Who Wants A Red Iris?

"The Hunt Continues for the Holy Grail: A Red Iris"
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/science/27iris.html?ex=1151553600&en=942c0b21b21519f6&ei=5087

Which would you rather have -- a genetically engineered red iris or a hybridized red (result of cross-breeding)? Does it even matter to you?

lol.. very cool! Either way.. it will be fun to see if they can do it!

I admit I'm leery of putting pieces of one species into another. We humans have caused enough havoc on this planet as it is.

I added some more links which provide more background information about the New York Times “Red Iris” story. I am looking forward to my ruby red FrankenIris but given the current state of what is known about the Iris genome it is going to be a real horserace between the engineers and the hybridizers. Think of all the possible names if the engineers are successful, “Frankenstein”, “Bride of Frankenstein”, “Boris Karloff”, etc.

The Hunt Continues for the Holy Grail: A Red Iris http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/science/27iris.html?ex=1309060800&en=813cfac50563b7df&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss Barbara Whitaker, New York Times Science June 27, 2006.
”What started as an informal race among growers to create a truly red iris has developed into a decades-long marathon.”

Here is Richard Ernst’s https://www.cooleysgardens.com/Cooleys/HybridizingatCooleys/tabid/61/Default.aspx Iris collection: Ernst Group https://www.cooleysgardens.com/Home/tabid/36/type/ProductDetails/productID/571/CategoryID/2/Default.aspx

His only commercial red Iris, which is referenced in the New York Times story, is very nice but not a show-stopper: Classic Bordeaux https://www.cooleysgardens.com/Home/tabid/36/Type/ProductDetails/ProductID/90/CategoryID/1/Default.aspx

I suspect that the real work is being done by Dr. Tony H. H. Chen http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/hort/faculty/ChenNewFormat.htm Professor of Horticulture http://oregonstate.edu/dept/hort/ Oregon State University http://oregonstate.edu/ but none of his previously published http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/hort/faculty/ChenPublications.html research involvers color expression in plants. As Dr. Chen noted “We knew little about the iris at the molecular level"; this is not good news for any effort to genetically modify Iris as most successfully engineered species have a well mapped genome because they are of high commercial value or are used as a laboratory research model.

There is no web site for Ginny and Don Spoon’s Winterberry Gardens but information has been recorded in the Way-Back Machine http://archive.org/ for the now inactive web site "iris-conventions.com" http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.iris-conventions.com/. Follow this link “http://web.archive.org/web/20031217130412/http:/www.iris-conventions.com/come_see_the_stars.htm#Winterberry” (Dave's won't load this link, you have to copy & past) for more information and allow the pictures time to load as this process is slow in the Way-Back Machine. Dave’s Garden Watchdog http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/1420/ has very positive information about Winterberry Gardens and contact information.

There is a link for Schreiner's Iris Gardens http://www.schreinersgardens.com/ .

Michael Ronayne
Nutley, New Jersey


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Very interesting info, Michael. I like the name, 'FrankenIris'. LOL! I think you better trademark that one :)