Ivor Markman

When botanist Rachel Hobson drove through the gates of a lonely Karoo farm nine years ago and caught a glimpse of its spectacular medley of colourful irises, she felt like she was driving through a living jewelery box.

Little did she realise she would one day be the owner of a similar magnificent display  ­and a thriving iris business.

Ironically, she'd never really fancied irises before, so when husband Chris said he wanted to show her his cousin Nigel Hobson's iris nursery near Pearston, she hadn’t been too keen.

"One day he told me we were going to a farmer's day at Pearston, so I packed my sunblock, boots and hat and jumped in the car," she said.

On the way Chris announced they were not going to a farmer's day after all.

"We arrived at the farm Wildebeestkuil, 7km from Pearston, and there was this whole field of blooming irises; a mish-mash of colour.

"I was hooked."

With evocative names like Midnight Love Affair, Angel Symphony, Wings of Dreams and Hell's Fire, it's easy to understand why these plants inspired such passion in her.

The couple began growing their own beautiful plants on Chris's family farm Roodeberg, about 52km from Graaff-Reinet in the mountains, south and  beyond the Valley of Desolation.

"We bought Cinderella's Coach, Persian Berry, Sunny Delight and Victoria Falls, which today is my best blue one," she said proudly.

Rachel's love affair with irises did not end there.

Six years ago, Nigel called to say he was selling his iris farm-and offered her his entire stock at a very good price.

For two days Rachel toiled in the field with five assistants, digging out the plants one by one until they had dug out the entire crop.

The irises were transported back to their farm, where it took five months to replant them.

Nowadays, while Chris farms angora goats and nguni-type cattle, Rachel's iris business takes up most of her time.

Because of transport difficulties, the bulk of her sales is of rhizomes, but for those prepared to challenge the dirt road to the farm, cut flowers are available as well.

Her plants, which she started selling in 2002, are marketed under the name "Rachel's Garden".

Irises are incredibly tough and hardy plants, she says.

"We kept some of them out of the ground for five months and after we planted them they still flowered.

“When you replant them, because of the big rhizome, they have enough food stored for the leaves and they can grow again."

Every year the plants multiply, sometimes giving as many as six new ones, depending on the quality of the soil.

After two to three years the plants are lifted and split into different rhizomes.

While they will grow in any ground, irises prefer an alkaline soil.

All they need to flower very well is a dissolved fertiliser like 3-1-5 and a little bit of compost.

A rhizome looks very much like a thickened root and lies parallel to the ground.

The leaves sprout up from one end while the roots sprout out from the portion in the ground.

"You can get a number of shoots along the length of that rhizome. The longer the rhizome the more shoots will sprout."

Even though Rachel has about 350 varieties on the Farm, only 150 are on the catalogue.

"The tall bearded iris is a hybrid of two species of iris and all the ones we sell have been hybridised from that stock."

Irises are native to Europe but got their name from Iris, Egypt's rainbow goddess, the name reflecting their beauty and wide variety of colours.

Rachel requires a minimum of 30 plants before placing a variety on her catalogue.

It normally takes two years of nurturing to reach that point.

"I'd hate someone to order a plant that I put in the catalogue and I have to phone them and say 'Oh sorry, I can't deliver! "' she said.

Irises are hardy and pest resistant, snails being the only thing that attacks them.

All Rachel's irises are bearded irises, so called because of the ittle "toothbrush" or "beard" above the bottom petals.

Although they’re more tender, they're taller, have bigger petals, more colours and lovely scents.

Considering she grew up in Gwelo (now Gweru), in Zimbabwe, it is quite fitting her favourite bloom should be called Victoria Falls.

Rachel came to South Africa in 1986 and enrolled for a Bsc degree at Rhodes University, majoring in bio-chemistry and botany.

Afterwards she moved to Cape Town University where she worked in the botany department at the Bolus Herbarium.

She later returned to the Eastern Cape to do a masters in botany and a Phd on coastal grasslands.

Chris, who'd also studied botany, met Rachel while both were undergraduates at Rhodes.

"He was a party animal and I was quiet - we'd never have gone out together," she quipped.

As fate had it, both returned to Rhodes where they shared an office, fell in love and have now been married and living at Roodeberg for 10 years.

"He calmed down a lot and I livened up a bit," she laughed.

 

Text and Photos: Copyright Ivor Markman 2013