Maz that’s going to look gorgeous!

These are my first. Siberian that is, and were new to me last year. I bought several of the Cesar brothers and later found out some were mis-labeled. A ‘pleasant’ surprise as I just love them. I seem to be having a run of good luck on mis-labeled plants lately, vs all of the past disappointments. I really love these long bloomers....

Cesar brothers-are so tall!

Purple Ruffled velvet (thanks to peren for ID)

These are beautiful, GardenHo! Thanks for sharing!

Your welcome Maz!

My favorite irises are not mainstream ones :-) I tend not to care for bearded iris much - I much prefer the beardless species iris - and haven't grown any since my earliest gardening days. I have a variety of different forms of Pacific Coast hybrid iris that have evergreen foliage and flattened, orchid-like flowers in a range of jewel tone colors. Not all that easy to find and with a narrow range of suitable growing conditions.

Another favorite is the bamboo iris, Iris confusa. Not hardy below zone 8, it grows rather tall and produces branched flowering stems with lavender flowers over an extended period. Has a rather tropical appearance that does not look very iris-like when not in bloom :-) And prefers to grow in at least partial shade, as do the Pacificas.

Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of either but will be sure to take and post some this coming spring.

I don’t grow too many iris but absolutely love Edith Wolford. Wish I had a better photo of her. BTW, thanks for starting this thread, I’m bloom deprived already!

Sherry

Sherry that is GORGEOUS!! Wow, It doesn’t even look real...so pretty : )

Many of my irises are unnamed hand-me-downs, plants that add color and foliage interest to my gardens with little input from me, but none of mine are individual show-stoppers except perhaps a couple of Japanese iris I have. The first photo and another bearded iris with the same colors but reversed in color placement, were divisions from my granddaddy’s garden. (Apologies for the sideways photo)

I have a division of an unnamed Siberian iris that was planted by a previous owner at a former house, and I have yet to find one with color I like more (Color is actually more blue than the photo, a rich purple-blue). This plant was my first exposure to unbearded iris, and it produces a profusion of blooms for about 3 weeks in years that the voles don’t eat too much of it over winter. I like the healthy, grassy foliage that turns gold in autumn.

I will rummage around to see whether I can find a photo of my Japanese iris.

Since I now live in such a wet climate, I've planted a Siberian Iris 'Butter and Sugar' which I hope will do well. I had one in my last place and it was even more beautiful than the pictures which we all know is remarkable :-) Sorry no pictures.

Ladydi I had to google those, and wow those are beautiful! Putting those on my ‘want’ list thanks!

Mazerolm, Immortality is one of my favourites as well but at the moment I’m loving Iris hollandia Eye of the Tiger. The colours are purple and maroon splashed with yellow - very unusual.

Wow such beauties! Immortality and Edith Wolford particularly stand out.

mazerolm I have had the reblooming Victoria Falls for years, except that it has never had a rebloom. We are just too cold/short season for it to happen but like you the spring blooms are enough enjoyment.

I too have many gifted by a friend that are unnamed bearded. I have the same yellow/burgundy as you Babs along with many others from dwarf to tall some of them scented.

One favorite is Iris pallida 'Variegata'. The foliage is really lovely and the scent of the flower is grape. Sherry I think I spied it's foliage in your pic of EW.

Victoria Falls - this pic does little to properly show the beautiful color and huge size of the blooms.

My favorite siberian could easily have been Ruffled Velvet (you are most welcome GardenHo) but my alternate is Eden's Paradise Blue. Caesars Brother is wonderful for so many reasons including that it is always covered in Eastern Tiger Swallow Tails

The colors of Eden's Paradise Blue just thrills me.

Ladydi I so agree with you about Isis s. Butter and Sugar. It reblooms in fall here just never to the same degree as early season.

Iris were the first plants I grew-throw em in the ground and forget about em, my Grandma said. So I did.

I now have prettier ones than the old standbys she directed me to and these are two of my favorites

Badlands

Hollywood Nights-this one is particularly vigorous for me

Such beautiful pictures everyone!!

I know I have posted photos of a bunch of different iris, but iris are some of my favorite plants and I love all of the ones I’ve posted. Here is a terrible picture of Louisiana iris Black Gamecock, but it seems to be the only photo I have since it’s in an awkward place to photograph. It has a reasonable number of flowers that are a rich, velvety, deep purple.

And a couple of Japanese iris, though I don’t recall names and the tags are under a blanket of snow and ice. Both mine are quite flat and large when compared to other iris I grow. (Since this photo has lots of flowers, one J. Iris is a blue-purple and white in the mid-left side of the photo, and the other is the deep purple on the mid-right side of the photo. I don’t have any better photos of these elegant beauties.

NHBabs: I planted Japanese iris Lady In Waiting last Spring. They’re such beautiful plants. I hope they will survive my zone 3 winters. Your dark purple one is amazing!

NHBabs, I forgot about the Louisiana Iris which appears to be able to withstand a wet environment. Perhaps I'll give them a try and see what happens. Thanks for posting that.

Oooo, Merry Amigo is lovely!

Sherry

I found more iris pictures for 2019, for those who are feeling bloom-deprived. Here's Immortality and Honky Tonk Blues:

Siberian Iris Moonsilk: This one was planted in the Spring, I was surprised to see it bloomed.

My favourite iris, rescued as a tuber during the dissolution of the iris beds, from an iris bed in a public garden in Toronto, On, about forty years ago. A lady, on-line, she said she has perhaps the same old cultivar, in her case, rescued from a public garden in Baltimore, Md, at about the same time.

Another sentimental favourite, 'Sans Souci' (the iris that lost it's name), introduced in Belgium in 1854. The tuber for this plant were retrieved from my late wife's grandmother's cottage, on Frederick House Lake, near Timmins, On. Her grandmother brought a tuber of this widely growing old iris, up from the States around 1911, when they moved to Timmins for her husband to work as a chemist at the newly opened Hollanger Gold Mine.

I love the stories that often accompany the iris we grow. They as well as peonies are some of the best pass along plants in most gardens. Plus iris are amazingly beautiful, so that sure helps as well!

Siberians are one of the most beautiful flowers in my opinion, but I've been thinning the herd because I feel like they don't bloom very long. Tall bearded are also over ruffled and colored and over sized but I think they're so cool to see... in other gardens... here the last two rainy summers wiped out most of mine with rot.

I grow mostly the older historic iris. They may be smaller flowered and less intensely colored, but most stand up to competition and crowding better, resist rot and leaf diseases more, and many are deliciously fragrant.

Demi-deuil (1912). Someone from Louisiana saw this one and called it the 'mourning iris'. I guess it doesn't have the brightest colors

here's Iris pallida 'variegata', also one of my favorites for foliage and scent

mme. Chobaut (1916) isn't as disease-free as the others, but I like it enough to to keep an eye on it.

The eye shadow iris are cool too. They're a yellow flag/ japanese iris cross.

Sunnyborders, your two favorites look much like the two I divided from my granddaddy’s garden. He likely planted them in the 50s, and it may well be San Souci that was in my photo on 12-4.

Katob, do the Iris pseudacorus/yellow flag crosses set seed? I know that I. pseudacorus is invasive in much of the eastern part of the US, but if the crosses don’t set seed then it can’t readily spread as readily into nongarden areas.

Pseudata iris - pseudacorus and ensata crosses - are sterile hybrids. You get the form and good behaviour of a Japanese iris but often with great vibrant yellow coloring that ensatas do not carry in their own genes.

Thanks, GG.

Agree that that the older irises are good garden plant in that they've proven themselves by their survival. Still the plants have often hung around long enough (and been passed around enough) for the cultivar identifications to be uncertain or unknowable. This vigorous plicate intermediate bearded iris came from the local horticultural society garden sale when we first moved here. Have read enough on-line and bothered several sets of iris experts and think it may be 'Rare Edition', introduced in 1980; also was told that plants sold as 'Rare Edition' had been previously available locally.

Certainly agree that the Siberian iris hybrids are often great plants. 'Lady Vanessa' is our most vigorous and needs reducing perhaps every 5 years..

Species iris, iris graminea, is another longterm survivor here. It's quite vigorous, but is easily maintained at the front of perennial beds with reducing every few years.

sunnyborders thank you for the possible ID of this Iris I received from a friend.

It looks like your 'Sans Soucis' and matches descriptions right down to the purple at the leaf base. I never thought I would get a name for it!

Another favorite Iris I have may be Iris typhifolia? The foliage is very narrow and both foliage and flower color are much darker than they appears in pics. It appears very blue in person not just to me but everyone who sees it.

sb your graminea is adorable!

I’m in awe at pictures posted on this thread. Not only of the irises, but also the beautiful garden beds. I keep adding on to my “to purchase” list!

Peren.all, I think that there's another possibility; namely, 'Honorabile', introduced in Paris in 1840. 'Sans Souci' (sorry, corrected my spelling) is extremely similar to 'Honorabile', though it seems that the distinctive veining on the falls should distinguish 'Sans Souci' from 'Honorabile'. The story goes that a later iris expert failed to distinguish 'Sans Souci' from 'Honorabile' and all of both were then identified (in North America) as the latter. Mine do have distinctive veining on the falls and anyway Carefree seems a more appropriate name than Honourable!

Got the Iris graminea from David at Merlin's Hollow; one of 1500 different herbaceous perennials he raised. Don't know of that one, Perenn.all. Will ask whether it's in his garden when I see him in spring.

Especially love that tall Siberian that you have. It looks our 'Caesar's Brother'.

* I. pallida -- oh that foliage is just perfect for a sword-like punch of variegated foliage. Never realized the flowers were scented until one day I kept getting a strong whiff of grapes and finally realized it was the iris LOL!

* Dwarf beaded iris: NOID ones, mixed colors. Bought the original bare-root rhizomes from a nursery display so many years ago I don't even remember -- divided countless times. I don't care for tall bearded iris because of the tendency of the foliage to look messy, but the dwarf stay nicely upright, plus they're easy to tuck in here and there because they're short.

* Siberian iris: What's not to love? I have "Ceasar's Brother" -- the old tried and true -- and those deep purple flowers are beautiful. The foliage lends a terrific mid-height grass-like effect and a very agreeable shade of green - always looks good and the rich green shows off contrasting foliage to full effect.

* I. ensata: I picked one up last spring for a spot where the sump line drains. It loves it there, but I was expecting more -- the foliage lost most of it's variegation as the summer wore on (and it was only subtly variegated to begin with), and the flowers were "eh". But, it's a good problem-solver for a very wet spot and the foliage did stay neat, so I'll keep it.

I also love Iris cristata, a petite spring bloomer that does well in a goodly amount of shade. I have white and powder blue, and will hunt around for photos.

sb thanks again, I did some further checking and believe mine is 'Sans Soucis'. It does have the distinctive veining along with all other attributed traits. Yay a NOID no more thanks to you!

It would be so interesting to find if David were familiar with I. typhifolia, there is woefully little info online. My limited description info came from Growing Perennials in Cold Climates by Mike Heger and John Whitman.

I have a couple of other NOID I. s. It really pays to try and get a specimen in bloom as there seem to be many misnamed. Silver Edge and my first Ruffled Velvet turned out to be not even close. My 2nd RV was true to name. I would not want to be without it.

Caesar's Brother is such a venerable old standby. I like it for it's incredible height and no other attracts the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail the way it does. I have pics with many more butterflies but this on shows (barely) the couple of NOIDs in the upper left.

Caesar's Brother has given me some quite nice seedlings. This one is a keeper! I am beyond a fan of blue and this one delivers that and the falls are fully veined. It sometimes pays to not deadhead meticulously.

This has been such an enjoyable thread. Beautiful varieties...makes me want more!

Peren...that last one is A true beauty.

I only fell in love with irises about two years ago when my front yard went full sun with the removal of some trees, and already they are all my favorite. The bright purple Siberian iris were Craigslist freebies my sister called me to help dig out. The yellow were a garage sale find, and the white and purple bearded iris were on a clearance rack. I still have absolutely no recollection of planting the white Siberian irises, but they definitely weren't there before so I must have done it. Probably another clearance rack situation. So I guess the center bearded iris that's a light lavender-blue gets to be my favorite by virtue of being the only one I properly paid for: Iris Navajo Jewel, from my local nursery.

care to dance is my favorite iris

Blue Flag Iris. Iris versicolor. Simple, beautiful, clean, elegant.

@peren you photo makes me want order ceasers brother ! What kind of conditions are you growing it in ? Do they need soil that stays consistently moist ?

Jameszone7a Philadelphia so sorry I missed this but happy to enable! My soil is moisture retentive though we have had 3 extremely hot and dry summers. I do not water since I am on a well and they do just fine but you are a much warmer zone than I am. They bloom best in full sun but can take a bit of light shade. You would certainly want to provide a moist but well drained spot if you decide to order it...and I hope you do. Please keep us updated.

I only have a small clump of some NOID Siberians at the allotment, which I often miss cos they are a bit hidden away and fleeting, while I really don't care for any of the large flowered ones (not that I could grow most of them). However, iris give me the absolutely best joy in winter. Even more than snowdrops and crocus, the little reticulated irises are jewels on a grey February morning. I used to have another winter bloomer - iris unguicularis, growing against my garden wall, which was another winter treasure. Long gone because this desirable space has always been heavily contested; a parade of plants have come and gone (although Rooiguchi has returned to stake out a patch for next year).