Peter Jackson Expands Louisiana Iris Breeding in Australia

Peter JacksonExpands Louisiana IrisBreeding in AustraliaBY TOM W. DILLARDDuring the dreadful autumn of theyear 2000, while America enduredthe political intrigue of thecontested vote recounts in Florida, Isought solace at an international iris conferencein New Zealand. It was this gatheringwhich gave me the opportunity toget to know scores of interesting peoplefrom throughout the iris-growing world,with Peter Jackson of Australia beingPeter Jackson of Adelaide, South Australia, in the garden.among the most prized encounters. Forseveral years, Peter has been quietly hybridizingLouisiana irises—and finally, hiscultivars are being introduced intoAmerica.InternetPeter and I first met via the Internet;we both subscribe to the Louisiana iris“listserv ”discussion group. (Anyone canjoin this internet discussion group bysending an email to Lairis-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.) Peter posted messagesquite infrequently, but when he did,they were invariably interesting. Hewould occasionally bless the whole groupby posting a photograph of his latest seedling.And indeed, he had a camera hangingfrom his neck when I met him on thesprawling lawn of a suburban Taurangatour garden. We were both snapping imagesof a delightfully designed and soothingwater garden.“Hello Tom, I’m Peter Jackson,” Ihear him say softly, “and I’m glad tomeet you off-the-Internet.” Peter wasan even more interesting and fun in personthan in the confined frame of a computerscreen. He then introduced me to❁ADELAIDEhis wife, Pam, who was, just like herspouse, charming in one of those quietbut thoughtful ways frequently foundamong Australians.It turns out that Peter was born inNew Zealand, growing up in Wellingtonin the North Island and Canterbury andOtago in the South Island. Jackson recalls,“My interest in irises (bearded) beganas a child, helping my grandmotherin the garden. When we moved to Kapitiarea (north of Wellington) in the late1970s, several iris nurseries were offeringLouisianas as a new kind for NewZealand. I bought several, including I.fulva, some Abbeville Reds, and a fewnamed hybrids, such as ‘Grace Scott’ and‘Eolian.’ From then on we were bothhooked! They survived heavy winterfrosts, which impressed us.”In 1982, the Jacksons moved toAdelaide, South Australia, Pam’s birthplace.They found the soil highly alkaline,so they switched to growingLouisianas in pots of acidic growing medium,which they set in ponds of water.This is a labor intensive enterprise, andMrs. Jackson contributes more than hershare.Hybridizing ProgramBy 1994 Peter was ready to start hisown breeding program. He admits hisinitial program simply involved matchingone handsome parent with anotherfavorite. Still, Peter believes this earlyphase provided “a lot of pleasure” as wellNewZealand4 S L I N E W S L E T T E R | W I N T E R 2 0 0 2

as a “time of observation,” when he couldlearn to carefully evaluate seedlings. Heregistered and introduced his first hybridsin 1997, ‘It’s Lilac Time,’ and ‘OaklandsJewel’.Jackson says he has gotten to thepoint now that he plans his crosses verycarefully, in part simply due to space limitationsimposed by growing seedlings inpots.GoalsAmong his goals is “to produce a highquality red, a ruffled near black, and toexperiment with veining and spray patterns.”He has always been attracted tothe red Louisianas, mentioning ‘AnnChowning’ as a favorite, noting, “I lovethe deep currant red and also the contrastof the bright gold triangular signals.”Peter has selected “the reddest LAthat has appeared in my seedling patch,”for further observation and refinement.This cross of ‘Lucy Payens’ x ‘GladiatorsGift’ is a bitone with bright red falls(which he admits need further work).The same cross produced a lower growingiris of intense yellow with heavy rufflingof strong substance, which mightbe introduced later.Breeding for red also produced‘Coonawarra Claret,’ one of Jackson’sguest irises that bloomed for the 2002Society convention in Little Rock. Introducedin 1999, ‘Coonawarra Claret’is a deep velvety wine red, which contrastsnicely with cream style arms and adeep gold star signal. His near-blackbreeding line has produced ‘Storm Boy’and ‘Iron Man,’ with several seedlingsunder evaluation.‘Coonawarra Claret’ resulted froma cross of ‘Gladiator’s Gift’ x ‘DesertJewel.’ ‘Gladiator’s Gift’ (J. Taylor, 90)shows up again and again in Jackson’scrosses, as it does in much of the breedingwork being done in Australia andmuch of the American west coast. Healso makes quite a lot of use of ‘LucyPayens’ (J. Taylor 92) as well as Taylor’sfamed ‘Margaret Lee’ (R91).The gardening public has been quitetaken with two of Peter’s cultivars whichare not from his dark red breeding. ‘It’sLilac Time’ (R. 97) is a very soft lavenderbitone with complementary creamand lilac style arms, and it is reported tohave a pleasing fragrance. A deep rosepink with an umbrella form, ‘Bright Parasol’(R99) sports a raised spear signal onall petals.Among Jackson’s favorite namedLouisiana irises are the previously mentioned‘Ann Chowning,’ and several introductionsby fellow Australians, includingHeather Pryor’s ‘Garnet StormDancer’ and ‘Venus Vortex,’ a deeppurple with a huge white spray patternthat Jackson proclaims “stunning—verydramatic!” He likes John Taylor’s ‘Undercover’(R 96), a dark violet, as wellas Taylor’s ‘Daintree’ (R 97), a “beautifulbright yellow with great form and ruffling.”Compact ProgramJackson’s breeding program has beencarried on in a tiny back yard garden inAdelaide, the capital of South Australia.The Jacksons grow over 120 varieties ofLouisianas, plus his seedlings—all of thisdone in 500 pots. “People are amazedat what we can fit into our back yard,but it’s a case of making sure that everythingis in its place,” Jackson says.Jackson Irises. From left, top, ‘EncounterBay’, which has just received an HCfrom the Victorian Iris Society in Australia;‘It’s Lilac Time’, among Peter’sfirst, a 1997 registration.Above, from top: ‘Storm Boy’, a deeppurple; ‘Burra Burra, a red-brown blendregistered in 2001; and the spectacularlyruffled, light lavender blue ‘QueenAdelaide’, registered in 2001.W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 | S L I N E W S L E T T E R 5

Each year Jackson plants his seedsin trays, and during their first year theresulting seedlings are transferred twiceto successively larger pots. After the firstyear, plants are repotted yearly, a southernhemisphere summer-long process involvingboth Peter and Pam. Fortunately,Peter owns his own cleaning company(which gives him greater control over histime than the years he was employed asa master craftsman in wood).In addition to gardening, Jackson hasa long and abiding interest in music. Hehas a large collection of music, mostlyclassical and involving orchestral, piano,chamber, and lighter styles. He hasplayed the piano since childhood. Heand Pam are both cat fanciers.Coming to the USAIrises bred by Peter Jackson havebeen scarce in North America, but thatsituation is about to change. Isle of ViewIris Garden, located in Battle Ground,Washington, has become Jackson’s representativein the United States. Ms.Lynn Finkel, proprietor of Isle of View,expressed great hopes for Jackson’s hybridson the American market: “Theseirises are not only beautiful, they are alsotough. We want to do our part to getPeter’s irises into gardens throughout thenation.” Lynn said the Jackson irises arebeing propagated now, and she anticipatesoffering them in her 2004 gardencatalog.MoMore From Peter. From top: a stalkof the 1999 deep rosy violet ‘BrightParasol’; ‘Royal Music’, cream beigeand dark red from 2001. Right, fromtop: veined and creamy ‘Creme Freeze’;the velvety red ‘Coonawarra Claret’.Tom Dillard is Secretary of SLI. TheIsle of View Iris Garden can be reachedthrough the Garden’s website or regularmail, as shown in the CommercialDirectory, page 31.6 S L I N E W S L E T T E R | W I N T E R 2 0 0 2