Sex Education. A Lesson on Flower Parts for a Gardener

Over just a few weeks, two different professors stimulated me to learn about hybridizing Iris. Honestly, that was something I had never even thought about. But once in, I had to know more.

My crash course on iris sex commenced on Facebook. A professor from Kansas City made a request, “If anyone in Zone 8 or 9 is growing Iris tectorum, I would love to get fresh pollen from it.” 

I wanted to help him out. I had that Iris in flower. But I’m not a botanist. I’ve never looked for the male parts of an iris. I’ve never bred anything in my life. I’m a gardener. I needed Iris sex education. This professor sent very professorial instructions, complete with little line drawings from a collage coloring book I imagine. He covered all the basics and bases, even explaining how to snip and ship the male anther and pollen. His plan was to transfer that to his iris female parts-- her stigmatic surface.

The process made me look at fascinating, miraculous details that have been in front of me for my whole life. Like most of you, I admire irises, smell them, cut them, and love them. But I’d never really understood their reproduction. I’d always been a little baffled by people who immerse themselves in iris breeding. You may not know them, but trust me, there are lots of these folks, and they come from all walks of life. Iris breeding is a hobby that is easy to get into.

“When I was a boy, my parents and grandparents had common old iris— white, blue, yellow, and bronze. At 13 years old, I was blown away by pictures of modern, sophisticated hybrids with brilliant colors and patterns,” says Bill Shear.“I ordered some and figured out how to hybridize my own. Since Iris parts are big, it’s easy to figure out how to cross flowers and collect seeds. You plant your seeds outside, and in two or three years, you have a brand new flower pattern.”

Remember that Iris breeders come from all walks of life? Bill grew up to become not a plant expert but a spider and myriapod expert. He’s published more than 200 scientific articles on Granddaddy Long Legs and Milipeeds. But that Iris spark burned, and young Bill, now William Albert Shear, Professor Emeritus at Hampden-Sydney College, wrote the book on Iris.

Click here to get William Shear’s book.

In conversation with an iris breeder, I embarrassed myself. I showed him a short video that I made for this post. It got shot down. Torpedo’d. I had misidentified the female parts of the iris flower. Mortified, I deleted that video.

I needed a new video with a proper teacher. So I found someone local who would sit in the garden, sip a beer, and help me learn the parts of the flower.

Dr. John Nelson, Professor Emeritus from the University of South Carolina, and my friend Stephen made this little video. Maybe it will inspire you to start your own Iris breeding hobby. Or maybe we all ought to indulge, learn, and look. After all, we’re all connected by wonder, cells, and sex.

One of my favorite Iris for the garden is the perennial, cobalt blue Iris ‘Ceasar’s Brother.’ We have a lovely crop of it, and it is ready to ship and plant. Check out our Iris and other cool plants.