An illustrated tribute to Mary Dunn and her iris - Society for ...
An illustrated tribute to Mary Dunn and her iris - Society for ...
An illustrated tribute to Mary Dunn and her iris - Society for ...
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SPRING 2007 NUMBER 207<br />
ON THE COVERS: A sea of Louisiana <strong>iris</strong>es in bloom at<br />
Plantation Point Nursery in Louisiana<br />
Spring 2007<br />
Fleur de Lis: The Journal of the <strong>Society</strong> <strong>for</strong> Louisiana Irises
Red, White <strong>and</strong> Blue--A Tribute <strong>to</strong> <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Dunn</strong><br />
Ron Killingsworth<br />
Mooringsport, Louisiana<br />
3<br />
Ten years after <strong>her</strong> death, <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Dunn</strong> is remembered<br />
<strong>for</strong> <strong>her</strong> extraordinary <strong>iris</strong>es.<br />
Inever had the privilege of meeting <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Dunn</strong> (1930-<br />
1997). I lived in Cali<strong>for</strong>nia <strong>for</strong> a year in the 1970’s, but I<br />
did not have an interest in <strong>iris</strong>es at the time—ot<strong>her</strong>wise I<br />
sure would have visited <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Dunn</strong>’s garden. If you can<br />
judge a person’s life by the <strong>iris</strong>es he or she hybridized, then<br />
I would say <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Dunn</strong> led a colorful <strong>and</strong> productive life.<br />
When we started Plantation Point Nursery we obtained<br />
several of <strong>Mary</strong>’s introductions from the <strong>for</strong>mer Lone Star<br />
Nursery in Texas. The one that caught my eye was<br />
‘Gracel<strong>and</strong>’ (1979), a beautiful deep blue <strong>iris</strong>. It is certainly<br />
a “good grower” <strong>and</strong> we probably have several hundred<br />
growing in one bed <strong>to</strong>day. During bloom season that bed is<br />
a sea of blue. ‘Gulf Shores’ (1982) <strong>and</strong> ‘Delta Dawn’ (1982)<br />
also came from Lone Star <strong>and</strong> are beautiful <strong>iris</strong>es, easy <strong>to</strong><br />
grow <strong>and</strong> obviously of good ‘s<strong>to</strong>ck’ as both have won awards.<br />
It appears <strong>Mary</strong>’s first registered Louisiana <strong>iris</strong> was<br />
‘Monument’, registered in 1977. ‘Monument’ came from a<br />
cross between ‘Charlie’s Michele’ (Arny, 1969) <strong>and</strong> ‘Ila<br />
Nunn’ (Arny 1967). She certainly chose good breeding s<strong>to</strong>ck<br />
<strong>and</strong> she was rewarded with a winner. This pretty, ruffled<br />
white <strong>iris</strong> won the <strong>Mary</strong> Swords DeBaillon Award (MSDA)<br />
in 1984. <strong>Mary</strong> continued <strong>her</strong> run of ‘winners’ with MSDA’s<br />
<strong>for</strong> ‘Rhett’ (1982) in 1991, <strong>for</strong> ‘Bajazzo’ (1980) in 1992, <strong>for</strong><br />
‘Bayou Mystique’ (1988) in 1998 <strong>and</strong> ‘Extraordinaire’ (1990)<br />
in 2002.<br />
Spring 2007<br />
Ron Killingsworth is retired<br />
from U.S. Army, Military<br />
Intelligence. He is manager of<br />
Plantation Point Nursery,<br />
Mooringsport, La. He can be reached<br />
at retmiagt@shreve.net.<br />
<strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Dunn</strong>’s ‘Hush Money’<br />
From <strong>her</strong> first <strong>iris</strong> in 1977, <strong>to</strong> the last records I have<br />
available in 2005, <strong>Mary</strong> registered (or were registered <strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>her</strong>) 129 Louisiana <strong>iris</strong>es. Of these 129, <strong>Mary</strong> won at least<br />
53 Honorable Mentions, 13 Awards of Merit, <strong>and</strong> the five<br />
MSDA’s already mentioned. I hope that ot<strong>her</strong> parts of <strong>Mary</strong>’s<br />
life were as blessed as she was with <strong>her</strong> <strong>iris</strong>es!<br />
Having established a title of ‘Red, White <strong>and</strong> Blue’ as a<br />
<strong>tribute</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Mary</strong>, let me mention the <strong>iris</strong>es that inspired this<br />
article. We have about 41 of <strong>Mary</strong>’s introductions. So let us<br />
begin with the ‘Red’. I was always intrigued by ‘Rhett,’ a<br />
beautiful mahogany red, <strong>and</strong> I watch <strong>for</strong> Rhett’s bloom each<br />
year. I always wanted <strong>to</strong> purchase ‘Scarlett’ (1998), anot<strong>her</strong><br />
pretty red, <strong>and</strong> place <strong>her</strong> in the bed next <strong>to</strong> Rhett. Since the<br />
‘real’ Rhett <strong>and</strong> Scarlett did not have any children, I can not<br />
help but wonder what a cross of these “Gone with the Wind”<br />
<strong>iris</strong>es would render. <strong>Mary</strong> used Rhett as the pod parent in<br />
two ot<strong>her</strong> <strong>iris</strong>es <strong>and</strong> as the pollen parent in six ot<strong>her</strong> <strong>iris</strong>es. I<br />
have not found Scarlett yet, so if a reader has <strong>her</strong>, let’s make<br />
a deal! <strong>An</strong>d t<strong>her</strong>e you have the “red.”<br />
White is easy <strong>to</strong> explain. <strong>Mary</strong> produced so many<br />
beautiful white <strong>iris</strong>es I hardly know w<strong>her</strong>e <strong>to</strong> begin, so let’s<br />
start with some that have won awards. ‘Monument’ would<br />
be a great place <strong>to</strong> start. Then t<strong>her</strong>e are the award winners<br />
Fleur de Lis: The Journal of the <strong>Society</strong> <strong>for</strong> Louisiana Irises
4<br />
‘C’est Magnifique’ (1979), ‘Crisp<br />
Lime’ (1982), <strong>and</strong> ‘Cot<strong>to</strong>n Plantation’<br />
(1994) as well as ‘L<strong>and</strong> of Cot<strong>to</strong>n’<br />
(1999). I grow ‘Crisp Lime’ but I would<br />
love <strong>to</strong> have the ot<strong>her</strong>s as well.<br />
Blue is not hard <strong>to</strong> find in LA <strong>iris</strong>es,<br />
but <strong>Mary</strong> produced at least ten beautiful<br />
blues, of which ‘Gracel<strong>and</strong>’ is a great<br />
example. ‘Gulf Shores’ (1982) is<br />
anot<strong>her</strong> blue we grow, <strong>and</strong> it shows its<br />
<strong>her</strong>itage from ‘Clyde Redmond’ (Arny<br />
1970). We also grow ‘Soft Hearted’<br />
(1999), but I wish we had ‘C’Est Le<br />
Mote’ (1988), a beautiful blue that has<br />
a signal pattern resembling J.C. Taylor’s<br />
‘C’est Si Bon’ (1983). Of course, with<br />
a parent like ‘Clara Goula’ (Arny 1975),<br />
how could you go wrong?<br />
Of all the <strong>iris</strong>es <strong>Mary</strong> produced,<br />
‘Bout Midnight’ (1988) is number one<br />
in my book. I believe it is the darkest<br />
Louisiana <strong>iris</strong> of them all. I hope <strong>to</strong> use<br />
‘Bout Midnight’ in a cross with ‘Jeri’<br />
(N. Bertinot 1984) or ‘Total Eclipse’<br />
(Nelson 1959). I also must mention<br />
‘Hush Money’ (1998), a cross of a<br />
seedling (Clara Goula x Clara Goula)<br />
X a seedling (Monument x<br />
H<strong>and</strong>maiden). What a parentage!<br />
I hope you now have as deep an<br />
appreciation <strong>for</strong> <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Dunn</strong> as I do, <strong>and</strong><br />
that this article has inspired you <strong>to</strong> go<br />
out <strong>and</strong> get some of <strong>her</strong> <strong>iris</strong>es. With 53<br />
Honorable Mentions, 13 Awards of<br />
Merit, <strong>and</strong> five MSDA awards, you<br />
can’t go wrong with <strong>Mary</strong>’s <strong>iris</strong>es. I<br />
am sure that, thanks <strong>to</strong> <strong>Mary</strong>, heaven<br />
now has some beautiful Louisiana <strong>iris</strong>es<br />
<strong>to</strong> be admired by the angels.<br />
©Ron Killingsworth<br />
‘Bout Midnight’<br />
‘Coup de Ville’<br />
‘Sorbet’<br />
‘Soft Hearted’<br />
‘True Reward’<br />
‘Whistling Dixie’<br />
©Ron Killingsworth<br />
©Ron Killingsworth<br />
©Ron Killingsworth<br />
‘Thanksgiving Fest’<br />
‘Rhett’<br />
‘Lightning Quick’<br />
Fleur de Lis: The Journal of the <strong>Society</strong> <strong>for</strong> Louisiana Irises Spring 2007