A neighbor stopped by not long ago and said, \u201cWhat are those beautiful aqua iris by your front walk?\u201d\u00a0 The iris in question were small but glorious, resembling a cluster of orchids or a small flock of butterflies hovering just above ground level.\u00a0 The three outer petals or falls of each one were pale aqua-blue with darker blue stripes and yellow throats freckled in black.\u00a0 The standards or upright petals were blue and white-striped. \u00a0The petals had a slight grayish cast, which only added to their overall beauty. \u00a0Each plant was only about four inches tall and bore a single bloom that lasted several days.<\/p>\n
The small spring miracle adorning my front walk was Iris \u2018Katherine Hodgkin\u2019.\u00a0 Next fall I think I will install about 100 more of them.\u00a0 I suspect my neighbor won\u2019t be far behind.<\/p>\n
\u2018Katherine Hodgkin\u2019 looks like it should be an antique variety with a provenance dating back to at least the nineteenth century.\u00a0 It is actually mid-twentieth century product, born in 1958, when Eisenhower inhabited the White House and the Baby Boom was in full swing.\u00a0 It is part of a group of small iris species, varieties and hybrids, classified as \u201creticulated.\u201d\u00a0 This descriptor refers to the net-like sheathing on each bulb.\u00a0 \u201cReticulated\u201d comes from the same root as the word \u201creticule,\u201d which takes us back to the nineteenth century, when women carried net or drawstring reticules to contain life\u2019s little necessities. Reticules have gone the way of all things, but reticulated iris are both more chic and more relevant now than ever.<\/p>\n
\u2018Katherine Hodgkin\u2019 is the love child of two relatively rare iris, both native to Asia Minor.\u00a0 The pollen came from Iris winogradowii, a pale yellow species that grows about eight inches tall.\u00a0 The \u201cmother\u201d plant was another small species, Iris histriodes, which, according to Hortus<\/i>, features falls that are \u201clong, bright blue-purple, with white central blotch and yellow ridge\u201d and \u201cviolet-blue\u201d standards.\u00a0 Sometimes \u2018Katherine Hodgkin\u2019 is also classified as a histrioides variety.<\/p>\n
According to an excellent 2008 article by author John Hoyland in the English Telegraph<\/i> newspaper, the breeder, E.B. Anderson, stored the winogradowii pollen in a jam jar until the histrioides variety flowered.\u00a0 Not romantic, but it got the job done.\u00a0 When the offspring of this cross flowered, Anderson knew he had a winner and named it after the wife of a friend and fellow plantsman, Eliot Hodgkin.\u00a0 Anderson passed bulbs along to fellow dwarf iris enthusiasts and \u2018Katherine\u2019s fame gradually spread.\u00a0 These days the plants are available from specialty bulb vendors starting in late spring and running through early fall.\u00a0 They are relatively inexpensive, which is a good thing, because once you have experienced \u2018Katherine Hodgkin\u2019s charms, you will want to plant the bulb in drifts.<\/p>\n
There are other wonderful dwarf iris that would make fine companions for \u2018Katherine.\u2019\u00a0 One is the darker blue \u2018Lady Beatrix Stanley\u2019, also orchid-like in appearance, with falls marked in yellow and white.\u00a0 Another is the lovely white-flowered \u2018Finola\u2019, which features pale blue stripes and soft golden green blotches on the falls.\u00a0 If you can get it to flower at the same time, Iris bucharica is a good contrast, with white standards and golden yellow falls.\u00a0 Bucharica has the added advantage of multiple flowers on each plant, which increases the overall joy of such iris varieties.\u00a0 Many of the reticulated and dwarf varieties are also fragrant, but because of their size you have to plant them in large drifts or pick them to enjoy the fragrance.<\/p>\n
Dwarf narcissus also make excellent companions for \u2018Katherine\u2019 and her crew of small iris.\u00a0 They should all grow in situations where they will not get lost.\u00a0 Rock gardens make good sites, as do troughs or other containers.\u00a0 The little iris will also do well in the fronts of conventional beds and borders.<\/p>\n
Sunshine and well-drained soil are a necessity, though the plants will also be fine if they are installed under deciduous trees or shrubs.\u00a0 These larger plants cooperate by not leafing out until the iris have put on their annual show.\u00a0 Thereafter the trees or shrubs take up most of the moisture in the soil, leaving the iris\u2014whose flowers and foliage disappear by spring\u2019s end–in the kind of dry summer situation that they relish.<\/p>\n
Spring enchantment, in the form of \u2018Katherine Hodgkin\u2019, is so easy and cheap that you would think more people would indulge.\u00a0 You can order starting now for fall delivery.\u00a0 One of the best sources for the little iris is Brent and Becky\u2019s Bulbs, 7900 Daffodil Lane Gloucester, VA 23061, (877) 661-2852, www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com<\/a>. Free catalog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A neighbor stopped by not long ago and said, \u201cWhat are those beautiful aqua iris by your front walk?\u201d\u00a0 The iris in question were small but glorious, resembling a cluster of orchids or a small flock of butterflies hovering just above ground level.\u00a0 The three outer petals or falls of each one were pale aqua-blue … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,5],"tags":[1159,238,1160,1158,1157,1161,590,1162,272,1163],"class_list":["post-1315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-winter","tag-dwarf-iris","tag-garden-history","tag-iris-breeding","tag-iris-reticulata","tag-katherine-hodgkin","tag-plant-breeding","tag-rock-garden-plants","tag-small-gardens","tag-spring-flowering-bulbs","tag-trough-gardens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1316,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions\/1316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}