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ORIGINATOR: Schreiner
INTRODUCED: 1959
CLASS: Tall Bearded
HEIGHT: 40"
BLOOM SEASON: Mid to Late
DESCRIPTION: S. medium rose-pink; F. rose.
PARENTAGE: Pathfinder X Opal Beauty
AWARDS: HM'61
PBF: Unknown
INTERSTING INFO: From the 1959 Schreiner's Iris Lover's Catalog: "This is the forest primeval," quoth the poet, and so we say of this fabulous Iris which breaks all records for size, "this is the rose titanic." Believe it or not, we measured four blooms of "Ripley's Rose" one morning last year and each one measured between 11 and 11½ inches from top to bottom. Since our picture is only 7¼ inches in diameter, it is scarcely two-thirds the diameter of the actual flower. (In fact, our catalog page is just 11 inches long.) Imagine an Iris of such stupendous size! No other Iris, not even Elmohr, has equalled it. It is truly a "whopper." We don't want to over-emphasize size, but a garden msut have a certain topnotcher. Most giant Iris lack character, but not Giant Rose. It has rugged, inch-thick stems, superb candelabrum branching, excellent starchy substance, jaunty classic form, considerable ruffling and a sparkling sheen. In fact, Giant Rose reminds one of a rosier, gigantic Lavanesque, which is one of our most beautiful Iris. When Mr. and Mrs. Stevens of New Zealand were here two years ago, they were much impressed with this Iris and Mr. Stevens remarked that in spite of its size, he could not "fault it." Our crystal ball tells us that here is an Iris which is going over big.
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