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On May 11, 1985, Eva Smith died at the age of 85. Following retirement, Eva and her husband Carl, bored with the inactivity, decided to go back into the nursery business. Although they grew foxtail lilies (eremurus), lupines and gladiolus among other things, they concentrated their efforts on irises, and soon Smith's Iris Garden of Lewiston, Idaho was nationally known. Eva hybridized bearded irises of all sizes, and in the late 1950s she began introducing new varieties, continuing until the early 1970s. Among the best known of her tall beardeds are GOLDEN MASTERPIECE and GRACIE PFOST, both of which won Awards of Merit, plus ANGEL'S DREAM, FOND WISH, IDAHO CENTENNIAL, IVORY GOWN, ORANGE CHIFFON and RED PLANET. Her miniature dwarf BUMBLE WINGS won the Caparne Award in1970. She and Carl were also interested in crafts; Carl was a lapidarist and Eva worked with ceramics and taught classes on the subject. Following Carl's death about ten years ago, the iris business was terminated. The Smith iris legacy lives on in current breeding lines where other hybridizers have incorporated her varieties into their programs. Bulletin of the American Iris Society #258(July 1985), 85.
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jpg | SmithEvaGardens1960.jpg | manage | 16 K | 04 Jan 2019 - 16:30 | DavidPotembski | AIS Bulletin 158(July 1960): 102. Advertisement |