I'm wondering about this yellowish iris in the foreground of this photo. It is growing in a bed with mostly heirloom variety iris but I'm not sure it is an heirloom since the bloom seems so big compared to the others in this bed. Anyone have any ideas on what it could be?
Im not able to id the variety of irs/ cultivar for you, but i can tell you what kind of iris it is, it is a 'Space Age' iris. A Space Age iris is an Iris that has long horns that are I believe atleast half the length of the Falls or longer. If these long horns on the Space Age Iris are split at the end then they are called 'flounces' if they are flat or wider on the end like a spoon than hence they are called 'spoons'.
Most Space Age Iris are from the 1980's or later in 1990's and 2000's with the exception of the ones from the creator of Space Age Iris Lloyd Austin in Callifornia; which were created in the 1940's, 50's, and early 1960's and some of these actually had real large blooms like yours, but so did some ones from Hager in Early 1980's. if its before 1983 its a historic even though there apperance might not look like an heirloom one, as its 30 years or older so you can have more modern looking Space Age Iris that dont look historic but are as they fit into this catagory before 1983.
Thanks for the info themikesmom very interesting - obviously I'm not schooled in irises even though they are maybe my very favorite flower. I'll have to keep looking for an id on this one. I had no idea irises had 'horns' 'flounces' or 'spoons' but I'll be noticing from now on. These haven't bloomed in a couple of years because they were so crowded - I moved them last spring so we'll see if I manage to get a bloom this year. If so I'm going to take a much better picture for when I'm researching it.
Check the iris encyclopedia for 'Thornbird'.
IrisMA is right! that looks spot on for Thornbird http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/36778/ its from 1988 so its a modern atleast for five more years..quite unique and beautiful though. thats gotta be a record for id solved on a forum :-)
The color can vary a bit in different soils, but it is rather unique.
Wow that was good I really didn't think anyone would know especially since that is not the best photo. Now I'm excited to see it again - I hope it blooms this spring.Thanks for all your help!!
I have thornbird. They seem to be similar to your picture. It is an award winning iris. Look in up the Iris Encyclopedia on the American Iris Society website to learn more about it
It sure looks like a Burseen iris. Tobacco Chew was my first guess. Kendry Mae was a second idea.
He had a web site at one time. Can't remember the name.
Good Luck.
Tobacco Chew has an orange beard.
