AIS Dedication

Dr. Norlan Henderson – A Lifetime of Science

By The Convention Committee

The Greater Kansas City Iris Society is dedicating the convention to Dr. Norlan Henderson to honor his contributions to the understanding of iris pigmentation and his generosity and dedication to education. Dr. Henderson retired as a professor of botany from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and has been associated with Powell Gardens since its beginning. He has tirelessly tended the Award of Merit collection and educated visitors on iris every spring during the Iris Festival weekends and continues to do so even in his 92nd year. Norlan has been a member of AIS for over 50 years and is a charter member of the Median Iris Society. He also served as a judge and RVP for Region 6 before moving to Kansas City in 1964. . He joined the Greater Kansas City Iris Society shortly after arriving in Kansas City and served as its president from 1969 to 1970.

Son of a minister, his family lived in a number of small towns in Illinois. After graduating high school in 1933, he studied at Southern Illinois University with the goal of becoming a doctor. After pursuing that goal for three years and being admitted to medical school in 1937, Norlan had to discontinue his schooling for a time due to a lack of funds and the war. After serving in the Army during WWII, he was discharged in June of 1946. Norlan graduated from Asbury College in Kentucky and did his graduate work at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Kentucky and Indiana University. He received his doctorate from Florida State University in 1960. Norlan served as Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Huntington College between 1951 and 1961 and at McMurry College in Abilene, Texas.

Norlan received his first iris plants in 1946, when his father called to ask if he would help a lady at his church move, thin, and replant her large iris garden. When his work was finished, Mrs. Edie had given him 104 named iris varieties. At it turned out, that was just the beginning of his work with iris.

His years in Indiana while teaching at Huntington College were pivotal years. It was there that he and his wife Jean became friends with notable hybridizers in the region and joined AIS. His friendships with hybridizers such as Mary Williamson and Paul Cook helped fuel his passion for iris and set his mind on doing a study on the color and color pattern heritage of the tall bearded iris. In 1959, the book Garden Irises stated that the only pigments in iris were blue and yellow. In a speech at Cornell University, Norlan challenged this belief theorizing there had to be more pigments involved. Afterwards the author, A. H. Sturtevant, who was in the audience came up to Norlan and said, “…you could be right; now prove it!”

Upon arriving at UMKC with 150 iris varieties in tow, Norlan immediately got them planted and established a symposium iris planting on campus. When the plants later had to be moved to make way for a new building, he bought some property in Peculiar Mo and set up Odd Ball Gardens to continue his research on pigments. He and his students grew over 40,000 seedlings a year and slept in a little trailer when not working in their lab doing chromatographic analysis on

thousands of tissue samples. With Norlan overseeing their work, six of his students received their Master’s Degree for their work on pigments and their theses’ are maintained in files at Powell Gardens. The results of their years of work and that of others were revealed in The World of Irises chapter 25 Iris Pigments published by AIS in 1978. Hybridizers have found this information invaluable in developing the myriad of colors found in today's iris.

While most of his crosses were done for genetic studies, there were about a dozen or so that were good enough to introduce. ‘Peculiar Gold’ and ‘Janet Lemon’ are still grown, as well as ‘Kansas City’ one of the best “black” irises of its time.

Over the years, Norlan’s research took him to many places throughout the country as he tracked down the native habitat of various species. His thesis, ‘A Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Lycopus (Labiatae), required the review of 7,800 specimens from 22 herbaria borrowed from sources throughout the United States, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the University of Montreal. He also contributed extensive information on irises, which was included in volume 26 of The Flora of North America published in 2002.

Alan Branhagen, Director of Horticulture at Powell Garden writes: “Doc is a beloved fixture of horticulture at Powell Gardens. He comes out nearly on a daily basis to check on the iris, the herbarium or just to visit with staff. His love of the English language and great sense of humor uplift the horticulture staff with a special pun or other play of words followed by a good joke or anecdote. He keeps everyone on their toes regarding botanical knowledge. We all are reminded how important green plants are to us and all life on earth!

During the past year “Doc”, as he is fondly known to his friends, has finally had to scale back on his physical efforts to maintain the Tall Bearded Iris Award winner beds. He kept at it as long as his body would allow and still does what he can. We look forward to the 2009 iris convention and the ribbons of beds on the hillocks a bloom with a rainbow of iris blossoms. It will be even better with Doc here with us to observe its beauty and enrich all the visitors experience at Powell Gardens.”

The American Iris Society is filled with people who love irises simply for the beauty they bring to the garden each spring. And hybridizers who spend untold hours making crosses, waiting for the seedlings to germinate and bloom, hoping as each bud unfurls that maybe this bloom will have the unique feature they have been striving for. We are so blessed to also have the scientists and educators who have the tenacity it takes to unlock the secrets of the plants we all love so much. We are indebted to you Norlan, for your lifetime devoted to the research and sharing of your knowledge of iris. As the blooms of our convention irises unfurl, we will consider them our flags of tribute to you.

Iris ‘KANSAS CITY’ by

N. HENDERSON 1988

photo by Jim Hedgecock

Doctor Norlan Henderson

by Jim Hedgecock

I joined the Greater Kansas City Iris Society in the early 80’s. I remember in the first meeting I attended there was a distinguished looking gentleman there that came right over to me and introduced himself as Norlan Henderson.

At that time I did not know that we would form a friendship that has lasted nearly 30 years and that would become one of my dearest friends and a mentor to me in the iris world.

In a few short years, I was to become president of the society and “Doc” as I have always known him, was to become mentor to me in every sense of the word. This kid from the country was new to iris politics and there were many calls made to both Doc and his wife Jean concerning society business. Both of them had been president of the society before me and could often offer great tidbits of knowledge to help me. As our iris business grew larger, I quite often called upon Doc for technical advice on irises. Doc is like that; I have encountered hundreds of people in the surrounding areas that ask me if I know Professor Norlan Henderson who taught Botany at UMKC for many years in Kansas City. I always respond that he is my mentor in the iris world.

Doctor Norlan Henderson joined the American Iris Society in 1951. He served as Regional Vice President for AIS from 1958 to 1961 in Region 6 before coming to Kansas City. In 1958 Fitz Randolph asked Doc to do a presentation on iris pigments at the national convention in Syracuse, New York and it was very well received. An expanded version of this presentation on pigments that was written by Doc was to become a chapter in the AIS bible, the World Of Irises. Doc taught at UMKC for 25 years and has been retired for 20 years. He still, with supplemental help, maintains the iris plantings at Powell Gardens including the new beds that are dedicated to the 2009 AIS convention.

Doc has hybridized a few irises, the best known being the ever-popular ‘Kansas City’. This dark purple black was featured on the Kansas City’s city sticker in the 1980’s. We introduced this iris for him in 1988. To this day, it remains a very popular iris in sales.

In 1999 I decided to name an iris for Doc. His wife, Jean, and I looked at number of pictures of a new cross of plicatas that I had good stock of. She was undecided, so I picked the one I liked best and at our annual Christmas dinner that year, I presented him with a picture of that seedling and told him he could have his choice the following spring. It turned out he too liked the seedling I had picked. Naming this iris for Doc has been one of the favorite moments in my career of irises. This iris is represented in all of the guest gardens for the upcoming convention.

I don’t know of anyone locally that has given so much of their time to further the genus iris and their culture. Through the years he has appeared in countless seminars, radio programs, and television programs to promote irises. He always has time to give culture tips to a novice.

It is truly an honor of the highest degree for the Greater Kansas City Iris Society to dedicate the 2009 American Iris Society Convention to my dearest friend and mentor, Doctor Norlan Henderson.

Iris ‘Doctor Norlan Henderson’ (Jim Hedgecock - 2001)

Photo by Jim Hedgehock

Dr. Norlan Henderson

photo by Debbie Hughes