Iris Flower Patterns: Amoenas and Neglectas

Amoenas are irises with white standards and colored falls. The earliest irises of this type had purple or blue-violet falls.

Wabash (Williamson, 1936) is a classic example.


But today you can find amoenas with falls of almost any color.

Lemon Cloud (Painter, 2008)


I'm Dreaming (Blyth, 2008)


My favorite amoenas are:

Enjoy The Party (Blyth, 1999) has a little bit of color in the standards, but it is still an amoena in my eyes.


Gypsy Geena (Blyth, 2003)


Cloudbase (Roberts, 2006)


Alpine Harmony (Blyth, 2007)


Dancing Star (Johnson, 2009)


Merry Amigo (Blyth, 2009)



Iris books and catalogs usually describe neglectas as "blue or purple bitones". I prefer to think of neglectas as blue or purple amoenas with light blue (or sometimes lavender-ish), rather than white, standards. It's often a fine line separating amoenas from neglectas. Is 'High Class' an amoena or a neglecta?

High Class (Black 2003)


The iris registry describes 'High Class' as having "icy blue" standards and, especially when the flowers are fresh, it clearly appears to be a neglecta. But under certain conditions the standards seem very close to white.

My favorite neglectas are:

Fabulous One (Nicodemus, 2006)


Dinner Talk (Blyth 2005)


Phantom Ship (Baumunk, 2007)


Secret Weekend (Blyth, 2008)


Wicked Good (Black, 2012)



In just the last two or three decades, there was a exciting development in the world of irises: reverse amoenas, which have colored standards and white falls. Hybridizers are just beginning to explore the possibilities of this new color pattern. 'Crowned Heads' was not the first reverse amoena, but it was a breakthrough for the type and won the Dykes Medal in 2004.

Crowned Heads (Keppel, 1997)


My favorite reverse amoenas are:

Classicana (Blyth, 2008)


Royal Sterling (Keppel, 2005)


Magical (Ghio, 2008), not sure whether everyone would consider this to be a true reverse amoena, but it is close enough for me.


Wintry Sky (Keppel, 2003), my favorite iris of all time.