Brad, can you talk a bit about stems? Hybridizers really seem to focus on them, but I have to admit I have not noticed them in my garden except when they always fall over and have branches that are too wide with too much space between the flowers. (I don't find this beautiful) I am thinking of 2 iris I have, Wister Medal winners (neither are Keppel's) One of them is often cited as a perfect example of "show stalks" - and the stalks are the reason I have come to dislike it. I want iris that look nice in a clump or a bouquet and aren't on their faces in the dirt after it rains. (stakes are for vegetables, IMO) At this point, when I read in a catalog that an iris has "show stalks" my heart sinks.
I have never had a Keppel iris with those problems though. Despite their enormous lavishly ruffled flowers (love that). I guess he has the right idea about stems.
So if I'm choosing iris to cross, or looking at seedlings that bloom, what should I be thinking about. I get the form - I know there are those who disagree, but I'm "the more ruffles the better" which you seem to subscribe to also and is why I love your iris. Big ruffled flowers are what made me an iris enthusiast - only these made me convert my vegetable beds to flower beds. I always grew way more veg than I could eat - I realized that what I liked was the joy of growing them. Iris give me that joy, in spades. Seeing them bloom is a transcendent experience of the highest order. I guess many here must feel that way - otherwise why go though all this for a few weeks a year?
PS - Meanwhile on another thread people are loving 5 foot tall iris...go figure there's something for everyone, I guess. Unless it has 20 buds with dinner plate flowers on that tall stalk like a hollyhock, I don't see the point in it.
