Introducing Siberian Irises - The Basics

Bob Hollingworth – one of the leading hybridizers of Siberian irises - was born and grew up in Yorkshire in the north of England. In 1962, he and his wife, Judy, left the UK on an adventure to California where he earned a Ph.D. in toxicology at the University of California. In 1966 they moved to Purdue University where Bob was a professor until 1987. Then to Michigan State University where he is now a Professor Emeritus and largely retired. Bob got the iris hybridizing bug in the early 1970s through Judy’s passion for gardening and the irises she grew in Indiana. After a few years working with TBs he decided that he needed to focus on a less crowded area and has worked primarily with Siberians since then. He named his first Siberian, a diploid, for Forrest McCord who encouraged him in his early interest in Siberians, and it was introduced by Borbeleta Gardens in 1984. Since then he has introduced about 90 varieties – a mixture of diploid and tetraploid types. Of these, ten have won the Morgan-Wood Med