Irises On The East Rill Borders

**A 2004 project successfully replanted a unique variety of historic irises on the East Rill borders in Hestercombe's formal gardens ~ and many of them will be sold in the Plant Centre**:

- Bruno- Flavescens- Honorabile- Ma mie- Madame Chereau- MonsignorIn 2004, an important project was undertaken at Hestercombe to replant irises on the East Rill, according to Gertrude Jekyll’s original design for the area (c.1904).

The reinstatement of the irises was made necessary by the gradual disappearance of the original varieties over the years, and by an ambitious weed eradication programme that saw the borders emptied of plant material in 2003.

**Difficulties**:
The main difficulty in formulating a plan to replanting the irises in the East Rill borders was the dearth of specific evidence as to the individual varieties first used by Miss Jekyll there. Out of 24 groups of flag iris referred to by Jekyll on her c.1904 plan, only two are actually named beyond their genera: _Iris pallida_, and _Iris variegata_ ‘Aurea’. In one corner of the design, Jekyll did make a note of where the numbered plant groups were identified:
‘Patches of flag iris are marked into figures, corresponding numbers will be in the lists, with name & kind.’
- ~ Gertrude Jekyll - from her notes on her plans for Hestercombe_

Unfortunately these ‘lists’ have never been found, not even among the 6 pages of plant lists marked ‘Hestercombe’ that survive in her notebooks at Godalming Museum.

It therefore became necessary to introduce another stage into the replanting scheme. A selection of ‘Jekyll’ irises, identified by historical research, were slotted into the East Rill clusters to accord with the colour scheme she would most likely have employed in view of her companion plantings and design proclivities.

Appropriate substitutions were then made for the ‘Jekyll’ irises that are no longer in cultivation. A number of historic irises remain available, but even so the survival rate of ‘Jekyll’ irises has been relatively low.

Of the 63 varieties of flag iris that she included in her planting palette from 1908 to 1925, only 17 remain in cultivation. Modern varieties can’t be used as substitutes, as they are too dissimilar.

Irises developed in the early years of the 20th century are, by way of contrast, still very close to the original species: most are diploid, which means that they are smaller and more delicate in appearance than the modern hybrids, which are tetraphoid.

Ultimately, 14 of the 24 iris groupings on the East Rill plan were replanted using varieties Gertrude Jekyll is known to have used in her design practice. The remaining 10 are of the correct ‘vintage’, that is they were introduced prior to 1935. These plants were not sourced without difficulty, with some of our stock coming from as far away as California, USA.
- Quaker LadyThe National Collection of Historic Irises is held at Seagate Nurseries of Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. This is the only nursery that offers historic bearded irises though old ones can often be found in general nurseries, not necessarily accurately named, and in private collections and botanic gardens such as the Oxford Botanic Garden. In 2004, with the assistance of The British Iris Society and its opposite number in North American, The Historic Iris Preservation Society [HIPS], the various sources of historic irises in the UK and USA were summarised in a supplier list to aid present, and future, replanting efforts in the Formal Garden at Hestercombe.

**Colour scheme**:
The proposed colour scheme for the flag irises in the East Rill borders is as follows: -East border, groups numbered 1-12 (purple and white, then lighter purple, followed by deep yellow passing to the rich red purples of the squalens section); West border, groups numbered 13-23 (pink through pale yellows to clear lilacs, purples, pinks and then whites). This colour sequence is derived from two of Miss Jekyll’s most detailed descriptions of iris borders: _‘A Border of Lupine and Iris’_ from a 14 October 1916 (p. 503) issue of the famous gardening periodical _The Garden_; and the introduction to _Colour Planning of the Garden_ by G. F. Tinley, T. Humphreys and W. Irving (1924).

Jekyll’s scheme for the East Rill was a hybrid offering, with a varied plant palette that extended the season of interest beyond early summer and into autumn. In the Jekyll style, both East and West borders were ‘interplanted with something of which the foliage would overspread the irises’, the object being to conceal their unsightly leaves after flowering.

In the East border the ‘interplantings’ that came into flower after the irises included _Lavendula angustifolia_, _Echinops bannaticus_, _Thalictrum flavum_, _Kniphofia uvaria_, and _Gypsophila paniculata_; those that flowered in unison with the iris clusters comprised _Oleari hastii_, _Tagetes erecta_ and _Campanula persicifolia_.

The West border was given added autumn