The Secret Garden.

Do not agree??

I took this photo in the Schreiner family's 'secret iris garden'.

(My hand is to give you a better feel for the size of the flower.)

I visited my daughter in Oregon in the spring, flew in for only four days, and out of all four, only one was without rain.

But it was an absolutely happy day.

My daughter brought me to a farm that grows irises for sale. Every self-respecting flower farm has its own garden where you can see most of the flowers grown on the farm, imagine the possibility of combining them with each other, get expert growing advice and (of course!) buy what you like.

Irises in Oregon bloom from the second half of May, this garden is open to the public in the spring, for a month, during their flowering.

This is not the first story about the family business. First, I wrote about a Ranunculus flowers (garden buttercup) farm in Carlsbad, California, then about 'Peony Paradise' in Portland, Oregon, and now I'm writing about irises on a farm in the same Oregon, not far from Portland.

All three businesses were started four generations ago, all three businesses are built on the participation of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in their own family business.

This story is about the work of four generations on their land, about what can be achieved if you work hard and if luck accompanies you.

In 1920, a supply agent for a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, headed east on routine business. Schreiner was supposed to meeting with one John Wister. A John Wister then became the first president of the newly formed American Iris Society.

Schreiner was already an avid gardener, and a 'chance encounter' with Wister influenced his choice. The meeting was the beginning of a love affair with a wonderful flower, the iris, which lasted for the rest of his life.

Indeed, shortly after his journey to the east, Schreiner found himself a serious collector. Not much time passed (and many irises were ordered from Europe) - he collected more than five hundred varieties of the flower and began to involve his children in gardening.

By 1925, the 'appetite' for the latest varieties grew to such an extent that he not only bought, but also began to develop his own. 

Having worked in a department store, he decided to sell on a wider scale - he published his first price list using the name Schreiner's Iris Gardens (Schreiner's Iris Garden). His first catalog, black and white, without pictures, followed three years later.

In 1931, the founder of the business died. But seeing the potential in what was originally born out of their father's simple passion, the three children - Bob, Connie and Bernard - took over the reins of the growing business. (It’s not for nothing that they helped their father from childhood!)

But that first garden was in Minnesota, with very cold winters, unpredictable weather in the spring, possible tornadoes in the summer... Not the best conditions for growing irises.

After sifting through countless USDA yearbooks, selling irises across the country to test growing conditions, and 'feedback' letters from gardeners about how irises grow in different states, the search for a new farm site narrowed down: Fertile Valley of the Willamette River in Oregon.

An ideal place for a new business due to the excellent soil, mild climate and proximity to transport; growing conditions in the valley proved to be optimal.

The first year in Oregon brought the Schreiner their first hit: the appearance of the first color catalog, which made the name recognizable and expanded the 'client base', in the language of sales (and how can you avoid the phrase?).

The business continued to grow, there were three of them, Connie took care of management, the office, Bob wrote the annual catalog and assisted in hybridization, while Gus focused on hybridization and managing the seasonal work crews needed to ship orders each year. 

Bob and Bernard's efforts in hybridization have borne fruit and brought them to the attention of the American Iris Society. In 1953 - the first award: the Memorial Medal (Dykes Memorial Medal) for the Blue Sapphire bred by Bernard (Blue Sapphire); in 1957 Bob receives the same medal for the Amethyst Flame. Irises bred by the Schreiner family have received an impressive eleven Dykes Memorial Medals.

In memory of John Wister, the best new irises are also awarded the John C. Wister Memorial Medal every year, and Shriner irises have been awarded by many, the latest medal received by Black Is Black in 2017.