Louisiana Irises from "Down Under"

by Ron Killingsworth

'Heather Pryor' (John Taylor 1993)

Louisiana irises got their name from the state of Louisiana, but they are grown around the world.  The Society for Louisiana Irises has members in many nations outside the United States.  Louisiana iris hybridizers living "down under" in Australia have produced, registered and introduced many award-winning Louisiana irises.  We are fortunate here at the AIS World of Irises to have Heather Pryor, a hybridizer of award-winning LA irises, join our team of bloggers.  Be on the lookout for posts by Heather coming your way soon.  In her honor, we feature the iris that carries her name, by another Australian hybridizer, John C. Taylor. 


John was born in Sydney on the 4th of July.  As an adult he became interested in growing irises and perhaps his birthday on the United State's independence day led to his interest in Louisiana irises.

'Heather Pryor'

'Heather Pryor' is one of my favorite irises.  The coloring, the serrated edges, the light yellow style arms -- it just has so much beauty.

'Heather Pryor'

I have this iris growing in many different locations and it does well wherever I plant it.  It is a great garden iris and will give great increase year after year.  It produces many blooms on each stalk. 

'Heather Pryor'

This is not the normal form of the flower but was probably freshly opened.  This form (falls falling and stands standing) is one of my favorite flower forms but is not the most common form for this iris.

'Heather Pryor'

 I would say this represents the most common form for this iris.  It has creamy stands that are flushed with a pink coloring and yellow style arms.

'Heather Pryor'

The falls are registered as "cream ground, veined and heavily flushed pink toward paler rim" but I think of them as more pinkish with darker pink veining.  Any way you describe it, it is a lovely iris!


Other important irises introduced by John include 'C'est Si Bon' and 'Dural White Butterfly'.

'C'est Si Bon' (John C. Taylor 1983)

C'est Si Bon means "it is so good," an appropriate name for this iris.  It remains one of my favorite irises and the white spray pattern around the signal makes it easy to spot from a distance.

'C'est Si Bon'

John has registered almost 200 Louisiana irises and they have won awards in the United States as well as in Australia.

'Dural White Butterfly' (John C. Taylor 1989)

A number of John's irises begin with the word Dural, which is a semi-rural suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales.  'Dural White Butterfly' is one of the most outstanding white Louisiana irises and remains very popular even with today's more modern hybrids.  It seems to have never won an award in the US but you will find it in many many gardens and in the genealogy of many other Louisiana irises.

'Dural White Butterfly'

 Registered simply as "white self", this wonderful iris is certainly deserving a more vivid description!  It has serrated edges and ruffling, something not common in registered irises from the 1980's.

'Dural White Butterfly'

The lovely green style arms and the green veined signals certainly help to make this a distinctive white Louisiana irises.

To learn more about irises in general, visit the American Iris Society.  To learn more about Louisiana irises please visit the Society for Louisiana Irises.  You can see more irises from "down under" by visiting Iris Haven, the gardens of Heather and Bernard Pryor at Iris Haven.  

What's in a Name?

By Heather Pryor


I am always interested in the names that hybridisers choose for their iris cultivar seedlings. Many of these names can tell you a lot about the hybridiser - his or her likes and dislikes - or their sense of humour and interests.

 For example, in 2012 Bernard (my husband and fellow hybridizer) and I were asked by The Royal Horticultural Society of New South Wales Inc. to name one of our Louisiana iris seedlings for the 150th anniversary of the Society. The RHS of NSW was the first horticultural Society in the new colony of New South Wales and was founded in 1862 - some 40 years before the federation of the Australian colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia on 1901. The Society's members over the decades have read like a 'who's who' of early pioneers in horticulture in Australia. The Governors of New South Wales (the representative of His or Her Majesty over the years) have been the Patron of the Society since 1862. This was pretty heady stuff for a couple of Louisiana iris hybridisers from Sydney, I can tell you, but we rose to the challenge and provided a delightful seedling for the task. A celebratory rose was also chosen for this special event. The colours of the Society are 'ruby and gold', so the name 'Bennelong Gold' was chosen for the golden-coloured rose and the name 'Bennelong Ruby' was chosen for the two-toned ruby Louisiana iris pressed into service for this special event.

'Bennelong Ruby'

But why was the prefix 'Bennelong'used? 'Bennelong' was one of the first indigenous Australians to make meaningful contact with the first Governor, Governor Arthur Phillip, when the first European-based settlement was established in Sydney Cove in 1788. Governor Phillip was a bit of a linguist, having mastered many European-based languages before taking on the task of governing and co-ordinating the new settlement in what was then known as 'Terra Australis' or 'the great southern land'. Despite his linguistic talent, Phillip could not make much progress with the local Aboriginal dialect, but the young indigenous aboriginal, 'Bennelong,' was a natural at languages and he soon learned rudimentary English. He acted as a translator (both culturally and linguistically). His efforts were rewarded with a Governor providing 'Bennelong' with a small hut of wattle and daub construction on a small headland in Sydney Harbour, where he lived out his life in relative luxury. This headland is now known as Bennelong Point - and is the current site for the famous Sydney Opera House.

The word 'Bennelong' therefore had great historical and cultural importance for Sydney, New South Wales and ultimately, the Commonwealth of Australia. Most tourists to Sydney either visit the Opera House or at least take a stroll around Bennelong Point during their visit. The combination of the name 'Bennelong' with the colours of The RHS of NSW Inc. (ruby and gold) seemed like a perfect fit for us.

'Bennelong Ruby' is a new release for Iris Haven this year, having been first made available via The Royal Horticultural Society of NSW Inc. in 2012. Rhizomes of 'Bennelong Ruby' are growing in the gardens of Government House, which itself sits just above Bennelong Point in Sydney. So, what's in a name? A powerful lot of interesting history, if nothing else!

Louisiana Irises: Two of my all time favorites!

by Ron Killingsworth

'Hush Money' (Mary Dunn, 1998)

'Hush Money' is one of my "top five" Louisiana irises.  The name -- what state knows more about "hush money" than the State of Louisiana?  The flower -- where could you find a prettier face?

Registered as "stands cream with blue cast; falls cream, raised gold line signal" but displaying so much beyond such a simple description.

Mary Dunn, from California, hybridized some really fantastic Louisiana irises.  She may have resided in CA, but her heart was obviously in "the land of cotton" based on the names she gave her Louisiana iris introductions. Mary registered Louisiana irises with names such as 'Cotton Plantation', 'Land of Cotton', 'Scarlett', 'French Quarter' and many more.

'Hush Money' is one of 128 Louisiana irises named and introduced by Mary,  "one of the most productive and decorated US hybridizers in the last part of the 20th century."

'Hush Money' in the background and 'Queen Jeanne' (Heather Pryor, 2002) in front

To learn more about Mary Dunn and her wonderful Louisiana irises, contact The Society for Louisiana Irises for more information about her and about the many other beautiful "wildflowers" of the State of Louisiana.

'Hush Money'

Another one of my favorite Louisiana irises is 'Heather Pryor' (J. C. Taylor 1993).  Heather is a well know hybridizer from Australia and the iris was named for her by J.C. Taylor.

'Heather Pryor' (J.C. Taylor 1993)

She is registered as "stands cream, veined and flushed pink, rimmed paler, green-yellow signal; falls cream ground, veined and heavily flushed pink toward paler rim, green line signal surrounded by yellow center area; heavily ruffled."  Some parts of a flower just seem to be impossible to properly describe.  As the old saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

'Heather Pryor'

The real Heather has named and introduced over 152 Louisiana irises while J. C. Taylor named and introduced over 190 Louisiana irises.

'Heather Pryor'

I hope you enjoyed two of my favorite Louisiana irises.  With so many pretty faces to chose from, it is difficult to narrow the field, but these two are certainly in my top five.

To learn more about many kinds of irises visit The American Iris Society.

May the force be with you.