Dr. B.O. Fry & Bill Ison
Great Friends and a Shared Dream.
Muscadine History and the Ison Family — Part 2
DR. B.O. FRY & BILL ISON
Great Friends and a Shared Dream.
In Part 1, we told you about Dr. B.O. Fry and the groundbreaking muscadine breeding work he conducted at the Georgia Experiment Station in Griffin. But when Dr. Fry retired in 1968, his work wasn’t finished.
In many ways, another remarkable chapter was just beginning. That chapter happened right here at Ison’s Nursery in Brooks, Georgia, alongside our father, William G. “Bill” Ison.
Dad had a dream. He believed the muscadine could continue to be improved. Bigger. Sweeter. Better tasting. More productive.
Dr. Fry had spent much of his career learning how to accomplish exactly that. The two men shared a passion for muscadines and a vision for what they could become.
And they became best friends.
To the horticultural world he was Dr. B.O. Fry. To our family, he became affectionately known as:“Pa Fry.”
Together, Dad and Dr. Fry began an ambitious breeding program at Ison’s Nursery. They made crosses. They planted seeds. They grew seedlings. They waited years for vines to fruit. Then they walked the rows, tasting and evaluating fruit, looking for that rare seedling that was better than what already existed.
Eventually, more than 50,000 seedlings were planted across approximately six acres of breeding plots and seedling vineyards.
Most would never receive a name. But every once in a while…they found something extraordinary.
Their work helped produce an incredible group of muscadine varieties, including:
* Black Beauty
• Black Fry
• Darlene
• Early Fry
• Farrer
• Granny Val
• Ison
• Janet
• Late Fry
• Pam
• Pineapple
• Senoia
• Sugargate
• Supreme
• Sweet Jenny
and even more that were developed through the breeding program.
Some were named for members of our family.
Big Red. Darlene. Pam. Janet. Ison.
Others became varieties that growers across the South would come to know. And several carried the name of Dad’s great friend and mentor.
THE FRY FAMILY
FRY the original variety resulting from Dr. Fry’s breeding work at UGA. BLACK FRY EARLY FRY LATE FRY FRY SEEDLESS
The Fry name wasn’t simply placed on those vines. It was a tribute. A tribute to a breeder whose life’s work helped improve the muscadine. A tribute to Dad’s friend and partner.
The original Fry also became enormously important here at Ison’s Nursery. From the 1970s through the mid-1980s, approximately 65% of our muscadine plant production was Fry. a
Perhaps the greatest legacy of Dr. Fry and Dad can’t be measured simply by counting vines or listing varieties.
It is found in what came after them. Their selections became parents and grandparents.
Their genetics continued into later crosses. Their work helped give future breeders something better to build upon.
And many decades later, we’re still growing varieties that came from those years of friendship, patience, experimentation and determination.
When our family sees the name FRY, we don’t see just another muscadine variety. We remember Pa Fry and Dad.
Two friends walking the seedling vineyard so often together. Thousands upon thousands of seedlings.
And one shared dream to grow a better muscadine.
They probably never imagined that generations later people would still be planting vines carrying their names.
But every harvest season, their story continues. Their legacy is still hanging on the vine.
Dr. B.O. Fry & William G. “Bill” Ison
A Shared Dream that changed the muscadine world. We are so proud of our heritage and our legacy.
Come and grow with us!!
Darlene Ison Evans
Ison’s Nursery & Vineyard
