The Iris Gardener par Excellence

Grandmother Halyburton at age 87
( December 15, 1863  -   September 11, 1953)
Mother of Dorothy Suits and
Grandmother of the Suits Boys
   
   
Iris in Full Bloom
Grandmother Halyburton hybridized several
new varieties of Iris. Her garden was a floral showplace
and was visited by many gardeners including a
member of the British Iris Society

Grandmother Halyburton with Dorothy
and Adelaide Suits

Dorothy Suits called her Momma,
Hollis Suits called her Mother Halyburton,
all the rest of us called her Mommom.

   

She became an active member of the St. Louis chapter of the
American Iris Society, and began to experiment with hybridization.
When the national Society held its annual meeting in St. Louis,
Mommom’s garden was one of the sites on the tour of local growers.

 
 
Thad's Comments About Grandmother Halyburton

Yes, I do know that she did hybridize....she had a reputation for it. I remember when a group of people visited the garden and one was a known authority.

I have a feeling that she got a "species" named after her but I'm not sure. Joan says she was a member of the international iris society (Maybe Google can interpret that).

Something about her should be mentioned. She was very very tough. I would see her lifting heavy weights....often rocks or bags of fertilizers. One day she was struck and knocked down by a street car as it turned a corner in St. Louis. She refused medical attention and came right home.

Another note: I gave a lecture to the Stephens College Alumna Association in St. Louis. (D was there) and to introduce me they brought in a friend of Mommom's, Mrs. John D. Williams. She was one of our (my) laundry customers....1919 S. Grand (I had never seen her because I just left the laundry and charged it).

Well, she worked with Mommom at the Brokerage company, Paul Brown & Company. She said that Mommom was always urging her fellow employees to listen to great music (which fit the theme of the lecture). I know that D was thrilled...both at having me there and having Mommom featured like that. D was standing next to me an squeezed my hand.

Thad

 
Photos are from Dorothy Suits'
archive of Kodachrome slides
from the early 1950's. They were
received courtesy of Tien Grauch