Historic Iris 'TIME FOR CHANGE'

When groups of  Irises emerge with characteristics sufficiently different from those that have gone before, the subject of a classification that is determined by a time line needs to be addressed.
When I first began collecting irises it seemed to me that the plants I was collecting from around the old buildings and period houses in New Zealand were 'historic irises', they have blooms that have a certain tailored look with a vintage style that is mostly lost in irises of more recent origin. I then started collecting the irises of Jean Stevens which was a neat fit with my 'Historic Iris collection'.

But there is growing problem with the classification that 'ALL Irises introduced over 30 years ago are considered Historic Irises', as this includes Irises from the 60's, 70's and now a few from the 80's, most of these just don't have that historic 'look'. Almost all of these irises visually are 'Modern Irises' in shape, style and form and each year more irises (650+ next year alone) with that modern look are classified as 'Historic'. This will become a very big branding problem as each year passes and as there are almost 7,000 irises that were registered in the 1980's you can bet this problem is not going to go away anytime soon.

 There was a suggested determination (which I agree with) of a dividing line between historic and antique irises published by 'The Historic Iris Society' in their publication 'ROOTS', Spring 1989, when Phil Edinger in answer to a question suggested "You asked about a dividing line between historical and antique. I would say 1930 ought to be it. By that year (but just by then) all modern colors and patterns (save for Progenitor-type dominant bicolors and luminata) were present at the 4N level. From then on it was a matter of refinement."

 I have heard there has been discussions around the traps on the designation of what constitutes 'a historic iris' but no outcome, so you would have to think there must be a committee involved, but it is starting to get beyond a joke if it ever was funny. From a personal standpoint, new thirty year old irises are old enough to deserve collecting and preserving yet new enough in style of the bloom to be regarded as modern but now they have turned thirty a 'historic iris' label is attached to them which is a confusing classification. This could simply be sorted by having three age-related classifications 'Antique',  'Historical' and 'Classic Collectables', and I see the dividing line drawn where styles dramatically changed from an old-fashioned look toward modern appeal. 'Antique' as Phil Edinger suggested up until 1930 (1929 Checklist), 'Historical' 1930-1959 checklist, and finally 'Classic Collectables' 1960 checklist onwards (must be a least thirty years old).
 
LACED COTTON, GLACIER, HENRY SHAW, and CABARET ROYALE are a few of the irises that I have featured on my blog and these are good examples of highlighting the real problem when you classify a iris as 'historic' but visually these irises do not look different to  any Modern Tall Bearded Iris.
Not 100% sure what history will make of some of the latest Irises with form like ..Tom Johnson's 'Genealogy' or George Sutton's 'Doctor Who'................. you know, tall bearded irises with the standards that look like a punk rockers multicoloured Mohawk haircut slapped on top of rounded falls that look like a Southern Belle's ball gown giving a truly unbalanced look and to be honest I'm not a great fan of, but you never know perhaps in thirty years time we will eventually get a new classification of 'Historic Quirky Styled Bling'.

If we apply the old Chinese proverb 'A picture paints a thousand words' then most of the burgeoning catalogues of digital photos of so called 'Historic Irises' from the 60's, 70's and the few so far from the 80's will just continuously reinforce the growing confused message regarding 'historic's' especially with that very important group known as the gardening public.

My collection nowadays is not so narrowly focused and includes irises from all vintages.

Update 17th September, 2012.
Yes, my hunch was correct there was a committee involved it was known as 'Historic Change Designation Committee' but the committee was unable to come to a consensus on making any changes so 'the current practice of designating iris introduced 30 years or longer to be historic will stand'. Ground breaking huh??
So what to do? I think I will just ignore the Historic Classification and start one of my own, I'm just not prepared to be just a nodding nincompoop and go along with something that is causing mass confusion with the Gardening public. As recently as yesterday I was talking to a lady who just loves Irises about the variety 'Afternoon Delight' and I said to her 'you know that's going to be a Historic Iris next year' and she just would not believe me. Now just how different would that conversation have been if I had told her that her beloved 'Afternoon Delight' was a Classic Tall Bearded Iris??

'Credibility is only a fragile perception that takes time to build but can be lost in a moment.'

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. Copyright Terry Johnson and Heritage Irises ©.

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Tall Bearded Iris HENRY SHAW

Named after Henry Shaw (1800--1889), a native of Sheffield, England who made his fortune in hardware outfitting trappers and settlers entering the Louisiana Purchase Territory via St. Louis. In 1859 he donated his 79-acre country estate for "all time for the public benefit ". This garden is today the Missouri Botanical Garden, and is the oldest botanical garden in continuous existence in the United States. Cliff Benson introduced the white TB 'Henry Shaw' in 1959. It is a pure white self with a green undercast that follows through and a flawless snowy white beard, winning an Honorable Mention from AIS in 1959 and an Award of Merit in 1961. With Snow Flurry in its pedigree it was more than appropriate that Henry Shaw, was the first winner of the Clara B. Rees Cup in 1965 for an "outstanding white iris". We purchased this heirloom iris many years ago from Lynne Atkins of Greenhaugh Gardens fame, now there is a garden to visit !!!

Cliff W Benson, Route 3, Baxter Road, Chesterfield, Missouri, Introducing for 1959.
HENRY SHAW (Cliffs of Dover x Marion Marlowe)
A heavy ruffled perfectly proportioned pure icy-white self with a snowy beard. Flowers are enhanced with cool green tones. Standards are domed ; Falls wide and foliage is vigorous and blue-green. The ruffling and corrugation runs completely around the broad and heavily substanced blossoms. Proving to be a superb breeder. Named in honor of the founder of the Missouri Botanical "Shaw's Garden". M. 38" H.C. 1958 NET $20.00

'Irises' by Harry Randall, Chapter 9 Famous Tall Bearded Parents.
A fascinating exercise for Iris breeders is to study the records and prepare pedigrees for their favourites. These can be an elaborate form adopted in our history books to press the ancestry of Kings, or in the simpler form adopted in the book of Genesis. Using the simple form, I can recall that Snow Flurry crossed with Katherine Fay produced New Snow. When this was crossed with the pale blue Cahokia it 'begot' Cliffs of Dover, which is been the most popular white in Britain for some years ; and when this was crossed with Marion Marlowe it gave Henry Shaw. From Henry Shaw came Arctic Fury which is producing some wonderfully fine seedlings of which we are certain to hear in the years ahead.
I do not claim nor could it ever be proved that all the good qualities of these five generations of seedlings came from Snow Flurry, and a few people would doubt my contention that they might neither have appeared in our gardens but for her influence. Three of those named above -- New Snow, Cliffs of Dover, and Henry Shaw-- have already won Awards of Merit in the United States, and their descendants will be considered for that honour when they have been on trial for a sufficiently lengthy period and in a wide range of gardens in different States.
The pedigree given could with variations, be duplicated very many times to show the beneficent effect of Snow Flurry on large numbers of modern Irises, and to indicate our indebtedness to Clara Rees.

'Irises' by Harry Randall, Chapter 12 Irises Already Popular.
Henry Shaw, Benson 1957, 36 inch tall bearded. Mid-season. Pure white self with snowy white beard. Green throat. Cliff of Dover X Marion Marlowe  

AIS Bulletin #166, July, 1962,'The Modern White Iris', page 10, Mr. Cahey E. Quinn.
HENRY SHAW is Cliff Benson's white offering for 1959. I think this is his best. As with most modern iris, it has excellent substance. The flower is also heavily ruffled, a pure white with a white beard. Proportion, balance, vigorous blue-green foliage-these are the features that make HENRY SHAW desired by everyone.

REGION 14, Regional Bulletin Northern California, Nevada, Fall 1962.“Varietal comment”,  page 23, Donald L. Artz. 
“Of the many fine whites available I find it hard to beat the not too widely distributed Henry Shaw (C Benson 1959).  It’s a large fluted white with excellent form, substance and branching.”

Schreiners Iris Lovers Catalog 1964
HENRY SHAW C Benson 1959 M. 38" High style and chaste coloring mark Henry Shaw as a top-notch white Iris. Perfectly proportioned, the ruffling and the crimping runs completely around the broad and heavily substance petal. The buds have a greenish cast which sustains in the open flowers and gives a beautiful undercast. All white even to the beard. HM 1959, AM 1961

Gilbert H. Wild and Son. Inc. Sarcoxie Missouri Peonies-Iris-Daylilies 1967
HENRY SHAW  (Benson 1961)
38in. M. A heavily ruffled pure icy white self w with a snowy white tipped beard. The ruffling and the corrugation runs completely around the broad and heavily substance blossoms. A superb breeder for ruffled whites and blues. Named in honour of the founder of the Missouri Botanical "Shaws" garden.  HM 1959, AM 1961

Schliefert Iris Gardens, Murdock, Nebraska, 29th Annual Catalog, 1970
HENRY SHAW C Benson 1959............ $2.00
Perfectly proportioned. The ruffling and corrugation run completely around each heavily substanced petal. All white even to the beard. AM 1961 Rees Cup 1965

Jean Collins Iris Gardens, Cambridge Road, Tauranga
HENRY SHAW White, even to the beards. Older variety but still good........$1.50

Schreiners Iris Lovers Catalog 1982
HENRY SHAW C Benson 1959 M. 38"
A top notch white Iris of high styles ; all white even to the beard. Do not let the modest price demean the high quality of this splendid Iris. Our plentiful stock justifies the low price. AM 1961 $2.00

Bay Blooms Nurseries, Cambridge Road, Tauranga Spring / Summer 1996 Catalogue
HENRY SHAW All white, even to the beards. The ruffling and the crimping runs completely around the broad and heavily substance petal............. $5.00

AIS Checklist 1959
HENRY SHAW (C. Benson, R. 1957) Sdlg. 56-6. TB, 36" (91 cm), M
Pure white self, snowy white beard, green throat. Cliffs of Dover x Marion Marlowe. C. Benson 1959. HM 1959, AM 1961

Whites Irises are fickle to ID and most I do not even attempt to try, but it needs to be said that the current crop of 'Henry Shaw'  photos shown on 'Dave's Gardens' and the much vaunted for its accuracy 'Iris Encyclopedia wiki', are something other than their label. Let me explain, the much commented on stand out feature of the iris 'Henry Shaw' is it's snowy white beard, all the catalogue descriptions also thought this was special enough to mention, so if the beards on your iris includes some other colour, you would have to reach the conclusion that it's not 'Henry Shaw', it's the first stop to elimination and it's that simple. Next step the green throat.............................

Selling this year in New Zealand at 'Amazing Iris Garden' 

Photo credit and copyright Iris Hunter

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