A Favorite Iris....What's Yours?

My favorite iris is probably a bearded named Calico In Ruffles. Here, it bloomed Sunday, May 15.

Another view of this iris....

Can I have two? 'Social Graces' blooms for a very long time and has incredible substance.

And for color - 'Impressionist'. Even when taken indoors this Iris lasts for a week.

Thanks for letting me have two :-)

OOPS. I lied. For the three people who haven't seen this photo. 'Harvest of Memories' blooms all year here. This photo was taken in the middle of November.

There you go. Substance, color, rebloom and length of bloom.

I promise to stop now.

It's hard to pick just one. The new ones I added last fall I have not grown long enough to really evaluate how they grow. I do love the look of Splashacata and it may be my favorite of the new ones that have bloomed.

Susan

Two of my older ones that have been long time favorites are Stepping Out and Wedding Dance.

Susan

I like Vigilante.............this one had 9 or 10 blooms on one stem this year. I cut it and took it to work with me. Oh that wonderful fragrance!

Another view.........

Here is my favorite..."Unknown" Iris...

'Chickasaw Sue' is a new one my sister has and I think it is very unique also.

Needless to say I WILL have me one of those!!! LOL She has already promised me one! I love all of these pictures! I just want one of everything I see!
JanetS

Doss,
I need that one of yours that blooms all year!!!! Do you think it would bloom all year in Georgia!

I don't know about that. Does it freeze there? LOL. I would assume that it would bloom until it froze. I don't know what latitude you're at so I don't know how long you're season is but being in the south you probably have nice long days well into autumn. It's worth a try.

Having an iris bloom at Christmas is quite an experience. Having anything that bright yellow in the yard at that time is great.

These are all beautiful.

I've got 'stepping out' blooming right now too. I love that Iris, and I'm not crazy about purple plicata's. Did you know that it was introduced in 1964? It doesn't look much like an historic does it? While I'm at it, here's a close up of 'Stepping Out'.

Laurief says that it's hardy and happy in her zone 4 garden. That's saying a lot.

LOL @ Doss.....I lied, too. How can anyone who loves the iris have 'just one favorite'???

The irises pictured here are true beauties. Chicasaw Sue has very dramatic color blending. (I want to know JanetS's sister!!)

Doss, I didn't know that Stepping Out was that old. I have it as well as a few other purples that have since gone out of favor.

Here's another one of my favorites: Edna. At bloom time, I always recall my first childhood friend named Edna. (The fuschia blurred flower in the background is a hardy geranium.)

My DH would like an iris that is bright orange. Any suggestions?

Lynn: Edna is GREAT! Do you have any info on it?

I have become very partial to 'Jitterbug'

Hi Caitlin. I have had the iris for about 12 years. Most have either come from my mother or Schreiner's. I have no other info on that iris -- sorry.

JanetS, the photo of your sisters chickasaw sue doesn't look like any of the plant files pictures. I bought this many years ago and it hasn't bloomed for me in along time. I don't remember it being that color.

Oh, lovely, those iris pics take my breath away...I especially love the Calico in Ruffles...the portrait is beautiful.

Thanks for posting. It's a great thread. t.

Love these! I've never seen Edna before. One of my favorite dahlias is named Edna C. Now that's random. Penny Lane and Cordoba are very lovely. The aren't an intense orange orange. McKellar's Grove is really nice - it won the HM in 02 and Hot Property is won the HM in 04. I don't grow them yet, they are relatively new. They are both at Cooley's. I just chose Cooley's to look through because their catalog is by color. It was a fun trip.

All of my iris's are my favorite but Bewilderbeast stands out in my head...

Doss, what's the price range on those new irises? Are they over our iris budgets?? LOL... Mebbe I should get one of my antique quilts out of the closet-collection, sell it, then splurge on some irises! (I am going to have to look up those named Irises, regardless of cost. It's free to look, huh??)

I gave some rhizomes of the Calico iris to a neighbor down the road. Driving by, I see theirs are blooming now, too.

Bewilderbeast is very pretty.....I took a couple of photos a few hours ago (after the 2 days of rains) and will post them shortly. In our area, the beardeds are just now blooming.

Our bloom season is just about finished, lucky you...thankfully there's rebloomers!

This is a tough one! I think EVERY iris that I've ever run across is my favorite! LOL! Okay, I've narrowed it down to my top 3 (at the moment, anyway!)

Here's "Habit":

Here's another favorite~ "Spouting Horn":

Here's a third favorite~ "Chasing Rainbows":

Okay, I lied. I can't stop at three! Here's another favorite~ "Haut Les Voiles":

Here's another favorite~"Strawberry Swirl". This is probably my all time favorite!

Yeah, see, it's hard to pick a favorite. Has anybody really seen an ugly iris?

Okay, last one~"Starship Enterprise":

Thanks for sharing, Flowerfrenzy. Your Spouting Horn is so very blue....Chasing Rainbows has such gorgeous veining. I don't think I could make a 'favorite' in your collection, either.

Irisluvr posted Vigilante....I'm still looking at the pic and loving that iris!!

Weegy, I guess I've never seen an ugly iris....been around them all of my life.

Here's one from my garden just today.

Another from my gardens....

I know Lyn, I keep looking for an ugly iris but can't seem to find one! My favorite are the bi colors though. I have alot of bi colors and they tend to catch my eye more than the one color.

oh i NEED Strawberry Swirl!!!

These are so beautiful! I did a painting once where I used irises as the musical notes on a scale...flowers: scent and symphony! Thank you all so much for posting these wonderful pictures...
Cant grow them here in south Florida, and when I get them from the florist they only last a few hours, and never ever look like these photos! So even though your potos are all copy righted, I just go ahead and paint them anyway! (In my interp.)
Thank you!
:)

Handbright, do you have any photos of your paintings? I'd love to see them.

I can't ever get enough of the irises either....I made a hand-appliqued and hand-quilted wallhanging of iris. I enjoyed that project -- used my own hand-dyed cottons for the irises.

My mom's coming to visit today!! She'll get to see some irises blooming, complete with many water-droplets from the rains. (I'll bet she'll take alot of photos -- she always wanders around my gardens to see what needs to be photographed.) She still gardens alot (her favorites are hostas and daylilies. She will be 75 in October. )

Good for your mom, Lynn.
You are all so crafty around here!
All I can do is knit dish cloths, takes me
about 2 days for one little dish cloth!!!!!!!

notmartha~

Nicholson's Woodland Iris Gardens is selling Strawberry Swirl this year for $3.00!