BIG Iris ?

What Iris do you grow that have really big blooms? I think Supreme Sultan is my largest one. I will post a photo when it blooms, but would love to learn what other ones have the large blooms.

Susan

This is 'Dusky Challenger'. It has a great fragrance. Although it's not fancy it does have a great satiny finish, a very deep color, and a lot of buds. I love it a lot.
Here's a link to 'Supreme Sultan' in the plantfiles.

It would be great if you would put your experience in a note here. I think that we need to do more of that.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/36708/index.html

This message was edited May 11, 2005 9:48 AM

This is 'Penny Lane'.

I'm something of an iris novice ~ just how big is BIG?

I like the looks of Penny Lane. It's funny Doss, I grow Dusky Challenger with Supreme Sulton. Moby, I will email you when they are blooming. Should be within the next couple weeks. I would say Supreme Sultan might be 8" long?
I divided it last year, so this year it may be a little smaller.

Susan

That's 8 or so inches top to bottom of bloom? Wow. Guess I should check my bloomers. ;)

LOL Moby,

This is 'Aaron's Rod'. The flower is about average but the display is incredible. All the flowers bloom at one time. It's very early - bloomed March 31st for me. It will bloom at least a month later for you. It blooms with the intermediates.
It did bloom again later, but not with this intensity.

lincolnitis, I would LOVE it if you'd go to 'MY INFO" at the top bar and put in your zone. It helps a lot when I'm talking to folks. There aren't many zone 9 gardeners out here but I know that you aren't in zone 9! :-)

This message was edited May 11, 2005 6:00 PM

That's sure a pretty color and a big bunch of flowers!
*Lincolnitess is the same zone as me.*

Edited for idiotic spelling.....

This message was edited May 11, 2005 8:36 PM

Funny but I just contacted Paul Black at Mid-America Gardens a couple of days ago to ask about large flowers. Here's what he sent me. There are others, but these met my criteria. Of course these are only the ones he carrys. He said that these are primarily for size - not pattern although color is good. I think that Peaches and Dreams is very pretty although I haven't seen it in person.

Abbondanza
Above The Clouds
Balancing Act
Don't Touch
Dural Snowflake
Fatal Attraction
Heartstring Strummer
High Stakes
Lenten Prayer
Martile Rowland
Metolius Blue
Mountain View
Peaches And Dreams
Pioneer Woman
Plum Fun
Spiced Cider
Tuscan Villa

There you go - we were thinking in the same direction.

Thanks for the list Doss and also for telling me how to add zone. I received Pioneer Woman as a free gift from Mid America last summer, so will be posting a photo of it when it blooms. It's funny, but once you have a few of the really big ones, the others look sort of small. I have never really measured mine Moby, but I think between 7 and 8" from top of bloom to bottom is a close guess. I wish the companies would list the size in the descriptions, but I'm sure it varies from area to area and depending on how they are grown. I like Dusky Challenger and Supreme Sultan together, because they are about the same size and one does not over power the other.

Susan

This message was edited May 12, 2005 11:34 AM

I agree Susan, I wish that they were classified the way daylilies are by size. Bengal Tiger for instance, while very pretty is very small and I'm taking it out this fall. On the other hand, Fancy Dress, Happenstance, and Social Graces while not large are sure definitely worth growing. It's tricky. There's so much to texture, color, form and length of bloom that matters. It's all just too much opportunity. But if you know that you love big flowers, then you are one step ahead.

Thanks for the list, I would add Proud Tradition. In my garden it is one of the largest. Also Avalon Sunset.

Dusky Challenger and S. Sultan are nice beauties too.

Very pretty.
Proud Tradition
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/36156/index.html
Avalon Sunset
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/34080/index.html

This may be my largest bloom...again, no name...sorry...very fragrant and long lasting, just keeps on blooming!
JanetS

Inside view....from one above..JanetS

Wow, Janet. A zillion of them, all ruffled and beautiful. and no name? no hint? no ideas?

I am sure it is "BLUE" something! LOL Sorry, I just bought what I liked four or five years ago and I want to say something like blue danube maybe...but I really have no idea..

Hey, 'Blue' is a really good clue! :-)

Blue Cheer maybe?
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/34209/index.html

If you think that it's close, we can ask Puttytat who put the photo in the plant files.

There is an Iris that I see on my way to work. It is yellow and so tall; maybe just under 4 ft? What is its name? There can't be that many THAT tall.

I have 3 different ones that are a good 40 inches. Here is a 'drive-by' iris I got a pic of today. I'm going to see if I can sweet-talk these people out a fan ot two. It's a huge ruffley thing I'll call 'electric eggplant' for now.

Does it rebloom in the fall? That is pretty tall. And does it have a fragrance?

This one's pretty big - 'Sky Spirit'.

I have been looking for rebloomers. Does any of the companies list them together to view?

yes, indeed! Argyle Acres, Leota's. A good way to get started is to buy a collection. Schreiner's has a collection and you can use their search engine to sort for 'rebloomer'. Most cultivars are 50% off if you buy more than $80.00 before the discount - that's only $40.00 after the discount. Cooley's has a collection but no sort on rebloomers. In their catalog the winners cups next to the Iris name means that they well at a discount. Nicholl's is largely rebloomers and they report rebloom reliabiltiy in their zone which is fairly northern I believe. Probably near your zone. Sutton's Iris Garden specializes in rebloomers and spaceagers but their site isn't open yet and has been saying they will be open in few days for weeks now. Mid-America doesn't have a listing of rebloomers. Nola's Iris Garden has a sort by rebloomers and also The Iris Farm. Woodland Iris Gardens has a list. Homestead (or The Iris Sister's Farm), The Winslows, Blue J Iris:
http://www.bluejiris.com/
Snowpeak Iris, while there is no sort, has a list format where you can scroll through the cultivar names and there is an X where the iris reblooms.

These are in no particular order. I can vouch for the quality of Schreiners, Snowpeak, Nicholls, Cooley's, and Nola's and by reputation Argyle and Nicholl's. That doesn't mean that the others are not OK.

One thing - rebloomers aren't necessarily guaranteed to rebloom in your zone. Some, like Beverly Sills, haven't even rebloomed in my zone 9 garden for me. Some rebloom later, which in the case of colder zones is a problem. Nicholl's is a good place to get an idea, but don't necessarily buy from them. The rebloomers at Schreiner's and Cooley's are good choices. Their reblooming collections have been refined over a lot of years. Sutton's does have a list of rebloom reliability even though their site is still closed, and you can buy a catalog.

So, the best way to find these places is through the GardenWatchdog links.

http://davesgarden.com/gwd/advanced.php?search_text=iris

Enjoy!

Thanks for all the info. I may have my evening planned out. Have a nice weekend.

You too. Have a good time!

Hey Moby, have you and lincolnitis met? You should bring L to our little get together in Des Moines,


Wow, these iris pics are great! I am on my third year of gardening and the display is wonderful! But this thread makes me want more.

Thanks everyone for the pics and I do like BIG!

arlene

Hi, Arlene are you getting the iris bug?

Could everyone post the name of the largest iris in their gardens? Mine would be Dusky Challenger or Supreme Sultan. I stopped by the Southern KY Iris display bed yesterday.
One tagged was Red Hot Lover. I am ordering it and Carnival Sunset!

I am taking my Dad back for a check up after his surgery, today. I hope to make a short vist to
the Owensboro Botanical Garden.
I will try and post a few pics. Bye

Iris bug? Who . . . Me? LOL

Yup, got bit by the bug!

regards to you bluegrass . . won't be in KY this year and already sorely disappointed.

TLC, Yes, I have met Susan (lincolnitess), traded a few things and we've been to each others gardens. Though hers is considerably more spectacular than mine! Mine is spectacular only to someone who doesn't garden at all.

And yes, I really need to bring her along next time. She's fun. :)

Ron and Sharon from Leota's Iris Garden were kind enough to share this list of big bloomers with me:

Supreme Sultan is our largest one also, but here are some other large ones: Abiding Joy, Starship Enterprise,Triple Whammy, Magical Encounter, Aplomb, *Jumbo Jack, *Grand Metallic, Wings of Peace, Poem of Ecstasy, Seakist, Good Looking, Glad Heart, So Fresh, Dark Triumph, *Banana Frappe, Tempting Fate, Wishful Thinking, Honky Tonk Blues,
Melted Butter, Indigo Princess, *Great Gatsby, Noble Knight,* Yaquina Blue, Dusky Challenger,Cloudia, Commando, Kevin's Theme, *Giant Rose and Dear Jean. The ones with * are about as large as Supreme Sultan, hope this helps you

Ron and Sharon

That was nice of them. But my Yaquina Blue, Kevin's theme, and Poem of Ecstasy have never been especially large at my house. But there are always environmental differences.

It's funny, but Dusky Challenger was huge for me last year and is not particularly big this year. I did divide it last year. Are they usually smaller the first year after being divided? I emailed a few other places too and asked them for a list of their largest ones. Will be interesting to compare the lists.

Susan

Yaquina blue was one I didn't divide this year and it's size has been consistent all of the years that I have had it. Some flowers like 'Bengal Tiger' are just small. However, I must admit that 'Conjuration' which I've had for some time has large blooms at first and smaller ones as the season progresses. It's probably because it's throwing up more than one stalk. I planted Sky Spirit and Impressionist in the fall and their blooms were a lovely size. Not huge like Dusky Challenger, but large. We had a lot of rain this winter. I fed alfalfa meal and 5-10-10 this year which might have made a difference. The same cultivar can have smaller flowers in less sun and larger flowers in full sun at the same time. The thing that I have noticed is that sometimes the first flower isn't as large and fine, and sometimes it's the best one.

Go Figure.

It'll be interesting to see what people who have had years of experience say.

Susan, thanks so much for the list! You keep doing the research and posting and we will all have super iris beds.

Here's another list:

ACOMA
BEYOND THE BLUE
BOLD LOOK
BRAZILIAN HOLIDAY
DUSKY CHALLENGER
ORANGE POPSICLE
SILVERADO
SKATING PARTY
SWEET EMOTIONS
TITAN'S GLORY
TRIPLE WHAMMY
VERMONT
WILLIAM A. SETCHELL
YAQUINA BLUE

Joe and Donna
Argyle Acres Iris Gardens

'Silverado' hasn't been a very good performer in some gardens, including mine. You might like "Fjord"
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/34984/index.html

and "Clearwater River".
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/34506/index.html

These are the ones Rainbow Garden's said were their largest:

Jazzed Up
Titan's Glory
Lullaby of Spring

Susan

I know Titan's Glory always wins a prize at our local iris contest.

Titan's Glory is very purple!
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/36810/index.html

Jazzed up is very ruffly
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/35389/index.html

And so is Lullaby of Spring

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/35606/index.html

Rainbow is very expensive. :-(