Offering the best new irises for the connoisseur and for the backyard gardener.
International Iris
P.O. Box 18124
Portland, OR 97218-0124
bfilardi [at] comcast.net
2010 TB Introductions:
Bernhard und Guenter (Landgraf '10)
Bratislavan Prince (Mego '10)
Buga Gera (Landgraf '10)
Clotho's Web (Mego '10)
Cheshire Smile (Filardi '10)
Florentine Gold (Filardi '10)
Fratello Sole (Montanari '10)
La Gloriosa (Diedrich '10)
Lady Lynn (Filardi '10)
In Memory of Lynn Finkel
Margitta Herrn (Beer '10)
Monte Conero (Montanari '10)
Perfect Lady (Mego '10)
Porcelain Blush (Filardi '10)
Quixotic (Filardi '10)
Seven of Nine (Filardi '10)
Sorella Luna (Montanari '10)
Where Dreams Begin (Filardi '10)
Zlatovláska (Mego '10)
IB Introductions for 2010:
Blandishment - IB (Filardi '10)
Dark Red Rubies - IB (Filardi '10)
Frippery - IB
Lowering Sky - IB (Filardi '10)
Golden Opals - IB (Filardi '10)
Parentage and other information on new TB (tall bearded) introductions:
BERNHARD UND GUENTER (Landgraf '10) Interestingly-marked smoky mid-blue-violet. Ramblin' Rose X Costa Rica.
BRATISLAVAN PRINCE (Mego '10) Unusual and unique advance in the "Slovak Prince pattern". Already the parent of some of the most spectacular seedlings we have ever seen! Order early --- this one has been selling like hotcakes since the website first went up! (Twilight Blaze x Night Attack) X Slovak Prince SOLD OUT 2010
BUGA GERA (Landgraf '10) Nicely ruffled, yellow standards over dark red falls. (Rustler x (Sweet Musette x Jurassic Park)) X ((Sooner Serenade x Ringo) x Blenheim Royal)
CHESHIRE SMILE (Filardi '10) Personality! Bright and eyecatching, more vivid than it appears in the photo. Impulsive X Ribands
CLOTHO'S WEB (Mego '10) Unusual web pattern, another fine descendant of Slovak Prince. World Premier X ((Twilight Blaze x Night Attack) x Slovak Prince) SOLD OUT 2010
COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE (Bersillon '10) Palest lavender over lilac-violet, and look at that beard!! Shelby Lynne X French Cancan
FLORENTINE GOLD (Filardi '10) Glowing colors and outstanding growth, an updated and improved Wild Jasmine. Ring around Rosie X Tanzanian Tangerine SOLD OUT 2010
FRATELLO SOLE (Montanari '10) Another bright gem from this talented new Italian hybridizer. The name means "Brother Sun". Crackling Caldera X Rustle of Spring.
LA GLORIOSA (Diedrich '10) Beautifully ruffled charmer in creamy yellow and bordeaux red. We think it's this hybridizer's best creation to date. Elke B. X Temple of Time
LA PART DES ANGES (Bersillon '10) A pretty reverse amoena showing some red in its beard. Its name means "The Angels' Share", which refers to the tiny amount of spirits that "disappears" during the fermentation process. Fogbound X (Sapphire Hills x Surf Rider)
LADY LYNN (Filardi '10) Beautifully ruffled, delicately colored reverse amoena which many admired at the '06 Convention in Portland; named in memory of a friend we miss, Lynn Finkel. Seakist X Crowned Heads
MARGITTA HERRN (Beer '10) Perfect show branching! A fine yellow from the man who is generally considered to be Germany's best TB hybridizer... and he feels that this one is his best ever. Named after his lady friend Gitta, whom many of you met at the '06 Convention in Portland. This combines the outstanding growth habits of its German parent with the superb form and class of Dave Niswonger's Sunkist Meadows. Sunkist Meadows X Hannibi
MONTE CONERO (Montanari '10) Stunning and unusual; chamois standards with purple influence over gilt-edged lavender falls, topped with an eye-catching bright red beard. Unique! Crackling Caldera X Game Plan
PERFECT LADY (Mego '10) Pink standards, velvety purple-black falls, and a red beard. Wonderful form. (Twilight Blaze x Night Attack) X Ocelot SOLD OUT 2010
PORCELAIN BLUSH (Filardi '10) Lovely pastel, shades of pink and cream. Sugar Magnolia X Fogbound
QUIXOTIC (Filardi '10) Unusual, and a standout performer. An updated Wild Angel. Quandary X Goldkist
SEVEN OF NINE (Filardi '10) Like its namesake, this iris has fantastic form! Spectacular branching and budcount, a showbench natural. Vanity's Child X Conjuration
SORELLA LUNA (Montanari '10) Beautiful white with yellow edges on all petals, bright red beard. The name means "Sister Moon" [to go with its sib, Fratello Sole]. Crackling Caldera X Rustle of Spring
WHERE DREAMS BEGIN (Filardi '10) Perfection in form! Stately Art X Conjuration
ZLATOVLÁSKA (Mego '10) The photo just doesn't capture this one's knockout ruffling and form -- but the photo does show its unique colors. (Honky Tonk Blues x Rustler) X ((Conjuration x Twilight Blaze) x Twilight Blaze) SOLD OUT 2010
IB (intermediate bearded) introductions:
BLANDISHMENT (Filardi '10) Unusual plicata IB, very nice in every way. Jesse's Song X Starbaby
DARK RED RUBIES (Filardi '10) Beetroot standards, ruby red falls with darker ruby central spot, muted amber beard. An outstanding IB! Candy Apple Classic X Cat's Eye
FRIPPERY (Filardi '10) Minimally-marked plic IB, you might have to look twice to see the markings! Palest flax blue on white. Jesse's Song X Starbaby
GOLDEN OPALS (Filardi '10) Unusual IB with a bright yellow background; plicata marks on standards, luminata wash on falls. Carnival Ride X Brash
LOWERING SKY (Filardi '10) One of the nicest IBs we've ever seen, fantastic ruffles, unique coloring; standards are a combination of pale gold and pale violet, falls are aster violet surrounded by muted gold band, brightened by the typical luminata white flash around light-blue-and-amber beards. We love it! Fancy Woman X Denali
Pricing:
Please note that all prices include shipping & handling. Never an additional charge for postage!
Our new TB introductions are a wonderful value at $40 each, 2 different cultivars for $75, 3 for $110, 4 for $140, 5 different cultivars for $170. Even more amazing discounts for purchase of more than 5 intros, contact bfilardi [at] comcast.net for more information.
Our new IB intros are $15 each, 2 for $25, 3 for $35, 4 for $45, all 5 for $50.
Watch for these in the future!:
all photos on this website ©2010
Banana Cream Pie
Queen Empress (Filardi '07)
The Bauer Garden during iris season
Rock Climber (Filardi '11)
Comédie Française (Bersillon '10)
La Part des Anges (Bersillon '10)
(Filardi '10)
Mego seedling
Mego seedling
Bersillon seedling
Mego seedling
Conte de Fées (Bersillon sdlg.)
Danseur Mondain (Bersillon sdlg.)
Pink Fire (Filardi sdlg.)
Filardi seedling
Rock Climber (Filardi sdlg.)
Diedrich seedling
Montanari seedling
Gentle Dawn (Bauer sdlg.)
Pride of Place (Filardi sdlg.)
Bing (Filardi sdlg.)
Stiff Upper Lip (Filardi sdlg.)
Filardi seedling
Filardi seedling
International Iris/Bruce Filardi
from the SDIS Newsletter, April 2010
Bruce Filardi started hybridizing in 1996. As soon as he fell in love with irises, he fell in love with hybridizing. His first inspiration was when he had a day off from work one day in May of ’95, saw an ad for Schreiner’s, and hopped in the car to drive an hour south from Portland to Salem. Instead of the casual half-hour visit he expected to make, he spent several hours there with his camera, first in the display gardens and later wandering through the seedling fields. The range of colors and patterns was mesmerizing, and the first thing he wanted to breed was a green iris.
As years went on, Bruce became friends with many of the “big names” in the Portland/Salem area, but he never had the confidence to name and register any of his seedlings. He finally registered some in 2005, and Barbara & Terry Aitken introduced his ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ and ‘Pewter and Gold’ in 2006, and four more in 2007: ‘Banana Cream Pie’, ‘Queen Empress’, ‘Enchanted Circle’, and ‘Twilight Tear’. Terry Aitken told Bruce that if he really wanted to introduce more than four in a year, then he should put out his own catalogue, and this is when Bruce started thinking about International Iris, which he originally planned to call Swordlily Gardens. [“Swordlily” is a literal translation of the German word for “iris”: Schwertlilie.]
Bruce had been in close contact with Michèle Bersillon in France and Manfred Beer in Germany for several years via e-mail and letter. Michèle is actually American-born, so they were able to communicate in English; and, luckily, Bruce speaks German so was able to communicate with Manfred, who speaks no English. Bruce had gotten in touch with Michèle after reading about her elegant reverse amoena ‘Coeur d’Hiver’ [which means “Heart of Winter”], and he had contacted Manfred after reading about ‘Mandy G.’ and ‘Blacky’, cited in an article in the AIS Bulletin as the blackest irises ever hybridized. Over time, these correspondences developed into real friendships. He finally had the opportunity to meet Manfred and friend Margitta [“Gitta”] Herrn, along with German hybridizer Günter Diedrich and his wife Rosi, at the National Convention in Portland a few years ago. Two years later, Bruce was the guest of Manfred & Gitta in Germany, where he got to see the Diedrichs again, and also met Wolfgang & Barbara Landgraf. An inveterate traveler, Bruce had also met and visited Anton Mego and his wife Viktoria on a trip to Slovakia; and when he was invited to judge at the International Iris Competition in Florence, Italy, he met Lorena Montanari and her husband Giorgio. On all these occasions, as happens when fanatic hybridizers get together, seedling photos were shared and discussed. Bruce saw many striking and worthwhile irises which he knew would never be seen in America.
International Iris slowly came into being as a way to distribute Bruce’s own work, and more importantly as an outlet for the work of Europe’s great hybridizers who really had no distribution process. In 2009 and 2010, irises were introduced by Beer, Bersillon, Diedrich, Filardi, Landgraf, Mego, and Montanari. The most popular in 2009 were Landgraf’s ‘Landgraefin Elisabeth’, Montanari’s ‘Ferragosto’, and Filardi’s ‘Crest of the Wave’. In 2010, the favorites have been two from Mego, ‘Bratislavan Prince’ and ‘Zlatovláska’, and Bersillon’s ‘Comédie Française’. In 2011, two additional US hybridizers will be joining the group, and possibly one or two more from Europe.
