Catalogs of Iris Specialists

Catalogs are the proof of introduction and historically set the date of when a plant has been introduced to the market. Prior to 1950 they often provided the most detailed descriptions of Historic Irises and still today offer details that do not appear in the registrations. As available, these references are added to the Iris Library of the Historic Web. So far the following nurseries are represented as copyrights expire or special permission is granted; With your help we can develop this area faster. If you can help contact Bobpries3@gmail.com.

(Warning) Some Historic catalogs had a few Irises confused in identity and much effort of the early Iris society was spent on sorting out these errors. Early catalogs are most reliable on the Irises of their own introduction.

There are 6,091 Catalogs imbedded in the Encyclopedia

Find Catalog by Historic Nurseries (1,011+ Nurseries)

Find Catalog Galleries by Date

Online catalogs listed by date (MASTER LIST); Catalogs held but not online 139; Total catalogs in card file =5,700

Overview Image Gallery below, see By decade for more complete galleries

About Modern Catalogs:

Catalogs before the 1980s are generally off copyright. We would like to include in this archive catalogs up to the present. Already several major Iris Nurseries (Cooley’s; Schreiner’s; etc.) have granted copyright permission to upload their catalogs. We welcome more nurseries to be included because in the future they will then be included in this archive of Iris history. If your nursery has not been contacted yet, please be advised we would appreciate your help. We started work on this topic area at the beginning of 2014, as a part of the Iris Library under construction, and work has proceeded slowly. We are still searching for catalogs that can be scanned. Individuals interested in helping please contact Bob Pries at Bobpries3@gmail.com

You can Help!

At Inventory Snapshot of Catalogs by Nursery you can see a printable list of what is in the catalog library. Please check any catalogs you run across to see if we have them in the online library. If you can scan them into a pdf please do and send that to Bobpries3@gmail.com Please let us know if you locate sources for missing catalogs.

Catalog Criteria:

The AIS 1939 checklist did not contain descriptions but referred the reader to a host of catalogs that offered each cultivar or to other articles mentioning the cultivar. Obviously catalog from dedicated Iris gardens were very important. But the 1939 checklist also referred one to general nurseries offering the iris. Some of these large catalogs may have had over 120 pages but only one page of irises. We have tried to include all catalogs that provide descriptions of several irises, but sometimes we have passed on every years catalog of a general nursery especially if the offering stayed the same and or contained little information. Presently there are more catalogs missing because we have yet to find and scan them, then catalogs that have been rejected.

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-- BobPries - 2014-06-27