An illustrated tribute to Mary Dunn and her iris - Society for ...

SPRING 2007 NUMBER 207
ON THE COVERS: A sea of Louisiana irises in bloom at
Plantation Point Nursery in Louisiana
Spring 2007
Fleur de Lis: The Journal of the Society for Louisiana Irises

Red, White and Blue--A Tribute to Mary Dunn
Ron Killingsworth
Mooringsport, Louisiana
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Ten years after her death, Mary Dunn is remembered
for her extraordinary irises.
Inever had the privilege of meeting Mary Dunn (1930-
1997). I lived in California for a year in the 1970’s, but I
did not have an interest in irises at the time—otherwise I
sure would have visited Mary Dunn’s garden. If you can
judge a person’s life by the irises he or she hybridized, then
I would say Mary Dunn led a colorful and productive life.
When we started Plantation Point Nursery we obtained
several of Mary’s introductions from the former Lone Star
Nursery in Texas. The one that caught my eye was
‘Graceland’ (1979), a beautiful deep blue iris. It is certainly
a “good grower” and we probably have several hundred
growing in one bed today. During bloom season that bed is
a sea of blue. ‘Gulf Shores’ (1982) and ‘Delta Dawn’ (1982)
also came from Lone Star and are beautiful irises, easy to
grow and obviously of good ‘stock’ as both have won awards.
It appears Mary’s first registered Louisiana iris was
‘Monument’, registered in 1977. ‘Monument’ came from a
cross between ‘Charlie’s Michele’ (Arny, 1969) and ‘Ila
Nunn’ (Arny 1967). She certainly chose good breeding stock
and she was rewarded with a winner. This pretty, ruffled
white iris won the Mary Swords DeBaillon Award (MSDA)
in 1984. Mary continued her run of ‘winners’ with MSDA’s
for ‘Rhett’ (1982) in 1991, for ‘Bajazzo’ (1980) in 1992, for
‘Bayou Mystique’ (1988) in 1998 and ‘Extraordinaire’ (1990)
in 2002.
Spring 2007
Ron Killingsworth is retired
from U.S. Army, Military
Intelligence. He is manager of
Plantation Point Nursery,
Mooringsport, La. He can be reached
at retmiagt@shreve.net.
Mary Dunn’s ‘Hush Money’
From her first iris in 1977, to the last records I have
available in 2005, Mary registered (or were registered for
her) 129 Louisiana irises. Of these 129, Mary won at least
53 Honorable Mentions, 13 Awards of Merit, and the five
MSDA’s already mentioned. I hope that other parts of Mary’s
life were as blessed as she was with her irises!
Having established a title of ‘Red, White and Blue’ as a
tribute to Mary, let me mention the irises that inspired this
article. We have about 41 of Mary’s introductions. So let us
begin with the ‘Red’. I was always intrigued by ‘Rhett,’ a
beautiful mahogany red, and I watch for Rhett’s bloom each
year. I always wanted to purchase ‘Scarlett’ (1998), another
pretty red, and place her in the bed next to Rhett. Since the
‘real’ Rhett and Scarlett did not have any children, I can not
help but wonder what a cross of these “Gone with the Wind”
irises would render. Mary used Rhett as the pod parent in
two other irises and as the pollen parent in six other irises. I
have not found Scarlett yet, so if a reader has her, let’s make
a deal! And there you have the “red.”
White is easy to explain. Mary produced so many
beautiful white irises I hardly know where to begin, so let’s
start with some that have won awards. ‘Monument’ would
be a great place to start. Then there are the award winners
Fleur de Lis: The Journal of the Society for Louisiana Irises

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‘C’est Magnifique’ (1979), ‘Crisp
Lime’ (1982), and ‘Cotton Plantation’
(1994) as well as ‘Land of Cotton’
(1999). I grow ‘Crisp Lime’ but I would
love to have the others as well.
Blue is not hard to find in LA irises,
but Mary produced at least ten beautiful
blues, of which ‘Graceland’ is a great
example. ‘Gulf Shores’ (1982) is
another blue we grow, and it shows its
heritage from ‘Clyde Redmond’ (Arny
1970). We also grow ‘Soft Hearted’
(1999), but I wish we had ‘C’Est Le
Mote’ (1988), a beautiful blue that has
a signal pattern resembling J.C. Taylor’s
‘C’est Si Bon’ (1983). Of course, with
a parent like ‘Clara Goula’ (Arny 1975),
how could you go wrong?
Of all the irises Mary produced,
‘Bout Midnight’ (1988) is number one
in my book. I believe it is the darkest
Louisiana iris of them all. I hope to use
‘Bout Midnight’ in a cross with ‘Jeri’
(N. Bertinot 1984) or ‘Total Eclipse’
(Nelson 1959). I also must mention
‘Hush Money’ (1998), a cross of a
seedling (Clara Goula x Clara Goula)
X a seedling (Monument x
Handmaiden). What a parentage!
I hope you now have as deep an
appreciation for Mary Dunn as I do, and
that this article has inspired you to go
out and get some of her irises. With 53
Honorable Mentions, 13 Awards of
Merit, and five MSDA awards, you
can’t go wrong with Mary’s irises. I
am sure that, thanks to Mary, heaven
now has some beautiful Louisiana irises
to be admired by the angels.
©Ron Killingsworth
‘Bout Midnight’
‘Coup de Ville’
‘Sorbet’
‘Soft Hearted’
‘True Reward’
‘Whistling Dixie’
©Ron Killingsworth
©Ron Killingsworth
©Ron Killingsworth
‘Thanksgiving Fest’
‘Rhett’
‘Lightning Quick’
Fleur de Lis: The Journal of the Society for Louisiana Irises Spring 2007