Pretender
[V] What's This?

Paul Cook, R&I 1951
Iris Class:
Bearded
Bearded Class:
Tall Bearded
Age:
1950-1959
Fall Color:
Purple
Standard Color:
Yellow
Pattern:
Variegata
Beard Color:
Orange/Deep Yellow
Hybridizer:
Cook P
Rarity:
GG eligible - protected

Full Description

TB M 35″

From Registration data: “Yellow amber and prune-purple bicolor.” First sold by Longfield in 1951.

From Cooley’s Gardens catalog for 1956: “The best of a series of blue-falled variegatas. From the originator of Amigo, Indiana Night, Pink Bountiful, Dreamcastle, Tranquil Moon and a multitude of famed varieties. Standards are soft yellow, falls solid velvety blue-purple, with narrow lighter margin. Genuinely different! 35″ tall with large flowers.”

From Eden Road Iris Garden catalog for 1955: “New and different bicolor, with standards of amber yellow and falls of velvety purple with narrow margin of lighter color. Flowers are large and flaring.”

From Wild’s of Missouri catalog for 1972: “A variegata. Standards are soft medium yellow, without suffusion of other color; falls are velvety purple with narrow margin of lighter color.”

(Cook 1339 X Cook 5042), HM 1952, AM 1955.

Comments: “I was living in southwestern Ohio in 1951 when Paul Cook’s ‘Pretender’ was introduced, and may have been the first Buckeye to grow it. The image labeled ‘Pretender’ in the gallery isn’t even close. I’ve attached a scan of page 41 of the 1959 Schreiner’s catalog. The quality of the scan is not good, but the colors are accurate. [The photo from Cooley’s catalog] is not as bright as that from Schreiner’s, but is nevertheless more realistic than either image in the Gallery as they stand. I recall that Paul gave the clone its varietal name because it was an example of typical variegata pattern, but lacked any hint of “red” (bright purple in those days) which characterized the variegatas at that time. I can’t say whether either of the clones pictured in the Gallery is authentic, but I believe that neither image is a true representation of the authentic variety and may mislead some viewers.” – John Taylor

“Paul Cook was known for his tenacity in building new color patterns. If as John points out it was to have been the first blue-purple variegata – then might some of our Pretenders be, dare I say, a pretender?” sdt