Historic Iris Germanica Blooming here in NC

This Historic iris germanica variety is blooming every where here in NC today April 1st 2011..these photos im gonna post were taken by me today at a womens property down the street. i had seen them blooming there for several years and thought they were either amas or lent a williamson, but they are way two tall to be amas, and two bluish in overtone to be lent a williamson. i believe them to be the original iris germanica from linnaeus 1753, but they are even taller than that historic listing which is listed at 36 in as these are about 46 inches tall. I asked her if i could photograph them and when they stoped blooming dig a few fans up and pay her for them, and she went and dug up ten blooming huge fans for me today, and refused to let me pay her for them, so i went back and gave her a large quartz crystal in exchange. they were growing along her whole fence line and are taller than any other ones ive ever seen in this area of the state..mike

heres 2 pics of them growing up near her fence line..she had huge 15-20 fan clumps of them going up the entire fence line length of her property and they just started truely blooming in full bloom yeterday and today..it was beautiful..

here the 2nd pic

That is an interesting iris. I have one of similar color, light purple standards/dark purple falls with a white/silver beard, but is more along the BB height. You may find several members interested in a trade when it comes time to divide them.

Those are beautiful and I bet they smell wonderful! I can almost smell them!

their pretty interesting because they are the exact same color as wild iris germanica which only gets 18-20 inches tall, and the same as that linneus described domesticated iris germanica one brought to the U.S at 36 in, but these are extremely tall at 46 inches from bloom tip to base of bulb..the buds that arent open yet have a strange but pretty purpley pinkish red colored hue to them. even on the stalks abit too near the buds.does anyone now what this cultivar or variety might be called?, the only one i could find that came very close in height and color was 'faustine', but most of the pics of faustine had deep purple veining on the white/silver part of the beard but these do not..mike

heres a pic of the buds on the 10 fan clump i recieved from her that hadnt yet opened yet like most of hers have; where you can see this purpley pink patina/colouring on the buds and stalk quite abit..its pretty kool, cuz if you didnt know these irisis where a bi-tone purple blue you would think from the buds theyd be pink/purple. Also heres the link for the 18inch tall wild iris germanica http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/189284/ the 36 inch variety can be viewed and purchased at blue-j iris in nebraska on their website under letter i, but they are currently sold out...and heres a neat link of info and pics for 'Faustine' at http://www.hips-roots.com/photos/faustine1-dta.html

Those are beauties! They look like the ones that someone (?) found dumped on the roadside last year?

Yes, they look very simalar to Marti001's in Kentucky, i think mine are a tiny bit darker and maybe an inch or two taller..the clump i got from that women down the street early this week had five unopened buds on them.and the scapes got all weepy and wilty after i planted them, but the rain the other night perked them up and now 3 have opened this morning! i didnt think they would but they have so now i can enjoy them..they are still kind of flimsy though because of not just the transplant shock i think, but i think also their height..so i staked them up untill i cut the dead scapes off after their done blooming after about 4-6 weeks. heres my pic from this morning

I have seen the purplish tint to the buds in other dark purple irises. Your neighbor had no idea what they are?

No..but they are some kind of Historic Germanica..if anybody wants some that are identical to mine i just this morning found them for sale at cynthias iris garden in the uk for 3 dollars a piece!!! they are the exact same color as mine and although she has them listed at 28 inches im sure they are probably as tall as mine as she just uses the historic book listing heights. she has faustine listed at 27 inches and ive seen faustine reach 48 inches tall. http://www.cynthiasirisgarden.com and click on historic iris for sale and on the fifth historic page listing it is labeled as 'Germanica'. She also has 'Othello' Lemon 1848 which is the exact identical same color historic germanica except it is a mid season bloomer, mine is a EM bloomer. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/104314/ and http://www.cynthiasirisgarden.com/shopping/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=138