Can anyone ID this iris?

I inherited a dozen or more of these beauties from the previous owner of our new house.
I'd love to be able to participate in a trade sometime, but I don't know it's name.

Thanks!

Can you show a picture of the bud? It would also be helpful to show a picture of the whole plant so we could see the branching. How tall is it? Does it have fragrance, if so what comes to mind?

These are about 30 inches tall.
None are blooming now so I can't tell if there is a fragrance.
Had less blooms this year for some reason, maybe too crowded?
I tore a ligament in my knee and couldn't work in my garden much.


Here's a photo from last year:

Another photo from last year, just a week after we moved in.
That's a tree peony in the background. This bed also has Yucca plants in it, and runs across the south end of my house.


This message was edited Jun 13, 2009 2:50 AM

Another view from last year
(nothing did as well this year)

This message was edited Jun 13, 2009 2:59 AM

It's very pretty - it resembles an older one I have named "Dauntless", except your falls are more lavendar in this pic; mine are more pinkish. Is there any purple coloring at the bottom of the stalks?

The falls are narrow, probably a historic? That would narrow the search. Maybe you can find a site that has historic iris photos and see if any match.

Maybe the performance issue has to due with nutrition.

If the beds are old and established, they might be devoid of nutrition.

Have you been fertilizing? Is it possible to contact the previous gardener and ask a few questions regarding the care schedule that was followed?

That is a really nice iris, whatever the name. I wouldn't need a name to take that one in a trade, esp. with your photos to show.

Willie, I could give you one in trade for the currants. I have it.

Look at Dauntless in the plant files.

Dauntless is a red violet shade, not purple.

That would be swell, Mittsy!

It does look like a Dauntless - will check historic sites.
Has no purple at the bottom of the stalks

Haven't fertilized, and previous gardener was elderly (died last year).
I'm still having hard time keeping up due to knee injury.

Thanks.

Sorry to be a pain, but do watch the color shade as well as shape.

I guess it's not a Dauntless based on this information:

Historic Iris Preservation Society
http://www.hips-roots.com/

Dauntless
Connell,1929

TB 36" M R9D

From Quality Gardens catalog for 1931: "This is a cross between Cardinal and Rose Madder. The color is red and it is a self color. The falls appear darker than the standards because of their velvety quality. Without question this is one of the outstanding introductions in recent years and we shall be glad when the stock is sufficient that it may be in every garden."

From Cooley's Gardens catalog for 1937: "Probably one of the most popular and widely known of all so-called red irises. Although we now have several newer introductions that surpass it, none the less Dauntless remains near the top, and there has never been sufficient stock to supply demand.
© MU


The blooms are of great size, on tall heavy stems, and last over a long season. The coloring is rich velvety red, with very little of the blue or purple undertone."

(Cardinal X Rose Madder), Dykes Medal 1929.

Mine is definately a blue/purple color with lots of yellow/gold in the center.

I will continue looking. :)

to justme48....I have lots of those same Iris..they are very old,,Id say 20 plus years . I also dont know name, they are fragrant, and I believe they have purple skin on the buds, and a early iris, my family bought a small golf course and the family had 2 generations run it.,,before we got it..we've had it 5..and they had always been there..Ill be watching to see if a name pops up! :)

From the flower form, much older than 20 yrs.

I think more like 40 years. We've been in this area since the early fifties, and I remember them growing in the ditches along the roadside when we'd take a drive out to the lake.

Explore Alcazar (Vilmorin 1910).

My vote is for Alcazar, too .... though, I know very little about this at all.

Browse through the irises at HIPS - there are several that I wrote down because they might be similar to what you have:
Alcazar, Cardinal, Eldorado...these were only the beginning of the alphabet.

Here's one that I got in a trade last year. I've been wondering if it could be Alcazar.

Edited to say that after looking at the HIPS website and the Spring issue of ROOTS, I no longer suspect that mine is Alcazar. Aren't NOIDs fascinating!



This message was edited Jul 8, 2009 10:43 PM