Just wanted to let you all know that Don Spoon died on Friday. We have lost another great hybridizer. And one of the few based in the Eastern US. I, and many others, was especially fond of his SDB's. He had some of the best green dwarfs in the business (Snow Peas, Granny Apple, Greenfingers to name a very few) and gave us beautiful turquoise (Tropical Shoals, the well loved Teagan). And popular TB's as well such as Plum Pretty Whiskers, and the gorgeous Winterberry. In all he hybridized and introduced hundreds of MDB's, SDB's, BB's, TB's and even a few JI's.

Spiderman:


Tropical Shoals:


Blue Hues:


My favorite - Rainbow Rim:

very sad. thank you for the heads-up, leslie.

Sorry to hear this, he was working so hard to get a green iris among other things. I have never met him, but his wife Jinny spoke at one of our club meetings a few years back. Thanks for letting us know.

So sorry to read this. I love the color on his TEAGAN.

I forgot to add his iris that soooo many of you have in your gardens - Daughter of Stars.

Thanks for letting us know Leslie. I love his irises too.

Sad news. His Irises are some of the most reliable and rugged in my yard, especially my favorite Sun and Sky.

Sun and Sky is a wonderful iris. I guess I didn't realize it was a Spoon iris.

So, so, so sad. What a loss to the world.

Yes, I'm so sorry to hear about Don. I hope Ginny can continue to manage the nursery without him. It's the only TB iris nursery we have anywhere around here. It would be so sad to see it go.

Thanks for the info!

Aw! That's such a shame. Don was a great guy and had many wonderful intros. He will be missed.

So sad. He was always so willing to share information! I still have his instructions on growing rebloomers in colder climates.

He has a really nice article on hybridizing (for beginners) on his website. So nice of him to share that information.

Sad news. Thanks for sharing, Leslie. He created such nice irises---I love Teagan and Rosalie Loving.

My condolences to his wife Ginny and their family. He was my favorite Hybridizer. I loved his work with blues and greens. I remember the day, many years ago, I found the Winterberry Iris website. I was looking at things like Blues Clues. I was like no way...these are dolled up pictures. There is no way Irises come in this beautiful of colors. Well an order or two proved that wrong, I had my coveted greens and blues.
Also, when I was first starting out growing Irises I had some questions and had a long phone conversation with Don Spoon as he patiently answered each one. I can't even remember now what I was asking but it probably had to do with best green irises or something What I do remember though from that day is his obvious vast knowledge of the flower, his obvious love for Irises, and also his humbleness to sit and share that knowledge with me.
Teagan remains my favorite Iris of all times. I too am crazy about Sky and Sun. I have multiple crosses with it.
Here are some others that are way up in my favorites categories:
Blues Clues:


Aqua:


India Ink:


Fly Butterfly:



Flag Red:


Greenfingers:


Raymond:


He will not be forgotten!!!!

I'm so sorry to hear this. I ordered from them a couple of times and spoke with Don on the phone. He was trying so hard to convince me to hybridize iris Truly a very nice and helpful man. His intros are beautiful.

I think Don, like many hybridizers are/were worried about the dwindling number of younger hybridizers coming up to take their place. Keith Keppel has urged people to step up several times on facebook lately. It really does seem like there are very few younger up and coming hybridizers in the iris world.

Oh noes!

My favourite Don Spoon iris is


...with
and
sharing a close second.

I have a few of his other ones on my wish list...


for sharing the sad news Leslie!

Lestv said: I think Don, like many hybridizers are/were worried about the dwindling number of younger hybridizers coming up to take their place. Keith Keppel has urged people to step up several times on facebook lately. It really does seem like there are very few younger up and coming hybridizers in the iris world.

Hybridizing iris requires a fair amount of real estate - a resource I suspect a lot of younger people don't have.

Donald Spoon's Daughter of Stars is a lovely iris - here it is in my garden: