Standard Dwarf Bearded Iris BANBURY RUFFLES

Blooming today. The registered colour description of 'Banbury Ruffles' is a rich blue self but really the colour is more of a rich velvet blue violet. The falls are highlighted by a deep rich bold red purple halo that surrounds the white beards that are tipped a in soft amethyst. Superb bloom placement and display  and quickly becomes an excellent garden subject because of its outstanding strong growing habits. Super clean foliage that is proportional with the bloom, all and all a very well balanced and attractive Standard Dwarf Bearded iris.

Schreiner's, Salem,Oregon, 57th Annual, Iris Lovers Catalog, 1982.
LILLIPUTS
BANBURY RUFFLES bounteously ruffled rich blue.

IRISES A Gardener's Encyclopedia, Claire Austin.
Iris 'Banbury Ruffles' (D. Reath, 1970) The rich violet flowers have white beards tipped violet and surrounded by large maroon-purple patches. The petals are serrated around the edges and gently curl outwards. Height 38cm (15in) Bloom very early season. Parentage Seedling X Nylon Ruffles.

AIS Checklist 1979
BANBURY RUFFLES D. Reath, Reg. 1970 Sdlg. A-6-64. SDB, 15" (38 cm), VE Rich blue self with darker blue spot on F.; ruffled. A-6-60 X Nylon Ruffles. Schreiner's 1970. HC 1968, HM 1971.

There is a outside chance 'Banbury Ruffles' is still commercially grown in New Zealand somewhere, fortunately  I was able to purchase my plants on Trade Me from hctnz (Lyn Nell) a Mid-Canterbury gardener who sends generous plants that have great plant health and  I have no hesitation to recommend highly.
Clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
Photo credit and copyright Iris Hunter.

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Tall Bearded Iris WINNER'S CIRCLE

I first viewed 'Winner's Circle' with much admiration many years ago in the iris display gardens of 'Bay Blooms'  Tauranga. I have never seen it listed in any commercial growers catalogue in New Zealand for the last fifteen or so years, and it had me thinking it had just disappeared for good. Fortunately this past bloom season I was lucky to see it blooming in not one but two gardens in the Wairarapa and got to bring several starts back home ( Now there's a Yippee-yi-o-ki-yay moment).  Standards are a dark pontiff purple and have a white infusion up through the centre. Falls I find are slightly darker toned with a velvety sheen and have that distinctive white circle rayed out from the vivid violet beard as its signature. . Bloom was smaller and stem height shorter than the registered and catalogue descriptions due to plants growing in overcrowded Iris beds in the garden I viewed (almost had the hallmarks of a Border Bearded iris) but it has just bolted away now growing without the competition at home. Fertile as a pod parent. Sibling to 'Night Out'. Joins some others of this distinctive style  'Speed Limit'(Lauer, '91),'Cocktail Hour'(Robert Dunn '82), 'City Lights'(Mary Dunn,'90), and 'Exotic Star' (Plough,'74) in the garden.

The Iris Year Book 1975, New Irises In the United States by Ron Mullin
'Winner's Circle'(Plough) is a dark blackish violet with white circles on each of the falls. The circles are about one inch in diameter, making this iris one of a kind

Gilbert H. Wild and Son. Inc. Sarcoxie Missouri Peonies-Iris-Daylilies 1981
WINNER'S CIRCLE (Plough 1972)
E.M.L. 38" Large bloom with very broad rounded petals, classically domed standards and flaring falls. Deep black violet very rich and glowing standards, falls are the same  but have a large silver dollar size area of pure velvety looking white just below the beard. H.M.1973 A.M. 1975

Bay Blooms Nurseries, Cambridge Road, Tauranga Spring / Summer 1996 Catalogue
WINNER'S CIRCLE
A very classy looking variety with standards of a dusky, blackish-violet and falls that are the same colour but with a round white flash below the beard. Flaring flowers on branched stems.

AIS Checklist 1979
WINNER'S CIRCLE (G. Plough, R. 1971) Sdlg. 66-73-7. TB, 34" (86 cm), E-L Standards deep blackish violet; Falls same with 1" round white flash below beard. Wintry Night X Stepping Out. Eden Road 1972. HM 1973,  AM 1975.

As always clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version. Reproduction in whole or in part of this post, its opinions or its images without the expressed written permission of Terry Johnson is strictly prohibited. Photo credit and copyright Terry Johnson and Heritage Irises ©.

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New Zealand Tall Bearded Historic Iris "NINA LEVETT"

The very late blooming 'Nina Levett' is often confused with a earlier blooming iris which grows at about the same height named, 'Pink Advance". 'Nina Levett' is the pod parent of 'Pink Advance'. Photo above is from the plant gifted to me by the late Shirley Spicer, of Wanganui.

Stevens Bros, Bulls, Catalogue of Irises, 1937-38.
NINA LEVETT
A lovely tall pink of regal carriage.The large flowers are an even shade of lilac pink, and are carried on well-branched 4 1/2 foot stems. Exceptionally vigorous.

The Iris Society Year Book (BIS) 1942.
Awards by the Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley, 1942.
NINA LEVETT (Raised by Miss.P.Levett,NZ) A.M. 20th June 1941.
Vigorous and of rapid increase with erect, glacous-green foliage, 24 inches tall.Flower stems 48 inches tall erect, somewhat zigzagged,8-flowered.
Flowers extra large, stiff and well proportioned.Standards domed approaching Imperial Purple (33/2) Falls pinched, a tone of Imperial
Purple between (33/1 and 33/2) Veins distinct, brownish on haft.Beard Orange. Flowering for ten days from 18th June. (J.B.Dumas X Aurelle.)
(All Reports for Iris trial's at Wisley tend to be very descriptive and accurate)

Jean Stevens in 1950 writes in regards to the Levett's.
'As the years went by the quality of their seedlings kept improving, and the flowering season became even more exciting than hitherto. About 1935 they flowered a large new seedling of a bright lilac pink which they named Nina Levett after their mother. This was introduced in England by Orpington Nurseries who sent plants to the Wisley Trial Grounds. In 1941 Nina Levett was given an Award of Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society'.

The Royal Horticultural Society colour descriptions,Standards Imperial Purple (33/2) and Falls Purple between (33/1 and 33/2) show how completely inadequate the 1939 Check List colour chart was in it's time and also make the 1939 and 1949 Check List colour descriptions for 'Nina Levett' irrelevant. In the 1934 BIS Year Book (in an article by a Dr. Sansome who quotes Marc Simonet), he states that one of Nina Levetts parents, J. B. Dumas is a triploid with 37 chromosomes. Triploids usually aren't the most fertile of parents, so that makes Nina even more interesting!! It should also be noted that The Royal Horticultural Society state that Nina Levett parentage is (J.B.Dumas X Aurelle.) yet the 1939 AIS checklist entry is (...) X (J.B. Dumas x Aurelle) which the later implies that another Iris was in the mix. My opinion is that 'The Royal Horticultural Society' in its colour descriptions and parentage 'trumps all'.

AIS Checklist 1939
NINA LEVETT (Miss P. Levett, R. 1939). TB, VL, B1L; (...) X (J.B. Dumas x Aurelle). Orpington. 1939.

It would not be unrealistic to state that the few irises growing in New Zealand as 'Nina Levett' are wrongly labelled and I am somewhat reluctant to post New Zealand bred Irises on this blog as it leads to a deluge of 'look-a-like' irises, and some not even remotely 'look-a-like' irises, listed for sale on the internet as the real deal, and it it is not in anybody's interest to add to the existing large pile of very expensive miss-named irises that live in the cyberspace known as 'Trade Me'!!!! New Zealander's interested in heirloom irises need to have a confidence in their ability to Identify Irises and not merely accept that because an Iris was received or purchased with the name given it is true to label, after all these are New Zealand raised Irises, surely we should have some idea of our Iris heritage!!!!

As always clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.

Reproduction in whole or in part of this post, its opinions or its images without the expressed written permission of Terry Johnson is strictly prohibited.
Photo credit and copyright Terry Johnson and Heritage Irises ©. 

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