~ Notable Irisarians: Rue Lémon by Clarence Mahan, Virginia |
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![]() An article in the Revue Horticole in 1839 commented on Jean-Nicolas Lémon's wonderful iris collection. The following year, 23 year-old Jean-Nicolas Lémon published his first list of iris cultivars. He clearly indicated which were his own seedlings and which were older varieties. Included on this first list were such famous Lémon cultivars as Honorabile, Jaquesiana and Edina. Lémon was the first plantsman to list large numbers of new iris cultivars, most of which were given common, rather than latin, names. Paradoxically, two of the three cultivars I have cited as examples of Lémon's most famous iris have names derived from Latin: Honorabile and Jaquesiana. 'Edina', the old poetic name of Edinburgh, was made famous by Robert Burn's poem Address to Scotland, which begins: "Edina, Scotia's darling seat...". ![]() Belleville, in the last days of Lémon's early work with irises, was just beyond the walls of the city of Paris. It was an area of numerous small farms and vineyards. Belleville was also one of the places that the poorer people of Paris went to drink and dance on Sundays and Holidays. Wine and food were much less expensive than in the city proper because they were not subject to custom duties on goods that passed through the city gates. The light wine produced on the hills around Paris was called guinget and the little cafés, often with dance halls, where the wine was served were called guingeiettes. One of the most famous guingeiettes was Ile d'Amour, which was located not far from the Lémon nursery. Today Belleville, which was annexed by Paris in 1860, is a working class quarter. When you exit the Belleville metro station, you are in the middle of Chinatown. Many of the cobblestone streets are narrow and there are many small markets, shops and, of course, cafés. Belleville is in many respects a village in the heart of modern Paris. ![]() A short distance from Belleville is one of the most famous cemetaries in the world: Père Lachaise. here you can see the graves of such luminaries as Balzac, Proust, Bernhardt, Chopin, oscar Wilde, Maria Callas, and Edith Pilaf. Alas, Lémon's grave may not be in Père Lachaise, but his memory is alive on the little Paris street that bears his name, and most certainly is alive in our gardens. Please see corresponding gallery photos for credit and full varietal information. This article is from Vol. 16 Issue 2, Fall 2003 issue of ROOTS.] |