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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2003
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Dianne Walker Harris Blooms Amid Spring Gardens |
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As a child growing up on her family's farm in Trezevant,
Dianne Walker Harris developed a love for nature that
continues to thrive at her rural residence in Cedar Grove,
fostered by frequent sightings of deer and other wildlife
that enhance the view of fields and trees from her
back-yard deck.
Beneath the deck and patio, encircling her home in a
rhapsody of shapes, sizes and colors, are luscious flower
gardens that spill over into the surrounding lawn to
accommodate the hundreds of varieties of daylilies, iris
and hosta that are Dianne's mainstay among peonies, roses,
and various other flowering plants.
"I've always just liked flowers and I like to dig in the
dirt; I like to see things grow; I just love spring," she
says sincerely in soft-spoken tones.
Until last year, Dianne had more time to spend among the
flowers as she worked part-time. These days she shares her
time with another love: a full-time career as a nurse at
West Tennessee Transitional Care (a part of
Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson.)
Her time constraints have wooed the assistance of her
husband, Don, whose own interests are inclined to car
racing. He helped with mulching this year as well as
keeping the lawn mowed, which is, in itself, a four-hour
chore. The Harrises use lawn clippings and the leaves from
the big oak trees in their yard for making mulch, which
Dianne declares is good fertilizer and helps control
weeds.
"It's a lot of work but it's a lot of good exercise," says
Dianne, who bought her own truck for hauling horse manure
and mulch in order to keep her husband's truck clean.
Dianne's gardens hold over 150 varieties of iris, 350
varieties of daylilies and over 150 hosta, each labeled
with the plant’s name, its "hybridizer", and the year it
was introduced.
"In the winter it looks like a parakeet graveyard," Dianne
says, indicating the metal markers beneath each plant.
A "hybridizer" or breeder, Dianne explains, is one who
studies the characteristics of different varieties of
flowers; decides what colors or other characteristics he
or she wants to produce, and crossbreeds the flowers to
obtain that result. "It's like rabbits or cows," she says,
"They may have to cross over several generations to get
the color they want."
Younger generations are more flamboyant than the
originals, she says, with color variations and
nontraditional colors like champagnes, pinks and oranges
added to the traditional purple and yellow varieties of
iris, for example.
With a new creation sometimes taking many years to
achieve, prices for iris range from around $4.00 each to
around $100.00, Dianne says.
"Daylilies are sometimes $250.00," she states, concerning
the beautiful flowers whose blossoms last just one day.
Gardeners can add to their collections more economically
by visiting The Farmers Market in Jackson, where according
to Dianne, prices are one-third to one-half less than
magazine prices.
An even better alternative is what she refers to as "pass-alongs",
where friends get together and trade varieties from
amongst their gardens. "I've been doing that for seven or
eight years and I just love it, just love to share," she
says breezily.
Dianne's circle of like-minded friends is expanded through
her membership in the American Daylily Society and the
American Iris Society. The American Iris Society is
divided into 24 regions within the United States and
Canada, each of which is subdivided into local iris
societies or clubs. Out of Region 7, which encompasses
Tennessee and Kentucky, 15 clubs serve various localities,
including the Jackson Area Iris Society (of which Dianne
is a member) as well as the Parisian Iris and Daylily Club
in Paris and the Ken-Ten Iris Society in Dresden.
The purpose of the organization is the cultivation,
development and improvement of iris of all kinds and to
encourage the growing of iris in Kentucky and Tennessee,
says Dianne, who last weekend was host of a portion of
Region 7's spring meeting.
The special weekend started on Saturday with the annual
Iris Show held at Old Hickory Mall in Jackson, where one
of Dianne's five beautiful entries, "Thornbird", earned a
place in the honor court. The popular Thornbird features
rich cream-colored standards below which falls lightly
tinged with purple are accented by dark purple horns.
Iris entered for showing must be nearly perfect, explains
Dianne, with no bug bites or other imperfections. Owners
groom the flowers with cotton balls to remove specks of
dirt for an impeccable appearance. Winners expand their
gardens with gift certificates for other iris.
After a Saturday evening banquet and meeting, members
gathered early Sunday morning for a member-catered
breakfast and a leisurely morning spent perusing Dianne's
plentiful iris collection. Dianne's gardens were first
stop of the garden tour, with noon taking the group to
Selmer and a later tour to Savannah to end the spring
event.
Among the many enjoyable guests enjoying the Sunday
morning activities at Dianne's were famous hybridizer Mike
Moller of the Georgia Iris Society and Hugh Thurman, a
regional hybridizer from Kentucky whose work can be seen
online at http://www.lais-ky.org/photo.htm (look for the
name H. Thurman in the parenthesis after the name of the
flower.)
Mr. Moller, a Master Iris Judge and former Chairman of the
National Iris Society Shows as well as a former member of
the board of the American Iris Society, was guest speaker
of the event. At Dianne's home, Mr. Moller instructed
members of various clubs within the Region 7 Society
regarding proper judging techniques.
Dianne explains there are several classes of iris
including Bearded, Japanese, and others, and that within
each class are different classifications. Dianne's Bearded
Iris are separated into the Miniature Dwarf Bearded class,
with stalks that grow up to eight inches tall; Standard
Dwarf Bearded which grow from eight to 15 inches tall;
Intermediate Bearded with stalks from 16 to 27.5 inches
tall; and Tall Bearded with stalk reaching up to 42 inches
tall.
The classifications bloom according to their height, with
the shortest plants blooming first and the Tall Bearded
blooming around the first part of May for a continually
changing display of spring beauty.
Adding to the intrigue of iris are re-blooming varieties
like the stark white "Immortality" that also spreads
quickly, making it a favorite for sharing.
"It blooms in the spring and, if we get enough rain, it
will bloom at least once more and maybe two times before
fall," Dianne relates. "In the fall, all of a sudden, iris
is blossoming! You just love it when they do that."
Most iris also have a good fragrance, Dianne says, with
odors so distinctive that, if one has been around them a
lot, he or she will know which ones are blooming.
"With gardening you're never finished," she says, thumbing
through catalogs offering ever more varieties. "A garden
is never complete; you're always wanting to move something
or add something else or take away that... I just can't
wait in the winter! I look at magazines and books and plan
where I'm going to put things."
Dianne is the daughter of Marjorie Walker and the late
Edward Walker of Trezevant. She and Don have four
children: Janson Redden and Marla Thornton, both in
Camden; Dana Duke in Jackson and Chris Harris in
Huntingdon.
Dianne's Growing Tips
WHEN to PLANT - Dianne says the best time to plant
is July and August, however, she admits planting later
with good results. Spring planting should be avoided when
possible.
WHERE and HOW to PLANT - A sunny, well-drained
location is best for iris, which grow from rhizomes, not
bulbs. Rhizomes should be planted 14 to 18 inches apart,
and should be placed just below the surface of the ground
so that they get the full benefit of sunshine.
FERTILIZER and SOIL - Iris prefer neutral to
slightly alkaline soil and respond well to low nitrogen
fertilizer such as 6-10-6 or 6-10-10, which should be used
and planting and then again in the spring. "You're not
supposed to mulch iris," says Dianne, whose busy schedule
leaves her with less choice than some gardeners as
mulching helps control weeds. Ideally, winter mulch should
be removed in the spring.
GENERAL MAINTENANCE - When new growth becomes too
thick, it's time to share!
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2003
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2002
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2001
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or
Fax (731) 352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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