New Irises

What are your top 3 irises?

Here are some pictures of the new introductions from Barry Blyth in Australia

www.tempotwo.com.au

Click on new introductions

Yeah !!!!!!! Blyths irises are my favorite Mit. Thanks for the link. It doesn't take me long to see my 3 favorites.
1) Tempesto has several colorsand ruffles ..what else could ya want ?
2) Air of Mystery is just gorgeous &
3) Ginger Ice is a very exciting orange amoena

But who can stop at 3 ????????? Anyone ????

okay NOT FAIR I want most of them LOL you know how I am!!!!
Broom Sunset
Rarer Than Rubies and
Temple Spirit
Gloria

I sure can't. Blythe's irises are often just completely different from anyone elses. Some of my favorites are Copper Clouds, Glamazon, Painted Flutes, and Rarer than Rubies. But there are others that I would be equally fond of in an hour.

Ooooooooooooo the Blyths..........creme de la creme

Painted Flutes, Tempesto, and Eye For Style for me. But I wouldn't kick any of them out of my mailbox.

Just give me the ugliest of them all

Okay Mit, so which ones are your favorite 3 ?
And to everyone else... lets go a question further..can we explain Why we like them ? That would be interesting to anyone interested in hybridizing.

welllll I for one love the bold colors and ruffles !!
Gloria

Why do I like Copper Clouds? Color, subtlly changing from rose to salmon (?). Ruffles. Can you tell I am not a hybridizer and don't have the lingo? In my own words, incredibly beautiful color. Eye for Style, same color and ruffles. The colors seem to flow into one and other and over one another. There seems to be the tinyest touch of salmon in Eye for Style which sets of the violet and rose. Whereas Copper Clouds has a fair amount of Salmon really setting it off.
Rarer than Rubies -- the falls are such a rich red, and so velvety and the ruffles, the rose in the standards is, as far as I can tell, a shades from the beards to the much lighter rose at the top. The darker veining all over is stunning.
I am sure those of you who are hybridizers see even more details to admire than I do. But I find plenty to admire.

We like them because Barry Blyth seems to come up with something different. His irises will add a new color to your garden. I know when a lot of people see his irises for the first time that say WOW!

Tempesto has great coloring and I'll have to get an order together because I think it will sell out early. Quite a blend of colors using a Keppel iris as a parent.

Sugar Bomb is listed as 45" tall. I like that for hybridizing. It's parent is Sea Power which is a collection of blue ruffles. Interesting that Sugar Bomb parent is a blue and this is white and yellow.

Tango Amigo because I like the veining in an iris. I was trying to decide if I liked Just Crazy better but finally went with Tango Amigo because the veining seems to stand out a little more. I wonder what kind of parentsTempesto and Sugar Bomb would be???

Do you order them from Australia or from places in the US?

I certainly see why you like the veining in Tango Amigo. Sugar Bomb seems to have a slight greenish cast which is fairly unusual. And Tempesto is certainly unusual. I agree that Blyth irises, in general, add something new to the garden.

Betty
Last year I ordered them directly from Australia. A bit pricey but the rhizomes were nice. I have one of the new intros from last year that has about 6 babies on it. He gave me "Rare then Rubies" as a bonus plant.

Mit

Mit, sending you a dmail

You wouldn't by any chance want to do a small co-op would ya Mitt? ;-)

Of course it all too prices for the 2007 intros - but my 3 fave TBs are Ginger Ice, Just Crazy, and Rogue Trader. I just love the orange ruffles and it reminds me of a friend named Ginger. Just Crazy is just... well, love the veining on the falls and I love RT because of the picture. If it were that red and lemon in person, I'd have it in a heart beat provided I lived in Australia. The 4th fave is the late to very late boarder bearded Thundery because it's brown with a myriad of colors blended in it.

Roni

Edited to add my faves.

This message was edited Oct 20, 2007 9:48 PM

Wow, this is first I've been able to get back to read everyones posts. This is soo interesting. It made me go back and look at them all again. LOL, So now I have a 2nd set of 3 favorites.

Pajaritomt I am not a hybridizer either but, you made me see some things I hadn't before. And I also will say that the rhyzomes I got from Australia last year were beautiful. I actually really liked getting from there because they were here in May if I remember correctly. They have had plenty of time to get settled in.

Has everyone, who was expecting a Blyth Catalog, gotten theirs ?

What attracts me to the Blyths in general are the wide falls and the ruffles. Beautiful blendings of color and contrasting beard colors are always a good thing too. When I look at Air of Mystery it is just the perfect picture of elegance .

I was surprised to see that no one mentioned Pretty Witch. I keep going back to look at it.

Are any of these irises available locally? or do they have to be ordered from Australia?

These are the new introductions and I haven't seen them anywhere else.

I know Keith Keppel and Denise @ Snowpeake carry the Blyth irises but I'm not sure if they'll have these newer irises for sale in spring.

If you can wait a year or two you'll be able to locate them at a number of places in the USA at a lower price

I can wait !!! tap tap tap Just let me know when there here please
Gloria

I just ordered the Blyth catalog so I won't be getting it for a while, I suspect. One thing about the growers who sell his past intros is that they are very nice as well. It is great that we can get some of the older ones from here in the US without paying an arm and a leg.
I agree that Blyth offers something not available from other growers in the US. The color mixtures are more complex and dramatic, it seems. Not to denegrate US hybridizers, but these Blyths are very special.
I got a few of the older ones at my local AIS society rhizome sale. At the end of the sale, members are allowed to help themselves to a grocery sack full of rhizomes for $20. I picked up several Blyths that way. I have planted them in my ever growing iris beds and can't wait to see if they bloom this year.

I have bought several Blyth from Iris Sisters and they send very nice rhizones

I will check them out, jackie

Mitt ~ There is absolutely no way I could choose just three, as I want them all! Particularly like the vibrant colors of Rarer than Rubies, but they are all absolutely gorgeous! Would love to see Tempesto and Sugar Bomb babies!

Judy

Wish I had the extra $$ to visit the Blyth gardens in bloom. Wouldn't that be a treat?

Wanda's flowers,

That would be wonderful. It would be fun to pick them out in person. Wonder when their iris bloom.

Wanda, that would be awsome !!!!!!!! I've had that same wish.
Pajaritomt, they are blooming there now. !!!

Australia's seasons are opposite ours. It's Spring there now.

Alas, I can't get away just now! It would be so much fun.

Oh Mitt,
What an exciting thread you posted. :-) I've been drooling over his catalog for weeks now.
The top 3 irises I would choose would be:
ROUGUE TRADER
JUST CRAZY
and...... ROUGUE TRADER again.

As a hybridizer (when just looking at photos w/o the information on bud count, or what the stalk looks like, substance, or growth pattern and increases................... then I first look for
1.) uniqueness. Sometimes that means a.) color, or b.) patterns, or c) a recognition of what new colors or patterns can arrive from what is already there, Next I look at the 2.) Form. without a good form the flower itself loses so much. Besides that it will have the tendency to pass that bad form it's offspring. Wide open standards is not attractive to many iris growers or judges.

All of our eyes are drawn to certain things in an iris flower....................that is part of our own uniqueness as well as the flowers own uniqueness.

I've also noted that Australian's B. Blyth will add a lot of lime to his garden. Which may mean that his land is alkaline and not acidic. Irises usually prefer somewhat acidic ground to grow well in and sometimes the more acidic the soil the better. To me - this could mean why some (not all) of Tempo-two's /Blyth's irises do not fare well here (and why some tend to be quite a bit shorter here in the US than they are in Australia) . Those irises are growing in conditions where lime is added and the original compositon of the soil is alkaline.

I too love Blyth's irises and will grow any that I can hoping it'll do well in my garden. If they don't, they don't, but every now and then...................WOW!!

Mitt, so glad you posted these. Thanks! .................. and I love reading everyone's comments. I wish Australia was just across the street. :-)
~Margie

Margie
It's great to have your imput and hear a hybridizers views on these irises. I think everyone is drawn to the color first and some of the Blyth irises seem to be unique to him.Then I look at the pattern and form. I've found that sometimes I'll buy something because of a high bud count ( to use for hybridizing) but I'm disappointed when it grows in my garden. The bud counts must differ from coast to coast.

The reason I asked what was everyones top three irises was to see how everyones interest varies. As everyone was picking their 3 irises did anyone else notice that they were all picking different irises. I think Margie and Roni were the closest to choosing the same three.

Margie I wasn't aware that his Australian garden is alkaline. So how can they grow so well for him? I thought they required acid or neutral soil. I also enjoy everyones comments and d-mails about these Blyth irises.

If I had the space I'd have an area dedicated to growing just Blyth irises. Which leads to ask another question of interest........

Do you or have you bought irises because they were created by a certain hybridizers????

So Margie, should we put lime in our soil for Blyth irises? Normally my soil is very close to neutral. (6.8)
I gather you have gone to Australia and seen Blyth's irises there?

I've never been to Australia, pajaritomt, I hope to someday. One of my sisters have been and said it is like going back in time where people can still leave their doors unlocked and windows open at night. And said that parts of the country there are so different and unusual that it is simply amazing. Sounds wonderful! (However, she's not that much into irises, so she didn't visit any of the iris gardens there).

But...............I have heard Barry Blyth speak/give presentations at Iris Convention meetings, read material written by him, and spoke with him at K. Kepple's garden.

Mitt,.....He adds the lime to his alkaline soil to cause it to become acidic soil so irises grow more successfully. He may add other things too, I don't know. I only know about the lime.

I wouldn't recommend adding lime, but if you'd like to experiment with a small area of your garden (if it's alkaline) to see if it improves your iris growth overall that is up to you. If you do - - please give us a report back. It may be a shot in the arm that some growers with alkaline may need.

I wonder if there is anyone from Australia that grows irises (here on DG) that could shed more light on this. Or maybe it doesn't matter all too much since most of us don't live in Australia. I wouldn't be too surprised if living in a different hemisphere plays a role in how those irises grow too.

It is my understanding that one adds lime to one's soil to make it more alkaline. I will try to find a reference on that. Our soil in New Mexico is generally alkaline and we are told never to add lime. Here, where I live, in the mountains, our soil is pretty much neutral, but down in the vallies, it is extremely alkaline. Here is an article on soil acidity and liming. Lime also supplies magnesium and calcium to the soil as well.

http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~blpprt/acid5.html

So my guess is that Blyth's soil would be too acid or too low in calicium which is why he adds lime.

I understand he is coming to the US in the spring. I hope someone will see him so they can ask him.

I agree that being in a different hemisphere probably has some influence -- as well as whatever trace minerals may or may not be in the soil there vs. here. I should try taking a Blyth that I have lots of and put a plant or two in a small patch and adding lime to it. That would be Chinese Treasure. I will report back in a year.

I'm a little confused by the lime/acidic comments. Adding lime should make the soil LESS acidic, shouldn't it?

Neil

This is from a gardening website:

How to Make Soil More Alkaline (Increase pH)
If your soil is acidic or slightly acidic you can take steps to make it more alkaline to accommodate the plants you want to put there. You can make your soil more alkaline (increase its pH value) by adding a form of lime. Lime is a compound of calcium or calcium and magnesium. It is usually applied in the form of ground agricultural limestone, burnt lime or hydrated lime (slaked lime). The smaller the limestone particles then the quicker your soil will become more alkaline. For this reason hydrated lime will offer the quickest performance because it is slightly soluble in water so it can permeate the soil quicker and reduce acidity faster.

Increasing the pH of your soil is not an overnight process and it is best to allow 2-3 months to allow the lime to neutralize the acidity of the soil acidity.

Neil and Pajaritomt,

You are right!!................. Here is what I just read:
To increase your pH by 1.0 point and make your soil more alkaline.

* Add 4 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in sandy soils
* Add 8 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in loamy soils
* Add 12 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in clay soils
* Add 25 ounces of hydrated lime per square yard in peaty soils

Correction of an overly acid soil should be considered a long term project, rather than trying to accomplish it in one year. It is better to test your soil each year and make your adjustments gradually. The addition of hardwood ash, bone meal, crushed marble, or crushed oyster shells will also help to raise the soil pH. via:
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/acidsoil.html

I'm sorry everyone, I got it backwards. I surely didn't mean to. :-) So - - he must have over acid-like soil (or it's low in calcium as mentioned above by Pajaritomt) and adds a lot of lime to help correct it. At any rate the point remains the same............ he adds lime to his soil where most of us don't and that may play a part as to why his irises grow much taller over there than here and possibly why some may not tend to grow well here. .

Thanks Pajaritomt and Neil for setting this straight. ;-)
~Margie

And thanks for the info. I am going to make a test bed with a little lime added to the soil and a Blyth cultivar, to see if I can tell the difference.

sulpher makes alkaline soil more acidic

Well, Mit, how are you ? Those new irises are fantastic...I'll bet they are pretty tasty to squirrels also (lol). I liked truly wicked the best. Have you got any pictures of your hybrids yet ?