AGNES WHITING
Time moves on-and on-inexorably, and we all know it too well;
but there are no words in our language but numb shock that describe
the feeling of the iris world when the news came of the death
of Agnes Whiting.
....Agnes Whiting, the gracious
hostess of the husband-and-wife team of the Maple Valley Gardens
of Charles and Agnes Whiting, was in the forefront of those golden
years which saw the rapid growth in beauty and garden popularity
of irises, and her efforts at hybridizing contributed incalculably
to the fantastic rapidity of the development of irises as a truly
worthy garden plant.
....Her BLUE
RHYTHM, that cornflower blue with a silvery
overtone, perhaps the most award winning iris of history, is
grown and shown widely all over America-indeed, all over the
iris growing world-and will be grown for years to come because
of its superb garden value. But who of those who lived through
the golden years of development of the '40s and the '50s does
not recall with nostalgia such names as ARAB
CHIEF, BAGHDAD,
CLOTH OF GOLD,
GARDEN GLORY, GOLDEN SPIKE, GOLD SOVEREIGN, LILAC LANE, MAY-TIME,
PATHFINDER, PRISCILLA,
PINK CLOVER, RAEJEAN, ROCKET, RUBIENT TECHNICOLOR, TEA ROSE, THREE OAKS, VATICAN PURPLE and WINGS
OF SONG, and many others. And some
of us who were privileged to see the first full bloom of a stalk
of VIOLET RHYTHM,
swore that this was the best of all, and suggested that she call
it ONE BOUQUET,
for a stalk in full bloom was precisely that.
....She won many awards with the
irises she hybridized, and the crowning achievement came with
BLUE RHYTHM winning
the Dykes and the President's Cup in 1950. Subsequently, it won
two English awards, one the coveted first class certificate.
Her CLOTH OF GOLD, GARDEN GLORY, GOLDEN SPIKE, GOLD SOVEREIGN, LILAC LANE, MAYTIME,
ROCKET, PRISCILLA
and THREE OAKS all won the AM award.
....And in 1947 there came to her
the highest award of the American Iris Society, the Hybridizer's
Medal of the Society; and she thus became the first woman to
receive this distinguished award.
....Agnes Whiting was gracious and
kindly, and there are many of us can testify that our present
deep interest in irises stems from her encouragement and interest.
The home garden where she and Charles maintained their display
garden was an immaculate and lovely home for the best in present-day
irises, and thousands of visitors came to see the Whitings and
their irises. It was the mecca where gathered the judges of Iowa
and Nebraska and the neighboring states to see the latest arid
best in the kingdom of iris; but there also gathered visitors
from all over the world.
....The qualities which Agnes Whiting
achieved in her introductions will live on and on in the work
that other hybridizers have done with her developments. It is
a tribute to her and to her work that these qualities she built
into her irises other foremost hybridizers recognized, and used
for further development. Examples can be cited by the legion:
the use of GARDEN GLORY
and TECHNICOLOR in the reds; BLUE
RHYTHM in the blue field; GOLDEN
SPIKE in some of the new yellows; and
PATHFINDER in the orchid pink and similar
colors, finally resulting in the achievement of AMETHYST
FLAME. This is the mark of one
who builds well; and building well is the indelible mark of Agnes
Whiting.
Agnes and Charles Whiting in their garden
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Agnes and Charles Whiting in their garden
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Photo furnished courtesy Schreiner's Gardens--Dave Schreiner