‘Radiant Bliss’
(Betty Wilkerson 2005, TB-Re)
‘Summer Honey’
(Betty Wilkerson 2013, TB-Re)
rebloomer here under favorable weather conditions,
but its unique plicata coloring and stellar flower
form confirmed some of Betty’s best breeding ideas.
Greyed orange standards veined beetroot with falls
featuring beetroot over white ground with bright
gold overlay leaves a compelling statement in the
spring and fall iris garden here.
Thanks to outstanding East and
West plicata parentages, future
seedling populations offer cool
season rebloom pollen daubers
new directions for colorings and
patterns.
Another outstanding Wilkerson
tall bearded rebloomer in my
Central Virginia garden is TB-Re
‘Just Call Me’. Once again, Betty
weaved modern flower form and
consistent rebloom reliability into
one seedling package. As Lloyd
Zurbrigg had earlier predicted,
‘I Do’’s presence through TB-Re
‘Brother Carl’ (Zurbrigg, 1984) in
TB-Re ‘Clarence’ (Zurbrigg, 1991) was the perfect
match to use with Betty’s TB ‘Love Lines’ (Wilkerson,
2006) (or TB-Re Latest Style (Zurbrigg, 1979) X TB
Glistening Icicle (Maryott, 1982)). The near blue
amoena has proven to be a valuable stepping stone
in this author’s quest to find reliable tall bearded true
amoenas and bicolors. If last fall’s results at JSRCC
are any indication, progress is finally being made to
find these attractive patterns in cool season rebloom.
At present, they simply don’t exist with modern
flower form and early reliability.
Betty Wilkerson made her last TB Re
Lockatell seedling #21442
introductions in 2013. One of them, TB-Re ‘Summer
Honey’ (Wilkerson, 2013) will be her signature
rebloomer. This Kentucky-bred variety has
impeccable yellow blooms with a honey overlay.
Flowers also have nice ruffling and substance. The big
news, of course, is summer-flowering recorded over
the past three years at JSRCC. The
Wilkerson rebloomer has consistently
flowered in late June or in July each
year under varied weather conditions
AND won “Best in Show” at the 2015
Region 4 Fall Flower Show held in
Norfolk, VA on a mid-September date.
My glowing testimonials in the RIS
Reblooming Iris Recorder made no
difference. The rebloom community
merely yawned. Could ‘Summer
Honey’ perform in Zones 4–6? We
may never know.
The ancestry of ‘Summer Honey’
is (Radiant Bliss X TB-Re Summer
Radiance) or (TB-Re Lemon Reflection
(R. G. Smith, 1978) X TB Hindenberg
‘Star Gate’
(Betty Wilkerson 2005, TB-Re)
(Maryott, 1983)). Betty and this author tried for years
to capitalize on genes in both parents to develop
reliable tall bearded pink and orange cool season
rebloomers. Lloyd Zurbrigg also mentioned to me,
“plicata can be an avenue to pink rebloom.” Lockatell
seedling #21442 or TB-Re (Pink Attraction (E. Hall,
1988) X Summer Honey) bloomed apricot-pink flowers
on 10/22 & 11/2/17 at JSRCC. My mentor and friend
was proven right yet again.
Betty suffered through horrendous health
issues in her last ten years. Long distance travel
was impossible after visiting the AIS 2005
14 AIS Bulletin Spring 2018