Schreiner’s Iris Gardens

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Liz Schmidt, Ray Schreiner and Steve Schreiner

The STaTe of PerfecTion

By Curt KippIf F.X. Schreiner could see what his

dream has become, he might be amazed.The founder of Schreiner’s Iris

Gardens passed away in 1931, just six years after founding the original nurs-ery. Today — some eight decades later — thousands of people make the trek every spring to his namesake garden in Salem, Ore. to see the 10-acre display garden in full bloom.

In the summer months through the middle of October, the business ships thousands of rhizomes to customers all over the world. Many are dedicated fans of the iris — just like F.X.

“He loved irises,” said his grand-son Steve Schreiner, now an owner of the company with his two siblings, Ray Schreiner and Liz Schmidt. “He really loved them.”

Schreiner’s today introduces around 16 eagerly-awaited hybrids every year. Over the lifetime of the business, Schreiner’s has introduced some 879 irises. Many have been recognized for their outstanding quality.

Backyard beginningsIt’s an impressive legacy, especially

considering that Schreiner started as a hobbyist. While working as a depart-ment store manager in St. Paul, Minn., he started his own backyard iris garden.

Though it was a modest collec-tion, it grew steadily to the extent that Schreiner started his own iris nursery as a means of sharing his collection and generating revenue.

“(F.X.) said toward the end of his life, that he would swap his future and eternity if he could have 15 more years to devote to irises,” Steve said, recalling

Schreiner’s Iris Gardens

Founded: 1925

Principals: Steve Schreiner, Ray Schreiner and Liz Schmidt

Known for: Award-winning irises, shown in a display garden and shipped worldwide as rhizomes

3625 Quinaby Road N.E., Salem OR 97303

1-800-525-2367

www.schreinersgardens.com

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information from family historyAfter he passed away in 1931 at

age 53, his three children — Robert, Gus and Connie — took over the St. Paul nursery. They moved the garden to Salem, Ore. in 1946 so that they could take advantage of more favorable cli-mate conditions. “Those cold winters were tough,” Steve said. “Sometimes, whole breeding lines would be wiped out by those cold Minnesota winters.”

Oregon’s fine Willamette Valley soil, left behind by ice-age floods, proved an advantage. “This is a Mecca here — this is the Garden of Eden here,” Steve said. “And the topsoil is some of the best in the world.

Robert, Gus and Connie continued to run the business for about 50 years, allowing the next generation — Gus’s children Ray, Steven and Liz — to take over starting in the early 1980s.

“It is the previous generation that built this business,” Steve said. “They sac-rificed. It was just a little business — 60 acres in 1970 — there was no wholesale.”

Growth was slow until Schreiner’s added wholesale sales in the 1970s. They began to sell to big catalog companies who sell all sorts of plants Schreiner’s shipped large quantities of iris rhizomes to these operators — 180 to a crate. The catalog companies then repackaged the irises individually and sold them to the gardener, as they still do today. Schreiner’s also sells to retailers.

The addition of wholesale sales expanded Schreiner’s market reach. The grower ships irises all over the United States and internationally. The Netherlands is one of the company’s biggest markets. Gardeners can order directly from Schreiner’s, as well.

In the early 1980s, Ray set about

improving the display gardens. He introduced companion plants that were interspersed among the iris plants. These included evergreen trees, elder-berry, sambucus, allium, poppies, peo-nies, digitalis (foxglove) and lupine. They provide the gardens with a more finished look and greater appeal.

Ray, Steve and Liz divide duties across the business, and work coop-eratively in decision-making processes. Ray is in charge of hybridizing and selecting new varieties and managing wholesale accounts. “We try to sell the newest bearded irises,” Steve said. “We buy ones from other hybridizers too.”

Steve focuses on the retail end of the business. He sets up the annual flower show when the gardens are in bloom, photographs iris varieties for the company’s database of photos, and supervises the retail crew. Liz serves as chief executive officer, as well as the office manager. She also manages the gift shop during bloom season.

The busiest time of year is bloom season. Thousands visit Schreiner’s throughout the month of May and early June, many traveling great distances and even from abroad.

The nursery keeps busy all summer shipping iris rhizomes to individuals, garden centers and wholesale custom-ers. Shipping season lasts until the middle of October.

Shipping season partially overlaps with transplant season, another busy time. From late August to late October, Schreiner’s must transplant 200 acres.

One of the garden’s signature attractions is the Dykes Memorial Bed, which contains nothing but winners of the William R. Dykes Memorial Medal. This honor is given to the top iris intro-duction each year. Schreiner’s intro-duced no less than 10 of them.

As Steve noted, the newest win-ners are bigger and more colorful than those that came before. It’s the result of improvements in breeding. “In 100 steps, you can see the evolution of medal irises,” he said. “You can see the improvements as they keep coming.”

▲ SchREINER’S IRIS GARDENS

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