Bulletin of the

American Iris Society

Last Updated: 05/15/02

The following articles were published in AIS Bulletins, which may be purchased from the AIS Storefront.

"Addendum to 'The Lesson of 1990' ". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #283 (October 1991). Description of the practice of planting mother rhizomes in sand to obtain increase that would otherwise be lost. A useful treatment for rare cultivars, not usually needed by the home gardener.

"Arils and Arilbreds: A Brief History". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #262 (July 1986): 6-10. A general description of the artificial race called arilbreds, and an explanation of how they were derived from the aril species. Written for beginners.

"Arils and Arilbreds: The Mystique Advances". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #240 (January 1981): 36-39. Overview of then-recent developments in arilbreds.

"Awards for Arilbred Irises". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #262 (July 1986): 11-17. Brief history of arilbred awards, and lists of the winners of the C. G. White Award (1959 through1985) and the William Mohr Award (1969 through 1985).

"Clarence Greenleaf White, Hybridizing Program Analysis". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #308 (January 1998): 42-52, plus centerfold photos. The mystery of the origin of the C.G. White hybrids has fascinated arilarians for decades. He broke the fertility barrier and laid the foundation for the development of our modern, fuly fertile arilbreds. White himself acknowledged that he did not know the parentage of most of his cultivars that proved fertile, which led to the mistaken belief that even he did not know how he achieved his famous breakthrough. In truth, he did have a plan - one he followed faithfully for decades - with a depth and breadth that no one else has had the resources to match. When I started my serious work with arilbreds, my first research project consisted of gathering all of the information I could find about his program and building a model to describe how he obtained his amphidiploidlike hybrids. I felt that this would be the key not only to understanding the relationships among their descendants, but also those between their descendants and other arilbreds. Once I had the model, with its overall strategy and specific tactics, I structured my entire breeding program around testing it. This article is a summary of over 20 years of hybridizing experiments using this model. It's rather technical, written for those who want to understand the theory behind the development of the C.G. White-type halfbreds and who want to make use of that knowledge in their own hybridizing efforts.

"Developing an Eye for Irises - Writing Varietal Comments. " Bulletin of the American Iris Society #288 (January 1993): 78-81. How to observe and evaluate both registered cultivars and your own seedlings, including a convenient form for recording information.

"Culture of Arils and Arilbreds: Getting Started". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #262 (July 1986): 28-31. A beginner's "how-to", with general guidelines plus advice for different growing conditions.

"In Quest of Fertile Arilbredmedians". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #274 (July 1989): 49-52. An account of the development of an arilbredmedian progenitor, and experiments in first-generation crosses.

"Ladybug, Ladybug - Make This Your Home." Bulletin of the American Iris Society, #297 (April 1995): 46-48. How to establish a self-sustaining colony of ladybugs that can provide better pest control than chemical means. Includes detailed information on the ladybugs' life cycle and pitfalls to be avoided in the process.

"Making That First Cross." Bulletin of the American Iris Society #257 (April 1985): 34-37. Introduction to the mechanics of hybridizing. Reprinted from the 1983 ASI Yearbook.

"Membership Notebooks". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #277 (April 1990): 22-25. How the traditional President's Notebook, handed down from one officeholder to the next, evolved into a set of identical notebooks for MVIS members. What these notebooks contained and how they served to preserve the club's history and traditions while easing the transition for new office-holders.

"Planned Parenthood through Pollen Preservation". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #281 (April 1991): 26-28. How to save and store pollen for use in crosses that would otherwise be impossible because the prospective parents did not bloom at the same time. Selecting pollen to be saved, preparing it for storage, storing, and (finally) using it.

Reflections on the Stages of Hybridizing Life. Bulletin of the American Iris Society #287 (October 1992): 79-82. Overview of the stages in the growth of a hybridizer. Stage One: Pollen Daubing. About 20 years of fun, in my case, but nothing to show for it. Stage Two: Apprenticeship. About 5 years for me, although I wish it could have lasted longer as it was cut short by the death of my primary mentor. Stage Three: Exploiting the Known. Another five years of concentrating on planned crosses and following up on programs started during my apprenticeship. Stage Four: Exploring the Unknown. Building on the foundation established in the first three stages and tackling new experiments to find answers to some of the unsolved mysteries.

"Seedling Patch Surprises - Arilbred Style." Bulletin of the American Iris Society, #290 (July 1993): 43-49. Planned crosses form the core of any successful hybridizing program, but the "Roll of the Dice" often results in unplanned bonuses. This provides a summary of some pleasant surprises I found in the four major types I've worked with: arilbredmedians, quarterbreds, halfbreds, and three-quarterbreds. The Photo Gallery has pictures of many of cultivalrs mentioned in the article: 89-1-4 (a seedling from Sostenique X Tribe of Judah, which wasn't introduced; Butterscotch Baby; Daringly Different; Edith Seligmann; Engraved Invitation; Herb McKusick; Invasion Force; Opals for Ethel; Rebekah's Veil, Sweetness and Light, and Whirlwind Romance.

"The Serendipity Series." Bulletin of the American Iris Society #284 (January 1992): 36-38. Detailed account of my first cross that produced a significant number of quarterbreds with signals, including descriptions of a variety of signals. Four of these sibs were eventually introduced: Cope Goodwin, Magnificent Obsession, Palimpsest, and Vivacious Vi. See 89-1-4 in the Photo Gallery.

"Systems for Numbering Seedlings". Bulletin of the American Iris Society #286 (July 1992): 74-76. Overview of various numbering systems used by hybridizers, the advantages of each to the hybridizer and what the reader of Checklists can learn from seedling numbers.

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