■(TB) 'Solomon's Seal'

1999, Ensminger

'Solomon's Seal' (Allan Ensminger, R. 1998). Seedling# 95-43. TB, 35" (89 cm), Late midseason bloom. Standards very pallid blue to white; style arms and falls white; beards dauphins violet (HCC 039), long and pointed; slight fragrance. 'Electric Surge' X seedling# 92-77: (seedling# 189-53: (seedling# 86-21: ('Peach Jam' x ((seedling# 75-18 x (seedling# 71-33: (seedling# 68-26: (('Snow Goddess' x ('May Hall' x unknown)) x (seedling# 63-5 x 'Rippling Waters')) x seedling# 68-21) x seedling# 71-31)) x 'Vivien')) x 'Special Feature') x sibling). Varigay 1999. Honorable Mention 2002. Novelty.

See below:

• * References

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References:

From AIS Bulletin #313 April 1999 Introducing SOLOMON'S SEAL. When I first began to hybridize IRISES over 40 years ago, I communicated with some of the prominent hybridizers of the day attempting to milk their minds of the "know how" that they had gained from experience. The response to these letters was great. Most hybridizers are very generous in sharing information associated with their beloved hobby. By the early 1950s, most new TB introductions were tetraploids. A number of Iris hybridizers were convinced that these tetraploids didn't leave much room for improvement and advised me to expend my hybridizing efforts on Siberians or Spurias. Little did they realize the potential for change that is inherent in tetraploids. Every year among my seedlings are Irises that are different and call for improvement. Wouldn't this be great if it had better form or better branching, etc.? Back in 1990 a guest Iris in our garden was SPECIAL FEATURE introduced by Manley Osborne in 1988. Special Feature has beautiful flounces instead of beards. The petals and flounces are an attractive violet-blue. I thought to myself, "Now this I like. Wouldn't this be outstanding if the flounces were a different color than the petals?" So since then, part of my hybridizing efforts has been towards a TB Iris with white standards and falls and purple flounces. It isn't easy. I haven't grown enough seedlings to produce the color break that will allow the flounces to be a different color than the falls. But as serendipity along the way, we got a beautiful white seedling with large pointed purple beards on a superb stalk. We named this seedling SOLOMON'S SEAL. If you are interested in growing SOLOMON'S SEAL or any of the other hardy Ensminger introductions, send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope for our price list available in early June. Allan Ensminger, Varigay Gardens.

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-- KentPfeiffer - 2010-08-04