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While helping to weed and to plant, Bob developed a growing interest in a flower that has claimed the tributes of poets and writers since the days of antiquity. Now his own son, Bob, Jr., is following in the hobby line.

Aside from a five-year lapse for service in World War II, Bob Oshlo has been continuously enlarging his appreciation of irises for the last twenty years. Captured during the North African campaign, he was a German prisoner of war for twenty-eight months in Poland. While trying to keep warm in a climate too cold to nurture the familiar flowers he had known from boyhood, Oshlo successfully planned his escape through Russia to the Black Sea. In his mind, the promise of freedom was associated with the return to a land where men have time to indulge a love for beauty in nature.

ABOUT EIGHT years ago Bob and Evelyn packed their belongings into a trailer and began a gypsy-like excursion through the Southwest, along the Pacific coast, and eventually inland to Boise. Tired of traveling, they decided to stay. Bob purchased the Hotel Boise garage and soon thereafter, they bought a home. At last the time had come to resume the iris growing.

Evelyn says, "I guess I just married into this hobby, but I feel that we have reaped a real harvest in the opportunity to be out of doors and engaged in such a worthwhile pursuit. At first, we planned to grow irises for our own personal enjoyment, but it wasn't long until the venture had grown too big for us."

For a beginning they obtained the rhizomes of some ninety name varieties from Bob's father and planted two short rows. For the first three years they observed the irises' reaction to the climate and soil of Idaho in contrast to Iowa, determined which varieties they wished to continue and generally got the "feel" of the project. The last five years they have been experimenting with hybridizing and selling.

On their acre of garden Bob has from 15,000 to 20,000 irises. During late May and through June the vivid splash of color defies description and leaves color-photographers baffled by a choice of shots.

During an average season the Oshlos will sell from 600 to 800 rhizomes. The prices vary from twenty-five cents to $15 per rhizome with the popular choice ranging somewhere between fifty cents and $1.

THE LAND Oshlo now cultivates was once the bed of an interurban line from Boise to Meridian. To condition it required backbreaking labor for all the family. Each of the four children—Bobby, 8; William, 6; Kathleen, 4, and Thomas 3—did his bit, digging and carrying off truckloads of rocks, bricks, cans and refuse. "Just the mention of rocks now is enough to make them weep," Evelyn says ruefully.

To facilitate drainage, Bob is adding sand to the clay adobe soil. "Unless the irrigation waters can flow off," he explains, "the roots become subject to rot and expensive losses may be incurred."

In the past, Bob has relied on cow manure for enriching the soil, but the great number of weed seeds distributed thereby has influenced him to discard the barnyard fertilizer. From now on, he plans to buy commercial fertilizer such as wood ashes and phosphate. For the amateur gardener, Bob suggests the value of a soil analysis that will determine the exact proportions and needs of the individual plot to be planted.

So far the Oshlos have done the weeding by the tried method of getting down on their hands and knees and grubbing. Recently, however, Bob purchased a tractor for cultivating. By increasing the space between rows from a foot to eighteen inches, he can drive the tractor through the garden and eliminate some of the tedious labor. "One-half hour a day of concentrated effort will keep any size garden or lawn free of sticks and weeds," he states.

AFTER A long day at the garage Bob enjoys working in the open at the side of his wife and children. "We're typical homebodies," he declares, "and the garden gives us an opportunity to work together." Summer evenings in Idaho are long, affording sufficient light to allow outdoor chores until 9 or 9:30 o'clock.

Once a week Bob floods the garden. Water from a large irrigation ditch which runs across the front of their property flows under the force of gravity into a smaller ditch running from south to north along one side of the garden. By opening a headgate, they can direct the flow into corrugations or small ditches running east and west between the rows of irises, until the garden takes on the appearance of a little lake.

For iris growers living in areas that depend upon natural rainfall rather than irrigation, Bob suggests supplementary watering during dry seasons. For those who raise irises commercially, he advises the digging of a well and installing of a pump to supply water through a sprinkler system. Unless there is rain once a week during the crucial spring months, the grower will need to sprinkle the irises. Irises have need for adequate moisture during March and April, in June following the blooming period, and again in September.

ACCORDING to Evelyn and Bob, the real thrill comes in hybridizing, a process that is continuous and years in the making. To try for a new variety involves patience, endurance and hope. Right now Evelyn has ambitions to develop a plicata with a pink background edged in blue like a button-hole stitch.

Eight-year-old Bob, Jr., has already shown a marked interest in gardening and has his own bed of irises. This last summer he did his first pollinating and through the winter, he will share the anxiety of Mother and Dad as they wait for results.

As rewards for eight years of effort, they have succeeded—in developing three new name varieties of iris—varieties which they are proud to claim as distinct and worthy of introduction into iris society. Mambo, a chocolate brown in hue, takes its name from the native word for a Haitian voodoo priestess; Kathy's Rainbow embodies every primary color as well as several others with the emphasis being on rose splashed by blue and tan; Idaho Sunset is a mixture of orange, yellow, and gold and is a truly magnificent flower, huge in size, that justly merits its connection with the famed gem state. Each has been registered with the American Iris Society, 3902 Hillsboro Road, Nashville, Tennessee. Apparently the fascination of hybridizing is general, for all the Oshlos' customers inquire about methods and successes in this phase.

Early in his experience, Bob purchased Prairie Sunset at $100 a rhizome. Since then, it has many times paid its way as a parent stock for hybridizing and is in the genealogy of both Kathy's Rainbow and Idaho Sunset. The gains from one good producing parent can run into phenomenal figures.

THE WISE gardener does not leave pollination to the whims of bees and the winds; he steps into the picture to assist nature. During the blooming season both Evelyn and Bob rise between 5:30 and 6 o'clock, for pollination must be accomplished just as the bloom is about ready to open. "This is the time that the irises are the prettiest," Evelyn says. "With no one around, the children still asleep, we revel in the fresh beauty of the dewy blossoms."

Selecting two varieties he wishes to cross, Bob wields a pair of tweezers to snip the stamens of the pollen-parent blossom (see Figure 1 at bottom of this page). Holding the stamen heavy with damp pollen, he brushes it over the stigma or lip (the upper part of the pistil on which the pollen must fall) of the pod-parent blossom (see Figure 2 at bottom of this page). The stigmata lie just under the standards or cup and just above the falls. Each stigma is brushed by a stamen. In a three-way cross he may take stamens from two different pollen-parent blossoms and cross with the pod-parent. To guard against haphazard pollination by insects, he then removes the stamens of the pod-parent. The latter may be used in crosses with still other blooms.

The blossoms from which stamens have been removed are no longer targets for the bees who might cross-pollinate and disrupt the hybridizer's plans. A comedy is enacted in the garden when the bees light on the castrated iris. Unaware of man's intervention, they buzz angrily over the stamen-less flower, creating a hubbub of sound and fury.,

The pod-parent will mature seeds within the pod which forms where the blossom dies. During July the pods may contain from eight to forty seeds. These are gathered along with the name tags of the varieties being crossed and stored in cottage cheese containers until fall.

IN THE fall, the seeds are planted in rows one foot to eighteen inches apart, allowing six to eight inches between seeds. Each is imbedded to a depth of one inch. During the fall and winter the seeds germinate and in the spring they sprout, looking much like young onions. The rhizomes begin to form almost immediately.

From the rhizome comes the first of the three fans, as the grouping of leaves from the rhizome are called. The following spring the second and third fans show.

Although blossoms may appear from the seedling the second year, Bob advises waiting until the third spring to evaluate the success in crossing a variety. From the blooms of the third-year seedlings, he may breed into still other irises.

To mark the varieties, Evelyn attaches wooden tags to stakes driven in front of each iris. The costly name varieties are painted; the others are written in India ink. During the process of hybridizing Mrs. Oshlo ties a ticket to the stem just below the bloom, indicating the pod-parent and the pollen-parent, information likewise carried in a card file.

Evelyn comes in for a hard stint of bookkeeping. Not only does she take care of all the accounts for the garage, but she keeps books on the iris. On cards like those used for a kitchen recipe file, she makes a careful history indicating the originator (grower who introduced the variety), the parentage, the blooming season, the height, the color, a general description, the awards won, and the price. On separate cards she builds a family tree, diagramming the crosses made in hybridizing.

FOR THOSE who buy rhizomes, the elongated underground stems which produce roots below and leaves above, Bob stresses getting them into the ground early in the spring. Those which are planted in May can be expected to show blooms the following spring. Unlike a tuber or bulb, the rhizome needs sunlight to mature, and must not be buried. Placed about one foot apart each way, the rhizome is laid horizontally at a depth of one-half inch and then dirt is lightly brushed across the top. As the rhizome grows, it will push or "heave" through this thin curtaining of earth and seek the sun.

To substantiate their arguments for spring planting, the Oshlos cite their own experience. Two years ago last January they moved to their present location, leaving their irises in the old garden until blooming season. That spring was unusually rainy, but they patiently waited until each variety blossomed. Then they dashed to transfer the rhizomes, many of the shifts being made in a downpour. On May 25 they began the transplanting and continued for three weeks. The following spring their multi-hued garden was convincing proof of the right choice of time.

Bob says that the size of rhizomes is determined by the climate and the soil. Those from Iowa are small as a wizened pomegranate, while the rhizomes of Idaho are enormous. California customers state they have never seen the equal, even in a state noted for having the biggest and tallest of flora.

In Boise the irises begin to bloom about May 1 and the grower can count on six to eight weeks, depending upon the weather. As tips to the preservation or long life of cut bouquets or corsages made from the iris, often called the "poor man's orchid," Oshlo suggests picking when the flowers are in bud.

Oshlo believes that larger blossoms are obtainable in a climate such as that of Idaho with its four definite seasons than in the year-'round blooming of California or other coastal locations. According to him, the iris is designed to bloom just once a year and it needs the rest of a dormant stage in winter. It has been his experience that rhizomes sent to coastal customers require a year to acclimate.

Every third year the rhizomes must be separated or they will tend to clump and thus produce smaller blooms. Often Bob will thin 20,000 down to 5,000. A parent stock will average an increase of four rhizomes per year, though some varieties go as high as twenty-five and a few as low as two.

The raising irises presents a wealth of satisfaction with a minimum of worry. Thus far, there are no known pests which attack irises in the inter-mountain region of Montana and Idaho. Root rot is the single factor against which the grower must guard. To do so, he strives to provide good drainage. Careless use of irrigation water, letting it stand too long on the plants, will lead to rotting. Mild winters with intermittent freezing and thawing of the rhizomes will tend to rot also.

TO PROMOTE sales, the Oshlos run advertisements in the daily newspaper, the Idaho Daily Statesman; post signs on the roads leading toward their gardens; and supply commercial displays for the annual spring show of the Boise Valley Iris Society held in the rotunda of the state capitol. Bob believes that the latter provides the best contact for sales of any avenue. Not long ago he was interviewed on a tape-recorded program for KFXD, the Mutual Broadcasting station of Nampa, in connection with the introduction of a commercial fertilizer. Relayed over many stations during iris season, the program offered a good build-up for sales.

"One year we sold puppies and irises together," Evelyn relates. "Our red Irish setter had just had a litter and customers found it difficult to decide which was the more entrancing. Running in the brilliant flowers, the puppies were adorable and everyone fell in love with them. Last year we hoped to repeat the formula, but nature didn't co-operate in the setter line."

The public appears to be somewhat fickle in its likes and dislikes, often being influenced by factors other than the merits of the irises. One year the fad is for mums; another, dahlias. The Boise Valley iris show often points the way to favorite selections. Varieties featured at the show will be in great demand, and so commercial growers like the Oshlos make quite a point of arranging displays. At the 1954 show Lady Mohr, almost chartreuse in tone, was "queen of the show." The national favorite this past year was Olo Kala, a beautiful yellow. Other preferences in current vogue are pink, flamingo, tangerine, and the bearded varieties.

The price of rhizomes is often influenced by such considerations as the popularity of the particular iris and by the production rate it offers. For example, Truly Yours, a yellow and white blend, is a laggard producer, giving an increase of just four per year. As a result, its price remains steady at $15.

To avoid possible mix-ups or arguments in the filling of orders, the Oshlos make shipments of the rhizomes while the irises are in bloom and following the customer's personal selection. Before packing, they take the water off the plants and let the rhizomes dry out. Then they are placed in cardboard cartons with holes punched in the sides for ventilation and surrounded by excelsior. Packed in this manner, they go by parcel post to the proper destination.

NOT LONG ago wives of the officers at the Mountain Home Air Force Base asked the iris growers of Boise and vicinity to assist in beautifying the grounds at the base. To date, the Oshlos have contributed more than a truckload of rhizomes and they plan to send more. They also participated in landscaping the approach to the municipal airport, Capitol Park and Carl Bowden Park.

In addition to the Boise Valley Iris Society, they belong to the American Iris Society. As preparation for the 1956 national convention of the American Iris Society which will be held in Pasadena, California, the Oshlos have sent five "guest irises" to be planted in the Lyons Gardens, commercial growers of nearby Van Nuys.

Much of the lore surrounding the flower is full of romance or is based on mythological references. Records show that about 1500 B.C. an Egyptian pharaoh cultivated' a "Syrian garden" in which were plants brought back from his expeditions to that country.

In the Iliad Homer wrote of the "many-coloured maid, Iris", reminding the reader that the rainbow reveals the pathway of the goddess from the heavens. Legend has it that under each of Iris's footsteps on earth rose a flower that bears her name. Virgil and other later poets referred often to this member of the plant world. As there are no native lilies in the Holy land, Biblical allusions to that flower are references to the native irises, of which that region has many kinds.

Yet, despite its illustrious history and the embroidery of fact and fancy, the iris is humbly democratic and flourishes in the poorest of gardens, if given casual attention. Thus, it might be said to continue the fulfillment of a mission of bringing beauty and joy to the world of men.

UNLIKE OTHER FLOWERS, iris has the perianth or petals in two series, the three outer spreading ones being called falls and the three inner more or less upright ones being called standards. Each of the three stamens consist of a pollen-bearing anther supported on a slender filament. The stigmatas and crests are borne at the summit of the three style branches and at the base of these is the ovary. In cross pollination Bob Oshlo uses tweezers to snip off the pollen-bearing stamens.