Tony & Dorothy
Willott
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Biography
of:
ANTHONY (TONY) and DOROTHY WILLOTT
26231 Shaker Blvd.
Beachwood, OH 44122
(216) 831-8662
DWiris@aol.com
To the Left:
Tony and Dorothy Willott at a
family wedding. |
Dorothy grew up with all kinds of flowers,
but especially with irises. She accompanied
her mother, Virginia McClintock, to their
first AIS Region Six meeting in Columbus,
Ohio, in 1950. An Ohio State University
horticulture student showed Dorothy how
to make crosses. She went home and pollinated
some of her mother's irises and two years
later had a lot of seedlings bloom. She
also bought her own first irises in 1950.
They were PRAIRIE SUNSET, ALDURA and SQ-72.
The seedlings bloomed just before Tony
and Dorothy were married in 1952. Most
of them were inferior in form, although
there were some nice, bright yellows. Tony
didn't want to see them composted, so took
them home and planted them in his parents'
yard. |
The Willotts didn't
get any worthwhile tall bearded seedlings
over the next few years. It wasn't until
they obtained some dwarf iris seedlings from
Walter Welch that they began to have some
interesting results. Their first introduction,
LEMON SPOT (SDB), in 1968
was the result of crossing two of those
seedlings. Other dwarf iris specialists
encouraged them and gave them irises to
use in breeding dwarf irises. Especially
helpful were Earl Roberts, Bee Warburton,
Bonnie Dunbar, Helen Doriot and Wilma Greenlee.
Several SDBs introduced in 1971 were from
a cross of Earl Roberts' EYE SHADOW by
LEMON SPOT. |
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Since the introduction of their first SDBs,
they branched out into a number of classes,
which includes 62 MDB, 211 SDB, 38 IB,
4 BB, 8 MTB, 14 TB, 1 Arilbred and 2 Siberians. Awards
for their irises include 107 Honorable
Mentions, 16 Awards of Merit and 3 CaparneWelch
Medals. The medals were for MDBs ALPINE
LAKE in 1989, PUSSYTOES in 1990 and LITTLE
DRUMMER BOY in 2005. Willott varieties
have won Best Specimen of Show in 10 AIS
Regions a total of 35 times. In addition
to AIS awards, a number of Willott irises
have won medals in competitions in Orleans,
France; Munich, Germany; and Vienna, Austria.
They also won the Dr. Loomis Memorial Iris
Trial Gardens cup for best 2nd year SDB
variety, BALLET SLIPPERS, in 1995. |
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Alpine
Lake
1981 MDB |
Pussytoes
1982 MDB |
Little
Drummer Boy
1997 MDB |
Ballet
Slippers
1987 SDB |
In 1987, Tony and Dorothy
both retired from jobs with the U. S. Department
of Defense to devote more time to irises. The
following year Tony became a Master Gardener volunteer
for the Ohio State Extension Service in Cuyahoga
County. At
the same time, Dorothy trained for and became an
income tax preparer. Dorothy
finally found time in 1994 to take the formal Master
Gardener training.
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| Through fellow Master
Gardeners, Tony and Dorothy were asked to
donate some iris plants to the City of Cleveland
Rockefeller Park Greenhouse Peace Garden. With
the sandy loam soil, this garden multiplied
until they ended up maintaining a couple
of thousand iris plants in that location. There
went all of that spare time they thought
they would have after retiring. The
Greenhouse is open to the public every day
of the year with no entrance fee. MDBs
start blooming in mid-April following in
May by SDBs, then IBs, and on into early
June by BBs, MTBs, TBs, and Siberians. Thus
they have a two month display of irises in
the spring and some rebloom in the summer
and fall. |
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The Willott home garden is from 5 to 7 days
later than the bloom at the Greenhouse. Here
they have to continually amend the clay
soil which remains too wet in the spring
to work in the iris plantings. During
the summer and fall of 2001, they did a
lot of work making new raised beds for
the guest irises (mostly TBs) for the 2002
spring regional meeting. In
2002 they added a lot of recent TB introductions
from west coast hybridizers of which most
bloomed in 2003 and bloomed very well. There
are a lot of seedlings planted in rows. |
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Apricot
Fancy
2005 SDB |
Aztec
Gown
2006 IB |
Berry-Go-Round
2006 IB |
Blackberry
Jam
1995 SDB |
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Beloved
Infidel
2005 AB |
Brownberry
1987 BB |
Calico
Vista
2006 MTB |
Festive
Glow
1996 MTB |
There are several rock gardens which are ideal
for growing MDBs. Since
the Willotts moved to Beachwood, Ohio,
in 1958, their trees have grown and increased
the amount of shade in the one acre yard. This
has created ideal areas for hostas. Unfortunately,
the deer have come to love the hostas,
among other things, and are a constant
nuisance. Visitors
are welcome, but should contact then to
see if they will be home. They
are very busy during iris season with the
AIS National Convention, Regional Meeting,
two local iris shows, visiting other gardens
and shows, and splitting their time between
their two gardens. |
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Caramel
Frosting
2002 SDB |
Cinnamon
Circles
2005 SDB |
Crystal
Wings
2006 TB |
Dewy
Fresh
2004 SDB |
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Dottie's
Doll
2006 MDB |
Druid
Circle
2005 SDB |
Enchanted
Princess
2003 SDB |
Exotic
Artistry
2005 IB |
| Besides
caring for iris and other perennials at their
home, and maintaining iris at the Cleveland’s
Rockefeller Park Greenhouse, they also donated
iris plants to the Kansas State University
in Manhattan, Kansas, and the Betty Ford
Alpine Garden in Vail, Colorado. New
in 2005 is an iris garden on the grounds
of the Ohio Governor’s Residence in
Bexley, Ohio. |
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Fiery
Dawn
2005 SDB |
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First
Lady Hope
2006 TB |
Governor
Taft
2006 TB |
Fairy
Jester
2006 SDB |
Hallucination
2006 SDB |
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Flashing
Neon
2005 MDB |
Garnet
Jewelry
2006 MTB |
Joyfulness
2006 TB |
Sabrina's
Kiss
1997 SDB |
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Ice
and Indigo
1991 SDB |
Laurelwood
2005 SDB |
Love
Triangle
2006 SDB |
Magic
Bubbles
1994 IB |
Tony and Dorothy are
Life Members of AIS and many sections including
Dwarf Iris Society, Median Iris Society,
Society for Siberian Irises, Society for
Pacific Coast Native Irises, Species Iris
Group of North America, Historic Iris Preservation
Society, and North American Rock Garden Society. They
also belong to the Northern Ohio Perennials
Society, Society for Japanese Irises, The
Aril Society International, Reblooming Iris
Society, and Akron Area Iris Society. |
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Mentor
Marsh
2003 SDB |
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Mister
Roberts
1979 SDB |
Moonlit
Crystal
2006 TB |
Opal
Blush
2005 MDB |
Orange
Zest
2006 SDB |
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Prince
of Thieves
2002 SDB |
Vatican
Flag
2005 TB |
Velvet
Skirts
2006 MTB |
Quail
Hollow
2001 SDB |
They are charter members of the North East
Ohio Iris Society which Dorothy's mother
founded in 1958. Both are officers of the
Akron Area Iris Society and are AIS Emeritus
Judges. Both have served as Regional Vice-president
of AIS Region Six (Ohio, Michigan and Indiana).
AIS Region Six presented them with the
Region Six Distinguished Service Award
in 2002. |
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Ruby
Elf
2005 MDB |
Velvet
Echo
2005 SDB |
Wee
Viking
2005 MDB |
Western
Reserve
2005 IB |
Click on Thumbprint for a larger view.
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On April
20, 2000, Tony and Dorothy were honored by
the American Iris Society at its annual convention
in Dallas, Texas, by being presented the
prestigious Hybridizers Medal. |
Click on Thumbprint
for a larger view.
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Both are Past Presidents of the Median Iris
Society. Dorothy is Vice-president of
the AIS Foundation and a director of
the Dwarf Iris Society. Tony is also
a director of the Dwarf Iris Society
and Treasurer of the Akron Area Iris
Society. They have chaired many iris
shows over the years and have won numerous
bronze and silver medals competing in
shows. The Willotts actively promote
irises by frequently giving programs
to garden clubs, local iris societies
around the country, and other organizations.
Tony
and Dorothy are primarily hybridizers
rather than a commercial enterprise. Their
goal was not to make money, but to have
their irises grown and seen by AIS judges. After
introducing 340 new iris varieties between
1968 and 2006, this is still their goal. |
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