Found this little beauty naturalizing away from any possible homesite.
Color is white with extremely light blue tone much like a 'silverado'.
Blooms before the tb's and is a bit shorter. I make it to be one of the
old intermediates. Not much help on the HIPS website.
Could this be crossed with a modern tb?
First pic was "in the wild". This is in my small garden.
Another close-up. That is my finger holding it steady in the wind.
Looks like one of the old diploids & modern TBs are tet. It might cross all right but seeds could be triploids which are not fertile so the resulting plants could not be taken any farther.
This one is TB size . From an old house in Effingham, IL.
Pale yellow , probably IB. Not as tall as next MTB.
Pale blue with tall, thin flower stems. I guess MTB. These
are all vigorous plants with really healthy large leaves. No
noticeable disease problems. They all have in common the
narrow droopy falls so I would guess them to be some of
the older irises.
Would it be practicable to cross them? I am looking for
something out of the norm for the average gardener.
Hello oldgardenrose, It is Florentina orris. It dates back to 1500.
Thanks a million gingerbread. I have a small number of really nice
irises but after seeing all the beautiful blooms posted on this forum
and in the catalogs, it is like watching a hundred miss america
swimsuit competitions in a row. I am at the age where I long to
see the average housewife in her sun dress and old straw hat
tending her garden. That is why I am really interested in these
older irises. Thanks again.
