Storybook Gardens

“Once upon a time”! What a great way to begin a garden experience. Hybridizers searching for names for Iris have often gone back to the children’s books they loved in their youth. A garden with an assembly of these Irises can interest children in reading. And reading these books can interest children in Irises.

Storybook Gardens introduce our children to two parts of culture; literature and gardening. The first Iris Storybook Garden was by Jean Morris former AIS Youth Chair at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.

Sterling Innerst probably inspired this type of garden with his many literary names. As a former teacher he was well aquainted with the literature. The following children’s literature is suggested, with the Irises referring to it listed under each; See also Iris Names from Science Fiction; and Iris names from Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales.

• Winnie-The-Pooh, by A.A. Milne 1926
  • ‘Pooh’s Dream’, ‘Tigger’, 'Pooh Bear'
• Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis,
  • 'Narnia'; 'Aslan'
• Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
  • 'Pippi Longstockings'
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum 1900
  • 'Toto', 'Wizard Of Oz', 'Munchkin', 'Winkie', 'Winkieland', 'Scarecrow', 'Over The Rainbow', 'Kansas Kid', 'Yellow Brick Road', 'Ruby Slippers', 'Little Ruby Slippers', 'White Witch', 'Wicked Witch'
• Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
  • 'Alice', 'White Rabbit', 'The Mad Hatter', 'Cheshire Cat', 'Cheshire Grin', 'Cheshire Smile', 'Jabberwocky', 'Tweedledee', 'Tweedledum.
• The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein, 1937
  • 'Eye Of Sauron', 'Shire', 'Hobbit', 'Gandalf The Grey', 'Lord Of Rings', 'Rivendell'
• Ameila Bedeila, series of children's books
  • ‘Ameila Bedeila’,
• Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery, first in series of Children's books by James Howe, 1997
  • 'Bunnicula'
• Harry Potter series J. K. Rawlings, starts 1997
  • 'Dumbledore'; 'Grindelwald'; 'Muggles', 'Wizard', 'Wizardry', 'Sorcerer's Stone', 'Sorcerer', 'Troll', 'Alchemist', 'Witch's Wand'.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
  • 'Oompha Loompa'
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, 1902
  • 'Flopsy', 'McGregor'

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-- BobPries - 2013-08-07