What Excitement Looks Like

 

Seeds of various irises, from SIGNA, from friends on Facebook, and from fellow hybridizers

I have been waiting for the SIGNA seed exchange to open since 2023. They cancelled the seed exchange last year due to low participation numbers. Not enough folks were excited enough to send seeds. This year, I kept checking the SIGNA website with baited breath. 

For other seed loving, iris growing enthusiasts, here is the link: http://www.signa.org/index.pl?Membership

So why am I so excited?

I guess it helps to understand what SIGNA is. "Species Iris Group of North America is devoted to studying the Iris family in the wild as well as enjoying them in the garden. We're equally interested in species and hybrids. We promote them through our seed exchange while supporting their conservation in the wild. We disseminate scientific and cultural information about them through our members-only publications and to the public at large via this website." - from the SIGNA website.

What this really means is that it is a wild place to find seeds of many different iris species from all over the world. Additionally, you can find hybrid seeds from hybridizers in the US. Most of the seeds are wholly unavailable from any seed supplier. They are collected from gardens and in the wild. 

Why on earth would I want to start my own seeds if what I want to grow is a specific iris? I think that growing plants from seed satisfies so many different needs. On the simplest level, it is considerably cheaper. Sure, it takes time for the plant to grow enough that you can see it bloom. Usually 2-3 years. But it is dirt cheap. That's not a big determination for me. I think I like the opportunity to grow something that isn't available at the local garden center or big box store. I love the idea that the person who grew the seeds is a real person. If you are so inclined, you could probably find them online or via phone. And, in that way, they are like me. They like their plants enough to save seed and they like the community enough to share those seeds.

When I started making pottery in high school, everyone's glazes came from an assortment of jars labeled MAYCO in the school pottery studio. The colors ranged from puce to beige to blech.  But that was all that the school had. Hideous colors. Safe for kids, but yuck!  When I started working in clay at Barry College in Miami Springs, I had access to Duncan low-fire glazes, which meant a huge array of colors. Everything from dalmatian white with black spots, to emerald green with crystals. Tons of choices. It still needed to be brushed on, and the colors were limited... but at least there were more options. 

One of my earliest pots, with my very first homemade glaze: Grapefruit Green

 

It didn't take long for me to want more. I was leafing through the old Ceramics Monthly magazines in the studio when the studio tech caught me. Kris listened to my naive curiosity and suggested I learn how to make my own glazes. In one month's time, I went from brushing on the crappiest glazes known to man, to mixing up my very first glaze from a recipe in Chappell's Complete Book of Clay and Glazes.  Within a year, I would be mixing high fire glazes and firing to cone 10 at UMASS Amherst. Eventually I found myself studying at the knee of Angela Fina, potter extraordinaire. She helped me wrap my head around unity molecular formula so that I could eventually compare glazes and materials at a glance and know how they would behave. She gave me the keys to the kingdom! 

Not long after leaving Amherst and finding myself in Utah, I met Brian Gartside (NZ) when he came to give a workshop. Brian helped me move from a very scientific approach to glaze calculation back to a very intuitive approach to glazes and decoration. Heck, the word "glazes" should be in parenthesis... because they defied a lot of what glazes are assumed to be. For more info, check out the Glaze Tectonics webpage where I posted photos of the work I made during this time in Utah. 

http://glazetectonics.blogspot.com/

 

So what does all this have to do with excitement? I used to dream about glazes. I talked about them to anyone who would listen. I was constantly trying new ideas, new textures, new colors, new firing temperatures. When I stopped making pottery in 2010, I had multiple three-ring binders full of glaze ideas that I wanted to try. In some cases, they were almost poetry. Colors, textures, feelings that I wanted to emote from the glaze. Losing the studio took that avenue of excitement away.  

Not long before Covid, we started building the garden (for the second time). This time we were building it to accommodate the changes my health and mobility required. Bit by bit, I have regained more of my stamina and strength... and I have help! 

When I was surprised by the congestive heart failure diagnosis in 2022, it really took the wind out of my sails. It triggered all sorts of PTSD memories from the coma. Being trapped in the hospital for days without a diagnosis didn't help. Once I was home, there was further adjustment. I feel very fortunate that both Nancy and Leto jumped in to help me adjust. Before I went into the hospital, I had bought my first order of Siberian irises. Twenty little Siberian irises. Not a bad start!

Twenty little Siberian irises

Since then, I have steadily added irises each year. Okay, that's an understatement. Once I discovered the Siberian Iris Society, they were the gateway drug. They pointed me to AIS, who in turn helped me discover SIGNA. Much like my fascination with glazes, I was starting out with what others had created, but very quickly, I wanted the excitement and joy of making my own! 

Last year, we planted about a hundred new iris seedlings. The year before we planted about fifty. This coming year, we will have more seedlings to plant out. Plus we will have some of these seedlings to move so they can really expand. I didn't expect some of these species to grow so large, so quickly.

First year seedlings in September

This winter I found a few hybridizers who specialize in species crosses... meaning crossing two different iris species. Sometimes those crosses can be fairly close, and other times that species cross can be a long cross where there is a huge discrepancy in chromosome counts between the pod parent and the pollen parent. One of these hybridizers is Tomas Tamberg in Germany. His website was recently updated (here is the website translated from German to English). I admit, I spent the entire weekend going through all of his amazing crosses! Such exciting ideas and incredible colors!

That's why I am excited. There are new plants to grow, new plants to see flower, new ideas to try and new seeds to order for next year! Without the joy and excitement from this, I think I would despair that things could ever be better. For all of the political insanity happening, I am putting my hope in plants, knowing that in four years, I will be looking at a very different garden from one I started not long ago. That's exciting.