About Zydeco and Louisiana Irises

Zydeco is an indigenous music of Louisiana that evolved from rich and diverse cultural origins.  It developed from the music of French speaking people of color in Louisiana.  In the 30s and 40s, this music was very similar to Cajun music, but after WWII it began to take on different influences, including blues and rock and roll.   While the fiddle is generally absent, Zydeco added the accordion, electric guitar and bass, drums, sometimes a saxophone, and it employs a distinctive corrugated metal rubboard called a frottior.

 

Louisiana irises also are indigenous to Louisiana, have diverse origins, and the hybrids have evolved a rich blend of colors and forms.  For Louisiana irises, like Zydeco music, the period after WWII was one of extraordinary development as new forms were discovered and hybridization transformed and expanded the diversity of the plants.  

 

Both Zydeco music and modern Louisiana irises are a gumbo of distinct influences blended to excite the palate and stimulate the senses.  And like Cajun cuisine, they are both highly adaptable to the preferences of the entire country

 

Zydeco Louisiana Iris Garden is the outgrowth of a thirty year hobby growing and hybridizing these irises.  It evolved after 2000 into a small commercial nursery selling Louisiana irises online.  That phase ended in 2013. 

Today, Zydeco is the process of transition to a cooperative effort between the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Greater New Orleans Iris Society with the purpose of preserving, propagating and promoting Louisiana irises.  Utilizing space in City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana irises are being grown for donation to other parks and entities that will display them for public enjoyment and education.  Special emphasis will be placed upon conserving both the various forms of the five species and old, historically important cultivars that can still be obtained.