Historic Iris Preservation

Good question! The American Iris Society defines an historic iris as one that was introduced 30 years ago or more. That is, as of 2012, any iris introduced before 1983 is considered "historic".

Now, your second question may be something like this..."OK, now I understand what an historic iris is, but why should I care, and more specifically, why should I care enough to want to "preserve" them...and what does that mean anyway?"

So let's address the first part of that question. Why would anyone care about historic iris, or historic plants in general for that matter?

There are many reasons and answers for this question, probably as many answers as there are people interested in the preservation of history and gardening. The reasons do tend to fall around a few common themes though.

One reason often sited is sentimental value. "They remind me of my grandmother's gardens", or "I used to visit my grandfather's grave and these flowers were planted all around the old cemetery" are common themes. Sometimes it is as simple as "a friend gave me some of these many years ago and I remember her every time they bloom". Sentimental value for old things can't be discounted. It brings us joy and reminds us of pleasant times with special people.

A few people will say they just prefer the elegance and simple lines of the older forms. The flowers are smaller, often longer and narrower in form and sometimes surprisingly fragrant. All of these features make them attractive to gardeners of today.

Another reason not to be overlooked is the preservation of historic landmarks and buildings. Often such sites hosted gardens which the new owners, be they private or public, would like to replicate with authentic plants of the period. If the plants were not preserved, thus are no longer available, then replicating an authentic period garden would be impossible. The educational opportunities of a public historic site would be diminished.

One reason for preservation of historic plants that is frequently overlooked is the preservation of the gene pool for the plant species.

When hybridizers (plant breeders) develop new plants they often do so by narrowing the gene pool through a method called "line breeding". Line breeding involves the cross pollination and selection of closely related plants over many generations. Repeated selection of certain traits will eventually lead to a narrowing of the genetics in the line such that those traits are more easily reproduced. Once the trait is easily produced the plants can be "outcrossed" to unrelated plants in order to develop other desirable traits.

For example, in bearded irises there were originally only white and purple, small flowered and narrow formed species irises to work with. Through many generations of selective breeding, with each generation of plants the hybridizers chose the seedlings that showed more of a pink cast to the flowers. Eventually what we see today as "pink" irises were developed. Once the color was set into the seedling lines, the hybridizers could focus on expanding the various flower forms so that today we have wide ruffled pink irises, we have large flowered pink irises, we have intermediate size pink irises, and we have dwarf pink irises.

It takes many years to develop a new trait like this, often multiple generations of hybridizers work on the same trait to perfect it.

These historic lines of irises still contain unexplored genetics which could lead to new traits for future hybridizers to develop. If the future hybridizers have to go all the way back to the species in order to try to find those hidden traits, it may take a lifetime or more to move the traits forward. By building on the work of previous generations of hybridizers they have more likelihood of success in a timeframe that they will live to see.

One of the challenges in preserving historic plants of any kind is that often the plant has been separated from its proper name. How many home gardens have you seen where every plant is carefully labeled with its name, hybridizer, and registration date?

Chances are you've seen few, or more likely none. Aside from the occasional obsessed collector most gardeners remember their plants as simply "that purple iris" or "that yellow one by the garage". With tens of thousands of iris plants registered you can imagine that there are literally thousands of "purple" irises.

This is where the Historic Iris Preservation Society (HIPS) comes to the rescue (see resource list below). Members around the world not only grow their own large collections of historic iris but they maintain a website filled with recent photographs of historic irises and old hybridizer's catalogs. Experts at identification will guide you through the key observable differences in iris such as size of flower, bloom size, fragrance, time of bloom, and foliage differences. Submit your photos in the HIPS identification forum and other members will try to help you find an ID.

Frequently it is necessary to grow your iris side-by-side with a suspected match from a known reliable source in order to verify the identity. HIPS members regularly trade rhizomes and also provide a listing of commercial resources.

Researching the proper names of historic plants is every bit as addicting as human genealogy research. In fact, you may find yourself taking on unusual projects. For example, after noticing a large variety of historic iris growing in a local cemetery I have given myself the daunting multi-year task of attempting to identify the varieties growing there. It is fascinating the information that can be learned and the sense of nostalgia is wonderful.