Grace Sturtevant

Grace Sturtevant (1865–1947) was an early 20th century iris breeder who has been called "America's first lady of iris". She was a founding member of the American Iris Society.

Grace Sturtevant was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1865, one of four children of noted agronomist Edward Lewis Sturtevant (first director of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station) and Mary Elizabeth (Mann) Sturtevant. Grace's mother died when she was only 12; her father remarried in 1883, to Mary Elizabeth's sister Hattie. Grace was close to her much younger half-brother from this second marriage, Robert Sturtevant, who also became an iris fancier as well as a landscape architect. Grace had artistic ability and as a young woman illustrated some of her father's papers on peppers and sweet potatoes.

E. Lewis Sturtevant died in 1898, and in 1901 Grace and Robert jointly bought a property named Wellesley Gardens in Massachusetts. In 1910, Grace began hybridizing irises, beginning with varieties imported from Europe, and in 1912, her first known iris cross flowered. By 1915 Wellesley Gardens became a showcase of iris plantings and a popular local destination during bloom season. In 1917, Grace took three of her hybrids— the yellow 'Afterglow' and 'Shekinah', and the lavender 'B.Y. Morrison' (named in honor of horticulturist Benjamin Y. Morrison, the first director of the U.S. National Arboretum)—to the Massachusetts Horticultural Exhibition, where they all won medals. This striking success laid the cornerstone of her reputation as a notable iris breeder.

Grace established a commercial nursery, Glen Road Iris Gardens near Wellesley Farms, Massachusetts. Between 1917 and 1920, Grace was very active as a plant breeder, introducing numerous new hybrids and issuing a commercial catalog for the first time in 1918. Other iris experts helped in the selection of varieties for her catalog, especially the British iris breeder Arthur J. Bliss, who in 1926 would name an iris 'Grace Sturtevant' in her honor.

Grace was fascinated by the genetics of iris and in particular by the inheritance of color, which she recognized as a key factor attracting gardeners to the genus. In a period when not a great deal of work was being done in iris breeding, Grace's efforts greatly expanded the color range of yellow-tinged irises. For example, she envisioned the possibility of developing a tall yellow bearded iris from Iris pallida that could thrive in southern California where many older yellows descended from Iris variegata did not prosper. Out of this breeding program, she developed the award-winning 'Afterglow' and 'Shekinah', as well as 'Gold Imperial' (1924) and the deep-yellow 'Primrose' (1925). 'Shekinah' was praised as the best yellow iris of its day and made a list of the top 25 American irises in 1925. Most iris breeders who have worked with yellow irises since then have used it somewhere in their lineage.

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