Anyone know why all my Iris are white?

I plant colored Iris and they come up white every time. Any idea why this happens?

YC - what type of iris and who are you buying them from?
do you have photo?

I bought Iris from an eBay vendor and just thought that I got cheated. However I dug up an iris from a lot last spring and it bloomed bright yellow last year. This spring the same iris is white.

Is this TB? I ask because irises can drop a seed which bloom a different color. However a TB usually would not bloom the next yr so It would be something else.

I have a friend who like white iris - so I send them all there - but it is really too strange!

Irises don't change color - not permanently, anyway. It is possible to temporarily bleach the color out of irises if they get hit with certain herbicides. RoundUp is a prime culprit. Even a whiff of RoundUp drift from a neighbor's garden may be enough to bleach out developing iris flowers. They will return to normal color the next year as long as they aren't exposed to herbicide again then.

There are certain circumstances that can give the impression that a bed of colored irises has turned white, when in fact that really isn't what has happened at all. I have a list of such circumstances in the FAQ section on my website.

Laurie