Hybridizers: Breeding Irises- the small ones, 0 by Pistil

Pistil wrote:
I am starting this thread about iris breeding. Not that I am actually doing this, however I am interested in it, and last year bought a bunch of seeds of various species iris like Iris milesii. These seeds are sadly still in my seed box. I suggested to irisMA a thread about this (irisMA is actually doing it but requested I start a thread). And I saw our Canadian cousin is also interested in Iris.
So here goes.
I bought a bunch of different Tall Bearded Iris (TBI) several years ago from Schreiner\'s Iris. I had seen a clump of purple ones in outrageously dry shade where my father lived, probably planted at least 50 years ago. Still there, still blooming. Never any care at all, no pests or leaf nibbling or brown leaf dieback.
Now I knew TBI are supposed to be cared for, but I thought maybe some newer hybrids would be nice. After all, wouldn\'t they exhibit \"hybrid vigor\"? Sadly, none have really taken off, although \'Immortality\' has established nicely it does not bloom a lot. Most have an icky disease where the leaves turn brown at tips, then slowly rot down to the base.
On the advice of Edelweiss Perennials, I planted Iris cristata \'Abbey\'s Violet\' in dry shade under a big pine tree, it is doing fine although slugs do go for it in the spring. I also planted Iris foetidissima var lutea, on the advice of Planting the Dry Shade Garden by Graham Rice. Also doing well although no blooms yet. I grew some of these from seed, quite a process as they require a double dormancy!
Anyway I started reading about Iris, helped along by a highly discounted book from Schreiner\'s The World of Irisespublished in 1978 . What a lot of species! What a lot of habitats, from bogs to desert! So now I am interested in Iris.
It strikes me that the fancy TBI, highly bred for the show table, exhibit many of the problem qualities in many highly bred plants (and show dogs) like poor disease resistance, and need for perfect amended garden soil, fertilizer, staking, and frequent division . Also they are so big, I find it hard to place them.
Yet many iris are also a \"pass along plant\", many are hardy and survive and bloom for decades without problems.
I think for iris, as well as many other garden plants, there is a need for people to breed ones where the single most important trait is toughness. Think \'Knockout\' roses. I heard that guy sprayed them with diseases, and did not put pesticides on them. Good idea.
Perhaps amateur breeders are really better suited to this project, as we don\'t have to win prizes, or sell large numbers, or patent everything. We could be satisfied with fewer blooms, smaller and more rain-resistant (and slug-resistant). Because there are so many iris with so many traits, one could probably come up with just about anything, eventually. The perfect \"pass along plant\" maybe?