? One way we can insure new varieties of irises in the years ahead is to nurture our young members of the American Iris Society and teach them how to hybridize.  As a retired professor, Don still enjoys teaching, and he finds time to teach anyone who wants to learn to hybridize an iris along with a genetics lesson as well.

Don Spoon (left) teaching Ray Jones to hybridize in May of 2007.  Photo by - Ginny Spoon

'Kaw' (Ray Jones 2014) Photo by - Ginny Spoon

As you can see, that lesson was well taken. Teaching them to make careful records of their crosses, how to mark the cross and how and when to plant the seeds is also important.

From the left: Don Spoon, Ramon Jones and Mac Shawe. Photo by - Ginny Spoon

Ray and Mac may not be our youngest members, but they inspire others with their enthusiasm to learn.

Kristen Lang with her mother. Photo by - Ginny Spoon

Kristen Laing, who is now 19 years old, became our youngest garden judge in Region 4 at age 12. She also does some hybridizing. 

 Colin Campbell first learning to hybridize in 2012. Photo by - Ginny Spoon

Colin became and AIS judge at age 15 and he has been teaching other youth members how to hybridize. He has also registered and introduced his first irises at age 19. Anyone who has met Colin knows how enthusiastic he is about irises. 

Colin's first introduction, 'My Missus Carter' 2018. Photo by - Colin Campbell

No, the fairies don't make crosses, but sometimes an insect can pollinate it. These young people inspire us.  Photo of Winterberry Gardens with our local dance troupe. Photo by - Ginny Spoon

Ross Eagles (left) and Don Spoon enjoying the irises in the rain. Photo - by Ginny Spoon 

Ross Eagles came with his family to visit us one day and caught the iris virus. Don taught him a few things about hybridizing and now Ross has his first seedlings. One of them garnered an EC and Best Seedling at the spring show in Fredericksburg, VA.

Here is the iris that was Ross' Best seedling and EC winner. Photo - by Ross Eagles

Our youth members at work. Photo by - Ginny Spoon

No matter what your skill, be sure to teach our young people what you know. They can't learn everything on the internet and our world will be all the poorer without the skills being passed along.

Rebloom With the Dwarf Irises

by Ginny Spoon

One night, I had a dream that our entire front yard was in bloom with dwarf irises. Not only were they a carpet of color, but they were blooming in the autumn. It doesn't have to be a dream though, there are many miniature dwarf (to 8") and standard dwarf (8-14") irises that will rebloom  in our cold climate zones. Our garden is located in zone 6b, and many dwarf irises have been reported to rebloom as far north as Canada.

         'Blue Hues'  (standard dwarf bearded) -- photo by Ginny Spoon

Our 'Blue Hues' is a prolific rebloomer for us and even when the temperatures go below freezing it will keep blooming sometime into late December.

'Blue Hues' after a cold snap in mid November--photo by Ginny Spoon

       'Rosalie Loving' in early December -- photo by Ginny Spoon

The dwarfs don't wait until it snows or freezes, they start their rebloom earlier in the fall since their spring bloom is earlier than the tall beardeds. They continue to rebloom until the freezing temperatures last longer than a week. Then they take a winter nap until they awaken in the spring.

'Forever Blue' is another dwarf that reblooms well into the cold season and has been reported to have multiple rebloom in some areas. Chuck Chapman is the hybridizer of this lovely iris and he lives and hybridizes irises in Canada.

                                              'Forever Blue' -- Photo from Iris Wiki

Working with the blues and teasing out some turquoise, we got this pretty dwarf rebloomer, 'Teagan'.

  'Teagan'  -- photo by Ginny Spoon

'Carmel Celeste' is one of my favorite yellow dwarf rebloomers.  It was hybridized by Rick Tasco, who hybridizes in California. 'Ray Jones' by Don Spoon is another bright yellow rebloomer that sometimes puts up multiple stalks on the same rhizome and is a prolific bloomer.

       'Carmel Celeste' -- photo by Ginny Spoon

'Ray Jones' -- photo by Ginny Spoon

There are many colors available in the reblooming dwarf irises. Here is one that is green, a newer introduction by Don Spoon, 'Lime Pie' (2017).

'Lime Pie' -- photo by Ginny Spoon

The miniature dwarfs also love to rebloom in cold climates. 'Sapphire Jubilee' (Ginny Spoon), 'Ditto' (Hager), 'Storm Compass'  (Chancellor/Rust) and 'Trimmed Velvet' (Don Spoon) are just a few that we grow.

 MDB 'Sapphire Jubilee' -- photo by Ginny Spoon

          

 MDB 'Trimmed Velvet' -- photo by Ginny Spoon

   

  MDB "Storm Compass'-- photo by Ginny Spoon

For more information on reblooming irises go to the American Iris Society website: www.irises.org and go to link for the reblooming iris society. They also have a checklist that lists the irises that rebloom and the zones reported for rebloom.

The Iris at the End of the Rainbow: the Favorites of Ginny Spoon

By Renee Fraser

Traditionally, men arrive for a first date with flowers. Don Spoon brought Ginny just the pollen! And so at their first dinner date in 1993, Ginny made her first iris cross, 'Zurich' X 'Chaste White', using pollen from Don's garden. The match produced offspring:  Ginny's first iris introduction, 'Autumn Ivory'.

Does it get any more romantic than that?

Don and Ginny Spoon are the owners of Winterberry Gardens in Cross Junction, Virginia. Their gardens are in USDA zone 6, 1100 feet above sea level. The main problem in their climate is the extreme temperature shifts. Spring temperatures might go from the mid 80's in the daytime to 25 at night! Those of you gardening under these conditions know that this can pose challenges for growing irises, because they may begin to bloom and still be vulnerable to frost.

Don started hybridizing as a youngster, over 60 years ago, along with his mother, Lilla Spoon, who was president of the Charlotte, North Carolina Iris Society at the time. Don majored in biology, earning his Ph.D. and taught at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. for over 22 years. He established a lovely garden there, which is still maintained by the staff at Georgetown. Don also discovered a previously unknown organism and published a scientific paper and got to name it [Euhyperamoeba biospherica]. Ginny earned a degree in horticulture, and she says "so of course, the biologist and the horticulturalist are always arguing over who is right about what to do in the garden, but we manage to do it without too much bloodshed."

Don and Ginny worked at the Biosphere 2 in Arizona when they were first married. He helped design the ocean and was in charge of it for two years. Ginny went along for the ride, but ended up taking care of the Intensive Agricultural Biome for three months so the manager could visit his family in Nepal. They planted quite a few irises around the Biosphere 2, where they still grow today.

One of Ginny's favorite introductions is Don's 'Little John'. Ginny says "Don took me out to a large planting of his seedlings in Maryland where I first saw 'Little John' in bloom. Of course it was just a seedling then. I wanted it but we had no tools and the ground was dry and hard as cement. Don was ready to leave but I had to have a piece so I took a rock and managed to chip out a rhizome. I planted it and the next year it was in bloom with 11 buds. Don got his shovel right away and we traveled the three hours to dig out the rest of it.

'Little John' 1996 Owens Rebert garden

'Little John' was not named for the character in Robin Hood as many people have thought, but for a young man who helped me in my garden who was a John Junior, but his dad called him "Little John." Sadly, he died very young from leukemia, and I asked Don if I could name my favorite iris for him. 'Little John' is a cross of 'Damsel' by 'Queen Dorothy' and since it is half rebloomer it also has produced rebloomers for us, including broken colors. I have seen it growing very well in Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Maryland. I think the best planting was at the garden of Owens Rebert."

'Orchid Dove' 2007 (Lady of Leoness sibling X Uncle Charlie)

 When a dreamy orchid-colored seedling bloomed, Don kept asking Ginny if she could see the dove-blue color in the crests. Hence the name 'Orchid Dove'. It has been reported to grow well wherever they have sent it. At the National Convention in Wisconsin it got the most popular votes for a tall bearded iris out of region.

'My Ginny' 2000 (Sweet Musette x Femme Fatale) X (Winifred Ross x My Katie)

Don was waiting to name an iris after his love, and when the first flower on this seedling opened, his exclamation of joy and surprise was "My Ginny!" Both Don and Ginny love the 'Emma Cook' color pattern.  'My Ginny' won the popular vote at the International Competition in Florence, Italy for a commercial variety and the Franklin Cook Cup at the 2003 National AIS Convention. It grows well all over the U.S.

'Daughter of Stars' 2001 (Clarence X Mindreader)
Photo by Riley Probst

'Daughter of Stars' is another of Don's irises beloved by Ginny. They named it after the local Native American legend about the Shenandoah River, which says the river is so deep and dark that it gave birth to the stars. This iris won the Wister Medal 2007. It grows well all over the country and reblooms in zones 6 through 9.

That takes care of Ginny's favorites hybridized by Don, but what of her own efforts?

'Selah Christine' 2012 (Sariel X Orchid Dove)

Of her own introductions, a great favorite is 'Selah Christine', which is named after Ginny's granddaughter. It has been awarded an Exhibition Certificate (EC) which is the only award an iris can get that is not a garden award, and a High Commendation (HC) for a seedling iris. She has high hopes that it will also do well in most areas.

'Zippo' 2011

Another is 'Zippo', a nearly black SDB (Standard Dwarf Bearded) iris with large pure white beards, is named for Ginny's daughter-in-law's cat, which is black with white paws.

'Velvet Elvis' 2012 ((Cerise Boy x Candy Corn sibling) X self)

A wide, velvety red iris with showy orange beards inspired the name 'Velvet Elvis'. This SDB won an EC as a seedling.

'Autumn Rose' 2008 (Diamond Blush X Chatter)

The striking 'Autumn Rose' reblooms in the autumn.  Ginny crossed Don's beautiful pink rebloomer 'Diamond Blush' and Ghio's dark pink plicata, 'Chatter' (which rebloomed once for them) and got a nice zone 6 rebloomer. Don had told Ginny that if you cross a solid color with a plicata it would intensify the color, and indeed it did. It is a very intense rose pink that stands out in the garden.

When Don and Ginny met at the C&P Iris Society, they each had a large collection of rebloomers. They continue working to produce irises that are multiple rebloomers with modern form, vigor, and exceptional coloration.  I grow two of their irises in Southern California.  MY favorite is 'Plum Pretty Whiskers' which has that gorgeous orchid color of many of their irises.  It is not listed as a rebloomer, but it reblooms in my garden. 

'Plum Pretty Whiskers'

I also recently planted what may be their most famous iris, 'Daughter of Stars', even though I had to create a place in my garden for it.  I couldn't help myself!

Do you grow any Spoon irises?  Do they bloom in your zone?  And are there any irises that you would love to see in a reblooming version?  Let us know here in the comments section.