Lucy Skellorn
Iris amas
My Family and Other Irises - a talk by Lucy Skellorn
When our excellent December speaker was growing up in her family home near Stowmarket, she remembered an oil painting of her great, great, grandfather hanging on the wall. As a child she was aware that he had something to do with irises but had no idea quite how famous he was in his day.
He was, in fact, Sir Michael Foster, (1836 - 1907) physiologist, MP, teacher, writer and a passionate collector of irises, often referred to as ‘the father of iris breeding.’ He worked at Trinity College in Cambridge and lived at Gt Shelford where he spent his leisure time developing new irises. Much of his source material was brought back from such places as Turkey, the Middle East and China by, amongst others, missionaries and his contacts in the diplomatic service.
Iris amas was developed from a specimen found in Turkey in 1885 and became a source for many hybrids, bred for larger flowers of a robust nature with prolific flowering. Sir Michael Foster introduced many new varieties including Mrs Horace Darwin, a white flower with purple veining, named after Charles Darwin’s daughter in law and Iris Caterina, one of Lucy’s favourites, with blue flowers and a good fragrance.
Visiting The Chelsea Flower Show in 2015 Lucy got into conversation with Sarah Cook (former Head Gardener at Sissinghurst and a former member of EAGG) who was exhibiting her collection of Cedric Morris’ Irises and was surprised how much Sarah could tell her about Sir Michael. She wanted to know more and, having come across her mother’s correspondence with The Iris Preservation Society regarding the acquisition of Foster irises, she went on to track down Sir Michael’s original notes and records at The Linnaean Society.
Lucy originally worked in the film industry before she moved back to Suffolk where she embarked on a three year horticulture course at Otley College and worked in in the gardens of Helmingham Hall and Ickworth House, amongst others. This encouraged Lucy’s mission to find as many of her great, great grandfather’s irises as possible. She now holds the official Foster iris collection in her garden in Ringshall, near Stowmarket
Lucy rounded off her talk with the latest update on the plans to restore the garden at Benton End, near Hadleigh, once the home of Cedric Morris, painter and breeder of irises. How appropriate that Lucy should be involved with this project which is now under the custodianship of the Garden Museum. A most enjoyable and informative talk.
Bryan Thurlow
EAGG Member
Next May Lucy will be busy with Chelsea Flower Show but it has been proposed a group visit in May 2023