I'm about as green as a newbie gets and this is my very first iris to bloom from a bunch of unnamed rhizomes given to me. Its stalk is only 19" high, so does that make it an intermediate? I would love to know it's name, if anyone knows it. Thank you so much in advance!
~Rachael
Welcome, Rachael, to the wonderful world of irises! You've sure started out with a lovely one. Flower size, stalk diameter, and bloom period have as much to do with bearded classification as does stalk height. Although a 19" stalk height falls within the range of intermediate, border, and miniature tall beardeds, it's also possible that your iris is a tall bearded that simply didn't grow to registered height this time around. Lots of variables can cause stunting of stalks.
As far as a possible ID is concerned, there are nearly 60,000 registered iris cultivars and possibly millions of unregistered seedlings out there being shared from garden to garden. With that many irises in circulation, your chances of coming up with an accurate ID from a photo are slim to none. Even if your iris is a registered cv, I would dare to guess that there are dozens, if not hundreds, that look very similar to it.
If you really want to try to ID your iris, first read the following articles:
http://www.worldiris.com/public_html/Frame_pages/ID.html
http://www.worldiris.com/public_html/Identification/Photo_ID1.html
Then research any irises anyone may suggest as possible matches, see which ones come closest to matching, and purchase them to plant and grow side-by-side with your unknown for point-by-point growth, plant, and bloom comparisons over the next year or two. If you find an identical match, great! If not, you will have added more lovelies to your garden to grow and enjoy. A win-win either way!
Happy irising,
Laurie
Welcome to Irisland Rachel! Your flower is really lovely. I had a year where all of my TB's except for the very tall ones grew only to about 20 inches.
How large is the flower? Intermediates generally don't have the large flowers that the TB's have. They can be short especially the first year they are in.
Are you a neighbor?
Laurie and Doss, thanks so much! I do think this is a TB that just came up a shorty as the bloom is fairly large. I am so excited to see the rest of them this spring. This little one was just to tease me I think.
Laurie, thank you for the links. I'm going to learn as much as I can. Doss, I live in Marysville, 50 miles NE of Sacramento, so not a close neighbor. I do enjoy day trips to your area for shopping from time to time, though.
