Historic Tall bearded Iris QUEEN OF MAY

Attributed to John Salter and in the previous post Peter Barr listed 'Queen of May' in his 1874 collection, so I just had to pull some information together to highlight one of the great treasures and possibly one of the great natural hybrid's of the pallida line. It was Milan Blazek who stimulated my interest in this Iris when many years ago we discussed his trip to Yugoslavia to see the vista of natural iris hybrids growing wild. (I must write to Milan to see if he could send the photo of a basket of his pickings of 'Wild Irises') This was a similar journey that William Dykes made in April 1913, and he wrote about his finds titled 'A Dalmatian Iris Hunt' which was published in the Garden Chronicle in 1913. I have always remembered the passage were Dykes found a cliff in an area he called 'the Ombla' in a limestone formation high above a river facing south-west which was covered with wild bearded iris plants, and observed some irises were almost, if not quite, as pink as 'Queen of May'.
 
The Garden, 29th August, 1874.
Bearded Iris (I.barbata) Commonly called German Iris, Peter Barr.
I. pallida (Reich.). - Standards, dark lavender, passing to light lavender ; falls, purple, passing to light purple.
Queen of May. - Standards and falls, rose-lilac.

Laurel Hill Nurseries, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Select List new Hardy Alpine Iris, 1903.
Extra Fine Varieties-of Iris Germanica.
Queen of May, a most delicate self rose pink.

Garden Life, April 2nd, 1910. Irises for Amateurs.
An interview with Mr. W.R. Dykes. 'The most Beautiful Flags'.
The best pinks are Queen of May and Her Majesty.

Choice Flower Seeds, Miss Emma V. White; 3010 Aldrich Avenue South,Minneapolis, Minnesota.1914
Iris, The Poor Man's Orchid, Iris Germanica,(Tall Bearded Iris).
QUEEN OF MAY. Soft rose lilac, almost pink, a color rare among Irises. Medium.

Farr's Hardy Plant Specialities, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Fifth Edition Season of 1915 and 1916.
Iris Germanica—Pallida Section
The Pallida varieties are all tall, strong growers, with very wide foliage, highly ornamental at all times. They have the largest flowers of all, and are very sweet-scented, with the fragrance of orange blossoms.Very handsome shades of blue, lavender and purple.
QUEEN OF MAY. A lovely soft rose-lilac, almost pink; beautiful. 32 in.

The Dean lris Gardens, Moneta, California.The Iris 1914.
PALLIDA GROUP. There are some very choice varieties found in this group, with their delicate opaline colors. There are the lighter tints of blue, bluelilac, lavender, rose-lilac, mauve and lavender-purple, as also the darker shades. Most of them have large flowers with tall flowering stems. The plants make a fine appearance with their tall, broad foliage. The flowers are very fragrant.
Queen of May. Soft rose-lilac. Very beautiful. 32 inches.

N. A. Hallauer. Webster, New York. Select List 1918
Queen of May Soft rose lilac, almost pink.

The Gardeners Chronicle, September 10th, 1921. Home Correspondence, Unusual forms of Iris flowers
 I cannot help thinking that Mr. Weathers (see p. 85) will find that the experience of most growers is not the same as his with regard to unusual forms of Iris flowers. At any rate, my experience has been that among the hybrid bearded Irises flowers with two, four, or five parts instead of the normal three are extremely common The well-known Queen of May is a constant offender in producing four-sided flowers, and among seedling Pallidas it is not at all unusual to obtain a plant which is apt to produce flowers in which all the petals drop and appear to be fails. The worst instance that I have known of this multiplication or deformity of the parts was a flower of the plant usually known as Iris sisyrinchium which had no fewer than ten falls.
W. R. Dykes.

Les Iris Cultivés,  Actes et Comptes-Rendus de la 1re Conférence Internationale des Iris tenue à Paris en 1922
choix de 100 variétés.
Queen of May (Reine de Mai) (Salter avant 1859). Rose clair.

The Longfield Iris Farm, Bluffton, Indiana. 1923 Supplement to 1922 Catalogue
7.4 Queen of May ( 1859) PYC  30 in. .25c
It should be noted 'PYC' is from the Longfield Iris Farm classification written by Paul Cook and he described this as "a brief but somewhat detailed color description may be given of any variety by taking in their descending order the letters designating the main color group and subgroup or groups within which such variety falls";
In this case, PYC describes Queen of May as a concolorous blend in which pink predominates.
Group: P. Pink
C. Concolorous (Lohengrin)
F. Bicolored (Windham)
Y. Blended with yellow

C. Concolorous blend.[Ref 1]

F. Bicolored blends (Her Majesty)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

A.H.Burgess & Son, Waikanae, Wellington. Bearded Flag Irises 1924
QUEEN OF MAY.  Standards lilac; Falls Purplish rose. Very Handsome. 2½ft. 2/-

Vilmorin Andrieux & Cie, 4 Quai de la Mégisserie, Paris (1er), Plantes 1925.
Iris Vivaces Hybrides (Iris des Jardins)
Série Générale
219 Queen of May. Demi-hâtif. Toutes les divisions d'un beau rose clair légérement lilacé ; coloris unique ; robuste et florifére.

Cornell Extension Bulletin 112, 1925.
Bearded Iris A perennial suited to all Gardens. Austin W.W. Sand.
Queen of May (Salter 1859). Color effect a reddish phlox purple veined self. Standards light phlox purple to brighter Chinese violet. Falls reddish phlox purple, veined brownish red of the lighter outer haft. The beard is fine, rather sparse, yellow, and orange tipped at the base. The purplish styles bronze at the edge. The plant is of moderately vigorous growth and has medium yellowish-green foliage. The moderately tall, high-branched flowering stalks are freely produced and well furnished with good-sized, sweet-scented blossoms. This is an older sort, outstanding for its pink color mass. Rating 74.

Lee R. Bonnewitz Catalog,Van Wert, Ohio,1926.
QUEEN OF MAY. (Salter)
A light lilac-pink variety which is very popular in the middle west.
Two rhizomes at 30c each ; five or more rhizomes at 25c each.

Bulletin of the American Iris Society, January 1923, Number 7.
Description of Varieties, Part II.
QUEEN OF MAY 74 (22)
Self, V-R. (m). Salter, 1859
Brief. Rose to lizeran purple; stalk short and high branched; growth vigorous; 33 in.
Details. Very fragrant; Standards arched; Falls drooping; haft white reticulated magenta.
Remarks. Probably the, parent of many of the modern "pinks" but it does not carry its hue at all generally.

AIS 1939 Checklist
Queen of May, TB M R7L (Salter, before 1859)
Floricultural Cabinet and Florist Magazine,1859; Ware 1873; Garden Chronicle 1878;Florist and Pomologist 1884; Garden Chronicle 1894; Dr Macoun, Canada; M. Van Waveren and Sons 1907; Farr, 1912; Francis, 1920; Wing, 1920; Garden Chronicle 1926; Sheets 1928; George Bunyard& Co, 1938; Ray V. Moss, 1938; Tip Top Gardens, 1938; Charles F. Wassenberg, 1938;
AM RHS 1891, Shown by Kelway. H.C. RHS 1916

Trials of Bearded Iris Royal Horticultural Society, notes  Class V c. as 'Self coloured varieties with falls and standards pale red purple. This class contains the "pink" Irises and is rapidly increasing in size, but there is room for really first class varieties in it still.No dwarf varieties appear in this class.

[Ref 1]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913 + 1828)
Concolorous
con·col·or·ous   adjective
Colored the same throughout.
 
As always clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
Major Hat Tip and "Merci beaucoup" to my good friend Catherine Adam for sharing with you all the amazing photos of 'Queen of May'.

Reproduction in whole or in part of these photo's without the expressed written permission of Catherine Adam is strictly prohibited.
Photo credit and copyright Catherine Adam © .
Reproduction in whole or in part of this article without the expressed written permission of Heritage Irises  is strictly prohibited.

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Bearded Historic Iris GYPSY QUEEN

I was given this iris from the owner of a large Estate which has magnificent gardens in the year 2006 as an 'Iris of Antiquity' and was first recorded as growing in these gardens in 1896.
The 1904 H C Gibbons Bulb Catalogue, Hutt Valley Nurseries, Upper Hutt, is the earliest cataloguing I could find in a New Zealand plant nursery and the iris was listed as HAMLET which is a synonym for Gypsy Queen. (See 1939 Checklist description below) Adding to this the first time 'Gypsy Queen' bloomed at home in 2007, identification was complicated as  'The Historic Iris Society' had a completely different variety of an iris displayed on their web site as 'Gypsy Queen', the 1929 AIS Checklist listed Gypsy Queen as a Tall Bearded, then the 1939 AIS Checklist changed its classification to a Intermediate Bearded Iris. Now for an Iris that flower height is 76-91 cm (30"-36") and its bloom period is toward the end of the Tall Bearded Iris season and these two facts took 'Gypsy Queen' well outside the Intermediate Iris classification. Today it would most likely be classified as a Miniature Tall Bearded Iris or 'Table Iris' as I still like to call them. Then to really throw a spanner in the works a New Zealander in 2005 recklessly renamed 'Gypsy Queen' (At the time a iris with lost label) and registered it as 'Braemar Station'. One of the great evils of antique irising is the application of entirely new names to existing cultivars.
 All of the above led to confusion with many people, making 'Gypsy Queen' one of the most complicated conformation of an Iris ID I have ever been involved in. 

Gypsy Queen standards are open and coloured old gold that has been airbrushed with a smoky rose tone, inside the bottom of the standards colours are lemon lime with purple maroon veining. Style arms yellow with greyed centres.  Falls are white tinged yellow at haft and edges, heavily veined deep red-purple confluent to solid black; beards white deepening to old gold, mild citrus fragrance. Nice clean foliage with a nice level of Purple bottom foliage. This iris was one of the parents Fryer used in his hybridising, and its imprint is seen in W. J. Fryer and Kathryn Fryer.

 H. C. Gibbons & Co.,Hutt Valley Nurseries,Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. Bulb Catalogue 1904.
GERMAN FLAG IRIS
Hamlet Standards and Falls straw and peuce, dark veins.

Biltmore Nursery, Biltmore, Asheville, North Carolina, The Iris Catalog, 1911
Gypsy Queen. Still another unusual and welcome blending of rich colors is found in this meritorious variety. Standards are of golden hue shaded with smoked pearl, and the falls are dark maroon with delicate tracings of pale yellow. It blooms late.

The Dean lris Gardens, Moneta, California.The Iris 1916.
SQUALENS GROUP The standards are clouded shades of copper,bronze and fawn.
Gypsy Queen (syn. La Prestigieuse). S. old gold, shaded smoked pearl; F. black-maroon, reticulated light yellow. Each, 25c.

Farr's Hardy Plant Specialities, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.Seventh Edition 1922.
SQUALENS GROUP The standards are clouded shades of copper,bronze and fawn.
GYPSY QUEEN (syn. La Prestigieuse). S. old gold, shaded smoked-pearl; F. black-maroon, reticulated light yellow; late bloomer. 2 ft.

A.B. Katkamier, Macedon, New York. Hints to Pleasure and to Profit in Growing the Iris, 1931.
Gypsie Queen; Honey yellow : Black maroon. Tall. Strong.

Cornell Extension Bulletin 112, Austin W. Sand, 1925.
Gypsy Queen (Salter before 1859) 
Color effect an old gold, velvety maroon veined bicolor.Standards honey yellow to old gold much undulated. Falls velvety maroon-brown to blackish brown , distinctly  veined to a point one-half inch from the end of the blade. The edge blends yellow to old gold on the haft. Occasional lavender or cream white flecks occur on the blade. This plant is a vigorous grower, and has stiff, slender, deep green  foliage, tinged purple at the base. The flower spikes are tall and well and widely branched.It is very late bloom, its dull color combinations like those found in the Cypripedium orchid and its early history,being a parent of the variegata groups, make it still worthy of selection.

1939 AIS Checklist
GYPSY QUEEN IB-MLa-S6M John Salter before 1859 Floricultural Cabinet and Florist Magazine 29 172 June 1859: L'Illustration Horticole 40: tab 182 1893%%. The Garden Chronicle 14th July 1899; Farr, 1912; Francis 1920; Bonnnewitz, 1920; A.B. Katkamier 1939; Journal Royal Horticultural Society January 1928 page 146 Trials; germanica gypsea; Hamlet; La Prestigieuse; Queen of Gipsies; Reine des Fees; Reine des Pays; Virgil (Lovett); Gypsie Queen; 
Note: The above checklist notation L'Illustration Horticole 40: tab 182 1893 %% is another of the early checklist anomalies as the L'Illustration Horticole published full page colour plate image of Iris Germanica var. Gypsea which shows a white coloured Iris that has all the appearances of a Florentina hybrid of sorts. The percent sign (%) is the symbol used in the 1929 and 1939 Checklist to indicate % -Illustrated and %%- Colour Plate.

Perhaps the very, very small group of people within 'The Historic Iris Preservation Society' who are currently embarking on a campaign to 'call out' iris growers who are growing and displaying images of what is now known as 'The fake Gypsy Queen' should be mindful of the fact that HIPS photos at a time 'not so long ago' were also stating the so called 'The fake Gypsy Queen' was the real deal and at that time these gardeners could have used HIPS as an authoritative means to identify their Iris!!! 'Pot calling kettle black'??

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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