Inspired by Irises

On a spring day, Ray Schreiner stands amid a rainbow of millions of yellow, pink, purple and blue irises coloring the landscape at Schreiner's Iris Gardens near Keizer, Ore. (pop. 32,203).

"Now this is nice," says Schreiner, 53, cupping his palm around a velvety purple iris with a white tongue—or beard—growing from the center of the petal.

"Thing is," adds Schreiner, who specializes in developing new iris varieties, "it isn't that different than a couple we've got. The challenge is to come up with something new."

With 1,500 varieties and more irises in bloom than anywhere in the world, creating never-before-seen irises is painstaking work on the 200-acre family farm. It's also part of the Schreiner legacy.

In 1925, F.X. Schreiner, Ray's grandfather, turned his hobby and passion for irises into a mail-order business selling rootstock from the plants he cultivated near St. Paul, Minn. The business grew but the severe Midwest climate destroyed many of his plants.

After F.X. Schreiner's death, his three children, Robert, Bernard and Connie, inherited the gardens and began a nationwide search for the ideal iris-growing environment. In 1947, they settled on 15 acres in western Oregon because of its moist, mild climate. Today, Ray, siblings Steve and Liz, cousin Dave and other family members manage the expanded iris operation.

As the farm has grown, so has Schreiner's reputation for producing fine flowers. The family has been awarded the Dykes Memorial Medal, the highest honor given to irises, 11 times—more than any other grower, says Jeanne Plank, president of the American Iris Society.

"I don't think this is just business for them," Plank says. "They are passionate about irises."

But it takes more than passion to produce the best plants. Science, a little luck, and lots of labor and experimentation combine in a process that begins every May when Ray Schreiner and his staff transfer pollen from select iris plants to others to create new varieties.

Hybrids that produce plants with distinct colors and markings, strong stalks and numerous buds, may one day be cultivated for sale to the public. Only about 2 percent of the 20,000 crosses made each year survive the Schreiners' scrutiny. The family introduces 16 new varieties annually.

"This one," Schreiner says, while prodding a plant's drooping, pink petals, "isn't going to make it." He pulls the 3-foot plant out of the ground and discards it at the end of the row.

This penchant for perfection keeps customers buying Schreiner irises. The farm ships more than 5 million rhizomes (rootstock that develops into new plants) to international markets annually and thousands of customers who visit the farm each spring, says Dave Schreiner, 60, who produces the catalog and handles marketing for Schreiner's Iris Gardens.

"There is no better place to see the best irises in the world," says Ben Herman, an iris grower from Tucson, Ariz., who visits Schreiner's Iris Gardens each year.

The allure of the irises also prompted Keizer to become the self-proclaimed "Iris Capital of the World." Each May, the city commemorates the blooming season with a parade and festival that includes events at the Schreiner farm.

"The Schreiners and the farm are a big part of our identity," says Christine Dieker, executive director of the Keizer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. "They are community players and always involved. During the festival, we provide them with an empty bucket and they give the bucket back in the morning full of irises."

The visitors' appreciation and enthusiasm for the flowers is the reward for months of hard work, Ray Schreiner says.

"I guess because we see them (the irises) every day, we're jaded," Schreiner says. "But then others see them and get excited. And sometimes at night or in a certain light, you look out there and it's like, 'Wow! This is really something.'"

Visit www.schreinersgardens.com or call (800) 525-2367 to learn more.

Polly Campbell is a freelance writer in Beaverton, Ore.

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