Thursday, March 20, 2014

French Historic Tall Bearded Iris SERAPHITA



Classic form with dazzling colours that would give your garden zing and a whole lot of zang. A stylish iris that one could expect to see at Giverny, the Gardens of Claude Monet. These irises are once again becoming available for purchase from commercial growers, and I'm sure they will create a renewed interest in classic irises and be wildly popular with gardeners who appreciate real class.
Séraphîta is the title of a French novel by Honoré de Balzac published in 1834 in the 'Revue de Paris'.

Rene Cayeux, 124 rue Camille-Groult, Vitry-sur-Seine, près Paris, Seine. Iris Catalogue 1942
Nouveautés d'Iris de mon obtention 1942-1943

Séraphîta. Divisions supérieures héliotrope fumé. Divisions inférieures étalées violet rose à grande gorge 

Rene Cayeux, 124 rue Camille-Groult, Vitry-sur-Seine, près Paris, Seine. Iris Catalogue 1949
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Séraphîta Smoky heliotrope standards. Pinky purple falls, almost horizontal. Large yellow throat. A very fine variety. Height 2 1/2 feet.

Bulletin of the American Iris Society, July 1951, Number 122.
List of varieties of Irises from 1939 till 1949 and 1950 For the Alphabetical Iris CheckList of the A. I. S. as far as obtainable.
Remainder Irises Out of the Catalogue (English) Rene Cayeux 1949 (Abstract), Breeder F. Cayeux.
SERAPHITA Smoky heliotrope standards. Pinky purple falls. Large yellow throat. A very fine variety. M.L. Put in sale before 1948. 


Rene Cayeux, 124 rue Camille-Groult, Vitry-sur-Seine, près Paris, Seine. Iris Catalogue 1952.
Séraphita. M. H. 1m. Superbe variété de nuance attrayante et distincte. P. héliotrope fumé, S. presque horizontales rose pourpré sur lesquelles contrastent des barbes orange vif, la fleur de forme parfaite et de bonne taille est portée par des hampes très ramifiées.

Jean Cayeux, Poilly-Lez-Gien,Loiret (France) Iris, Hemerocalles, Pivoines, 1961.

Séraphîta. M. Hauteur 1m. Hampes fines et ramifiées portant de jolies fleurs violet aniline clair teinté d'héliotrope.

Cayeux, La Carcaudière - Route de Coullons, France. Iris Lovers Catalogue, 2014.
SERAPHITA (Cayeux 1946) Tall bearded - Mid-season - size: 100cm - colour: Violet
Slender and well branched stalks carrying graceful, light aniline violet flowers. Standards are lighter and more pink. Golden yellow styles and beards. A decorative and rather long flowering variety.

AIS Checklist 1949
SERAPHITA (Cayeux 1946) TB-M-R3M

As always clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
Major Hat Tips and "Merci beaucoup" to Richard Cayeux for his photos, his daughter Hortense for collating and formatting the high resolution photos, and to Catherine Adam for her direction and help with the French Language, and catalogue listings.

Reproduction in whole or in part of this photo without the expressed written permission of Richard Cayeux is strictly prohibited.
Photo credit and copyright Richard Cayeux © .



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