Iris Id and Question About Bloom Time

A collegue who is a novice gardener has, since early Jan 06, been telling me that her irises which she believes are tall bearded irises bloom almost year round and are, infact, currently (Jan through today) blooming. I keep saying, "no way". So today she went home and took photos. Here is one. Can anyone tell me (1) is this a bearded iris, (2) any idea which cultivar, (3) is this possible? By the last question, I don't actually mean, "is she lying?". I'm sure she is telling the truth, but have you ever heard of such a thing? Or should we be calling Ripley's? She lives in Zone 8a where Jan and Feb temps this year would have dipped occaisionally to the mid to upper 20's interspersed with days in the 50's-70ish, all degrees F.

a close up of the wonder iris. I think I'm moving to her neighborhood. : )

It appears to be a bearded iris alright, and most likely an older cultivar, maybe even a historic iris.

Beyond that, I can't help with the zone info/bloom time. I'm way on the other end of the zone map.

Cultivars vary widely. Harvest of Memories blooms almost year round for me too. It does skip the summer but blooms from November through the spring. But I'm in zone 9 where it almost never freezes. How lucky she is to have a flower that is such a performer.

You don't have much chance of getting an ID though. If you want some, ask her to send it to you when she divides!

I have this iris or one that looks like this one..no idea what the name is either...it has been blooming for several weeks here as well. My old purple ones have also been blooming since early February...I am hoping that both will rebloom in the fall after their show this early in the year...
Janet

After I posted this, I saw another thread with a similiar looking photo, also looking for id. After reading some of that thread and doing a bit of research, I began to think this may be Iris albacans. Our extension service indicates that it is widely distributed across the south. Seems it comes in white and blue, but mostly white, and blooms early.

I would say this is most definitely Iris Albicans, which is an early bloomer and of historic origin. Albicans can stay green all year (and bloom) if the conditions are right. Modern tall beardeds are derived primarily from pallida and variegata which are northern European species.That is why they go dormant. Albicans comes from North Africa and the Middle East; While very ancient, it is sterile and not part of our modern bearded heritage.
Laetitia

Its non-dormant habits make it much more suitable for growth in the South US. You will hardly ever see it up North, but I understand in the South it grows quite freely.
Laetitia

Thanks, all of that makes a lot of sense, fits well with the circumstances, and puts an end to this mystery at last.

Every time she mentioned that her irises were blooming (in the winter), I thought she was confusing some other flower with the iris so I'd ask questions to try to figure it out. Since all of my irises go dormant (and I'm 1/2 zone warmer), I'd ask if hers did; she always said, "no". Then I was convinced that it was surely not an iris . Also, she said she had lots of them and they were all white - which also seemed uncommon for bearded irises. So I would rack my brain trying to figure out what white flower the size of an iris blooms in January and most of the year. lol

Thanks again.