Most fragrant iris!

OK, the iris newbie here wants to learn all she can before starting her new addiction....I had no idea irises could be fragrant until Doss told me! And per his great suggestion, let's start a new thread!

What is your *most fragrant* iris?

iris pallida

This is the grape kool aid scented one.

Gingersnap smells like rootbeer

hahaha I love it how you guys describe the fragrances!

Triple Play smells like tootsie pops grape flavor.

This message was edited May 14, 2008 6:53 PM

good ol' Best Bet smells Awesome! I never knew either rob! I just had my nose in this one every time I walk by it. I wish they could bottle the stuff. Best Bet Iris Cologne.

Soulja ......do you think this unnamed one I have may be Best Bet? My other thought was maybe Cee Cee?.
It was gifted to me and I have no clue but I think it might be older. Unfortunately it has finished blooming and I didn't notice if it was fextremely ragrant. I have so many and they were blooming together, the whole garden had a heavenly fragrance.

Gazellegant smells like hyacinths

yes jackie, it looks like Best Bet to me. the beard looks just like mine.

Gazellegant is so beautiful E-town.

I don't do much sniffing--however a yellow SDB seedling I pulled was very fragrant so replanted it. Hard to try SDBs for frageance as you usually have to go down to them, I should try them while weeding. An older IB from Colorado (I forget the exact name) was so fragrant that it could be enjoyed from the middle of the path.

Oh IrisMA, I would love to know which one that was! Jackie, I can smell your garden from here...hummmmmmmmmmm! : )

Sugar Blues and English Cottage (both TBs) can just about knock you over with their incredibly strong, sweet fragrances. I had them planted right next to each other, and I got deliciously dizzy every time I got near them. LOL!

Treat us with a picture!

Sugar Blues

English Cottage

ah....they look like they would be indeed perfect together! When you first planted, how many rhisomes of each did you plant?

Just one of each. Because I live in such a severe and often iris-deadly climate, I rarely (if ever) plant more than one rz of any particular iris (esp. TBs which tend to be the wimpiest of irises here). That way if a particular cultivar proves unable to survive in my climate, it's no big loss.

Once a cultivar proves its hardiness here and survives long enough to clump up, then I might divide the clump and start one or two additional clumps of the same cultivar from the divisions.

Of course none of this has any bearing on how irises would grow in San Diego.

Laurie

That's good to know Laurie! I think even in my zone that would be the wise way to go, especially because I have never grew iris before...
Whenever you get a chance, post a pic of your iris combo, it sounds lovely. I have an all blue and white garden...love that combination of colors... : )

I'm not sure I have a combo pic, and I divided and moved most of my TBs last year, including the bed in which those two were planted together. I'll check back through the last few years of pics, though, and see if I can find anything that shows them growing together.

Laurie

This evening I looked at the Median checklist (reg. to 2007) and the fragrant IB is Colorado Gold (Lynons'82) fragrance was noted in the registration. Long's garden in CO might know where it could be found.

Persian Berry is one of most fragrant. I also like the fragrance of Lo Ho Silver, Immortality, and Clarence.

Here's Persian Berry.

Linda

a lot of the newer iris are not for sniffing
have had quit a few that smell like Lingering Tom Cat ,^_^
Lingering Love tb is a example at iris shows it cant be hard on the nose when a lot of variety's have this sent
A few breeders are trying to bring back the good smells that come from pallida species

Oooo we love Persian Berry

Guys you have such wonderful irises there! You inspired me to place my very first iris order...this is one of them, it's supposed to be super fragrant!

Ooooo "Different World" beautiful AND fragrant

I'd like to tell you a short story about my memories as a girl. I remember visiting my grandfather, I should say grandparents, as a young girl. You can tell how my Danish gardener influenced me. I found a large bouquet of iris on the compost heap. I naturally gathered them up and brought them into the house. Grampa said to take them outside as he had emphysema and their fragrance was too heavy that he couldn't stand it. Naturally I got to take them home with me and I'll never forget how wonderfully fragrant those old heirloom varieties were.

I think in general heirlooms of any plant are more fragrant...roses, nicotianas...probably iris too!

tazzy, we had a dwarf Korean Lilac - Miss Kim - the was very pretty but smelled like Lingering Tom Cat when it bloomed every spring. We used to stop using the back door for the week or two when it was in full bloom! I've had other people tell me that their Miss Kim smelled heavenly, but our was just plain awful. Another plant that is gorgeous and is a great bloomer that "stinks" is May Night Salvia. I'd like to put a clothespin on my nose when snipping off the dead blooms. But the big fuzzy bees love it, and my plant, which is in bloom now, blooms from May until the frost gets it.

jackieshar, isn't Persian Berry wonderful? It was one of my very first irises, and found it was great for a beginner. It increases well and is a heavy bloomer. The wonderful fragrance is a plus. One drawback I think of is that my scapes get so heavy from the flowers that they will fall over. We have to prop it up every year. I love the color too. I'm a sucker for lavenders and purples.

I agree that the hybridizers are hybridizing the smell out of some of the plants. Look at the case of Miss Kim. Short,not bothered by mildew, and reliable blooming, but an awful smell, in our case. I had another lilac at our next home called Minuet. It was about the same. A great plant for the landscape because of its small size,reliable blooming,pretty flowers but no smell at all!

Linda

Problem--people's noses differ--one person said that she and a friend walked past an iris & both said "tom cat!" Her sister in law thought it was a good smell. So a group of people should probably sniff and take a poll.

I'll tell you what, that Different World is ridiculously beautiful Rob. wow!
where did that one come from?

my mom grew a little perinneal dianthus, bright rose colored. It was everywhere in her gardens in the spring and early summer........It had a strong smell of cloves....I have searched to buy and some found look a likes ......some have a slight fragrance, but not the strong smell I am looking for....

I have a nicotinia native called woodland tobacco..tall with white blooms..seeds are like mustard seed, so tiny and the seed pods are extremly sticky.......has a delicious smell

well guess that should be in another thread for fragrant plants...I got carried away, since my iris have about stopped blooming

Well Linda I have to thank you for Persian Berry. Look what it did last year. It now is an historic.

You are SO welcome Julianna. I'm glad you like it as much as I do. Wonderful color and fragrance. Who is the pretty blue next door? I have some blues that will be blooming this year for the first time. I love blue almost as much as lavender and purple and am excited to see them. I understand that some of these are fragrant too:

Sugar Blues
Back Roads
Sapphire Hills
Unknown that I hope someone can give me a lead on the name of when it blooms. The person who sent it to me remembered that it had "blue" in the name but had lost the tag!
Victoria Falls
Horns And Blues

Do irises become "historic" after 30 years ?

Linda

yup they do
and it sure makes me feel old to see that word on iris i have grown in past , because that makes me older than dirt

Yes irises become historic after 30 years from the date of Introduction. Some exceptions are if the iris has been around a long time and been introduced but never was registered. Then the iris goes through a process where we grow it and register it through Historical Iris Preservation Society. Right now Phil Edinger is the one who judges the correct iris identities to show in our HIPS Photo Gallery.

I have one such iris I am growing called Loomis V20 SDLG, a pink which bred most of the pinks in England but was not registered or used much in the US even though Loomis lived in the US. People here accused him of chemically creating the pink color.

The people in England took him seriously because it was one of the first real pinks that did well in Englands wet climate. When it blooms I am to photograph it for the Photo Gallery and when it multiplies enough, it must be distributed among HIPS members trying to save it and then will be registered most likely by Phil Endinger. I am only one of the members growing this iris. Another member is in Washington growing it too. Neither one has bloomed yet but I think mine might. It is fattening up right now.

Now the blue near Persian Berry is Victoria Falls another recent historic. They became so last year. I just love placing these two colors together and love Persian Berry. Immortality is going to bloom this year too. Thank you for sharing your beautiful irises with me. Shall be sharing back when they get big enough. They are mostly new because of flooding rains and a bad winter or no snow wiped out ones I had owned for years mostly obtained from Joan Moors another Maine Iris Society member but back then I was a kid and not a member. I joined this past year and still learning the members identities. Ted White and John I knew when I was a kid. Ted taught school. I even knew McEwen but from a kid's view not a grown up's. The garden looks not bare anymore thanks to you and other gardening friends.

Julianna

Mainer
keep up on the good HIPS work it is very important to not lose track of any more oldies

You're not alone tazzy. I'm older than dirt too!

My parents had some irises blooming at the house we moved into when I was 12 or 13. I have some of it and it was ID'd for me by someone who had an iris farm. It's Shah Jehan. That plant has been growing at my parent's home for over 43 years. That's a long, long time and it makes me feel really old! Below is a picture of Shah Jehan.

Thanks for the explanation of the "historic iris" process. Very, very interesting Julianna!

Linda

We moved to Maine forty years ago. I lived in Massachusetts before that. I am not young but then when I am near my grandfather and John White who are both ninety one or there abouts I do not exactly feel old. I am amazed my Grandfather still drives and met a girlfriend of eighty five and is still quite active.

Shah Jehan is going to bloom for me this year Linda I can't wait!



This message was edited May 17, 2008 12:02 AM

Well, what did you order, Rob?

might this one be the same as your Shah Jehan?. I had been thinking it was Mildred Presby, but was told it is not