It is hard to pick favorites but it might be fun in the next week or two to think about the bloom season and pick 10 favorite iris that you had bloom this year. They could be medians, historics, recent intros, etc. When you have decided please add pictures if you have them or a least give us a list. Maybe later in the year we could do favorites in specific colors,,,,as we have done in the past. Anyone interested?

Well, my 1st pick is a dwarf historic "Snow Maiden". It was a NOID for years, until Lucy offered to "guest" a piece, to confirm it's I.D.

Makes a nice clump!
2nd is Historic, "Yves Lassailly" an absolutely beautiful bloom!



3rd is a newer intro, "Colorado Expressions"



4th is another newer iris,"Change In The Weather"



5th is another old timer, "Folkwang"




6th is , to me at least, one of the "great" iris, "Wabash"



Number 7 is another oldie, Neglecta



number 8 is a NOID, an old one from my Mother !



Number 9 is another ,fairly new one (not "Historic" yet, anyway !) "Champagne Waltz", it really brightens up the bed!


And number 10 is a hard call, but Accent has GOT to be on my favorites list!



Ask me tomorrow, and I'd probably have ten "different" favorites....it's a hard job to just pick out 10 !..Arlyn

Sounds like fun. I'd have to think about it, though. My first pick -- Arthouse -- died out on me. So -- gotta start from there.

There is no hurry....I need to sort through my pictures.........

Me too.

This will take me some thought. I'll get back to it soon.

Oh Fun! I may have to wait a day, cause I have one last new one to bloom that I have not seen yet!

May take a while as the season is just starting here. I have a lot of favs, there just not all in my garden....yet.

Much easier for me because I didn't have many more than 10 total until recently. (and thank you to all you wonderful generous people who are changing that number for me!)

Of the ones I have that bloomed this year, these are my favorite in order.

NOID


Rio Rojo


Tracy's Sunshine


Sparks Fly


NOID


Silverado


Immortality

Oh that brown NOID..................

Did I not offer any to you? I have enough to share if you would like some of it.

Ok.. so I picked ones that I've had several seasons, so that I wouldn't be swayed by just a pretty face.. For me, performance as a garden plant is as important as a beautiful flower. I've got a lot that have pretty flowers that are not strong growers, so I won't include them. I also have some that are growing under difficult circumstances, that I suspect would be better if I moved them.

'Mulled Wine'.. When I saw this in a friend's garden, I had to have it. Just love it... and it's a great color in the garden too.


NOID- tentatively 'Classic Look'- I've got several clumps of this. It never disappoints and looks good with everything.


I. pallida 'Aurea Variegata'- I've had this at least 25 years. Could not have a garden without it. Same goes for 'Argentea Variegata' (can I count these as one?). The foliage is gorgeous when it emerges in the spring.


'Competitive Edge'- I love the way this looks w/ a dwf. red berberis in the garden behind it. I love that it's one of the last to bloom... And I love the color blend.


NOID-when I moved here in '97, a friend brought me several blue iris. She also brought names with them, that got lost along the way. This one never lets me down with it's rebloom in the Autumn, and nice blue/violet color. Flowers are darker in the fall, as in this picture.


'Quaker Lady'- One of my neighbors was active in our local Iris society long before I was. She shared this with me and started my love of historics.


'Indian Chief'- I've spent most of my career in horticulture seeking out the rarest, most unusual, and hard to find plants. As years go by, I've come to appreciate those plants that just deliver the goods. This may be common, and a bit of a weed, but it's still around because it's beautiful, and performs like crazy.


'Confetti'- this one is breaking my rule of being in the ground for a few seasons because it charmed the pants off of me with it's great overall form. It looks like a flower arrangement in the garden.


'Grape Echo'- My most photographed Iris.. the fact that it blooms 4 times a year may have something to do with it. Good scent too.


'Designing Woman' - Ruffled and a delicious lilac color. A beautiful lady in the garden..


Well there you go... You can bet that next year I'm sure to have some different names on the list... I suspect 'Conjuration', 'Paul Black', 'That's All Folks', 'Reckless Abandon', 'Splashacata', 'Spooned Blaze', 'Easter bonnet', 'Orloff', 'Revere', 'Expect Wonders', 'True Delight', 'Edgefield Glow', and a few dozen more will be fighting for the top ten.

Great contribution Sherry.......thanks

Grape Echo blooms four times a year? Wow!

Debra -- you did -- and I asked for a rain check. Remember?

No, I didn't. But now I don't feel as if i slighted you.

Not the least bit.

Arlyn - great to see Change In the Weather. Mine didn't bloom this year so can't wait to see it next year!!!

Love the idea of this thread Paul!!! I will have to get my ten together when I get off work.

Will have to try to add pix later.
1. Brilliant Idea
2. Starship Enterprise
3. Undercurrent
4. Arctic Burst
5. Arctic Fox
6. Heaven
7. Trumped
8. Sweetly Sung
9. Guardian Angel
10. Nora Eileen

Gypsy Lord did not bloom this year or it would have been on this list. I have to mention it because it is normally totally outstanding and deserves mentioning even if I did not get to see it this season. Due to dividing and transplanting last year it was a no show this spring.

The winter was a tough one and many did not put up stalks at all.

K