This lovely white started blooming at our test garden earlier this month; someone thought it was the old cemetery iris.

A couple more reticulata varieties have opened. Alida and Cantab.

My neighbors NOID. It has been suggested as Crimson King.

She would have to find another 'Crimson King' to plant next to it for comparison.

I will get one and plant the one she is giving me next it. I've never done this. It's fun!

I've got plenty of Crimson King to share :)

Neil, where do you get all the different reticulata cultivars? Most of the sources I'm aware of only offer a few..

Most from Brent and Becky's, about the best selection as far as US companies I've been able to find. There are some British companies offering some really unusual ones, I haven't explored the possibility of ordering from them yet, not wanting to spend so much on red tape just yet.

Sherry, this experiment will be fun for me. I've experimented planting different things to see if they'd work here but never a side-by-side test. Thanks!

NOID but I think it might be 'Indian Chief'. The falls are a little more burgundy than they appear in the picture.

I've *considered* ordering all the white/purple plicatas in an effort to nail down the name of one of my favorites... but there are so many other Iris calling my name..
This one...

Sherry - is this blooming now? If so, measure every bloom stalk and then take an average. This along with bloom time and the distictive pattern (The Falls have a small "stitched" edge while the standards have a much wider stitched area. These facts (plus the flower form) could narrow the search timeframe and give you/us a better chance of coming up with a clue. The other thing is when did you get this?

What Greg said. I was going to ask the same things. Swear I have seen that one somewhere.

Here are some that are similar, but don't look quite like yours. Those distinctive lines near the beards should be a way to distinguish it.
Classic Look Leans toward a blue color


Rare Treat more purple



Patriotic Heart is another one like this, but I don't have a picture of it.

Whatever it is, Sherry -- it sure is gorgeous growing in front of that pink rose!!!

Some also have purple based foliage that helps identify them.

Could it be Rare Treat? The lines around the beard are right.

If you want a Rare Treat test plant, I can send some.

That would be nice Tom. Thanks.. the beginning of the "Purple Plicata Farm"?

Greg, I thought it was one that I dug up from my old house when I moved... but I'm not sure. My garden photographs of it only go back to 2007 (unless I go back further w/ my slides)...I had been calling it 'Stepping Out' for years, and now know that it is not. It is early, with a long bloom. Last year I measured bloom stalks between 33 & 36" (low and High, not average).. It's almost in bloom... maybe a week away.. I think of it leaning towards blue.. It's been a strong grower and great performer, whatever it is...


I've got a few first -time stalks coming up... getting excited!

Sherry-Does it have PBF? Also, what year did you first see it bloom? And was it in a clump at that time?

Greg,
It has merely a hint of PBF.. Some fans it is absent, some, just the center has a slight blush of purple at the base.. some just a short streak. It's so minimal, I would have never considered it to have PBF... If I had even noticed it in the past.

The earliest pictures I have of it (that I can find) are from '07.. That was the first year I started keeping records of sorts (saving sales receipts, and got a digital camera).. I'm pretty sure I had it before then... Back then, Iris were just a pretty addition to the overall garden. It's possible I got it at a nursery or OSH in a mass-produced mesh bag.. I did have 'Stepping Out' back in the '80's that I got from White Flower Farm or Wayside.. I'm pretty sure I brought it to my next house.. But by the time I moved here, I had over 350 containers of plants to move. I might have left it behind as it was the move from hell, and other things got left... So that's a long story to basically say that I don't know how long I've had it. It's been in the ground since at least '06..