Took quite a few photos of SDBs this spring. the film turned out to be black as it must have come loose from the sprockets. So my favorites can't be seen.

Paul, I like your selections. I LOVE the pink ones. My Fashion Diva bloom withered this year but I love it. Haunted Heart is on order and I can't wait to see it.

Sorry you lost your pictures Lucy. A number of years ago I spent a full day hiking around a local canyon taking pictures of fall color. Film was in wrong so no pictures.......think Digital....you'll never go back to film.

With the digital.....you can snap away to your hearts content, and not spend a lot on film / processing, AND you can see "right then" how the pics turn out

janwax said:Wow, Janie! Great list! I have several like yours that would have made my list. That's All Folks
impressed me with its size and vigor. Didn't think I'd like so much yellow, but I liked it a lot. And
you have Jamaica Me Crazy too! It's such a blowzy bloom - like an almost overly buxom showgirl!

"Overly Buxom" just does not "compute" for me ,Jan

OOOH, there's that Strawberry Shake again. Paul, I was already convinced, but your photo is lovely.

Lori, if you ever get enough of Barbara Jean to share, I'd love to have some. It's my daughter's grandmother's name.. A darling woman, who unfortunately has Alzheimers now.

Rob, I've put down Tink as one I need to get.. love that color combination.

There were many others, but unfortunately, I drooled all over myself and can't remember all the names now


So.. here's my list of favorites that were new this year, in no particular order..

'Engagement Ring'- This one is just so elegant, and probably the only engagement ring I'm ever going to see again.


Expose' .. Tom, I think you sent this to me. Thank-you so much.. It's gorgeous!


'Strut Your Stuff'- I audibly gasped when I first saw this open... (also Tom)


'Whispering Spirits'- there's just soooooo much to like about this Iris! (wow... you sent me a lot that I love, Tom)


'Show Your Colours'


'Sharp Edge' (Tom again)


'Brouhaha' ... I got this one for helping w/ the dig at Joe's last year.


'Subtle Beauty'.. I had a hard time deciding if I wanted this one in my top 10, but it's one I kept going back to when it was in bloom. It had great form and presence that took me past just it's colors.. It deserves two pictures


'All About Me'.. I love the peachyness w/ the purple "soul patch'. The first blooms were much more saturated w/ color.. This is one of the later blooms on it.


And my absolute favorite this year.. fat luscious golden beards, and all that color!
'Rainbow High'

ooooohhhhhhh....all the beauties and Paul! all that perfect pink!!! gorgeous!

Love Sharp Edge - which I don't have, Sherry! And Expose' !! wow!
And Strut Your Stuff! (wanna trade?)

Subtle Beauty - Wow! It is subtle and beautiful! Never have seen that one before. Great picture of Engagement Ring.

Another shopping list! Threads like these get me in trouble.

Very nice Sherry!

I got Subtle Beauty as a bonus, don't think It's going to bloom this year, but then I may be wrong. It's hard to keep all that in my dysfunctional memory.

Since I've 'down-sized' to probably 200-300 irises, (I really don't know how many I have.) I keep the ones that are relatively worry-free, easy to grow, good increasers & fairly decent looking in the garden.If I had more time, space and plenty of help I would most likely have twice the number I now have. Of the ones I favor most here are my top ten that I grow.

Song Of Norway #1 Forever


Holy Night #2 Forever


Vanity #3 Forever?


Elizabeth Poldark #4


Bluebeard's Ghost #5 Forever?



Tingle #6 (Tonight)



Vanity's Child #7 (Tonight)


Shadows Of Night #8 Tonight: Coloring is Fantastic!


Wish Upon A Star #9 A Phenomenal Iris!


Bundle Of Love #10 A Nice Iris!


OK, so I've picked out my top ten. Then I think as I go through the pictures that I could have picked at least another two for each of the ten selected! The I thought not to even post them because they might not be my top ten tomorrow! But at least for tonight they are my favorites. Oh well; Anybody else have this problem?

Love these lists!!

Song of Norway! One of my "missing" Dykes medal winners. Do you think the "Elizabeth Poldark" is named after the PBS/BBC show from the 80's (I think it was in the 80's!!!)

Greg, I don't really know about the name; only that she came from England, and that Mary Frances is in the parentage.

Misawa77 said: Do you think the "Elizabeth Poldark" is named after the PBS/BBC show from the 80's (I think it was in the 80's!!!)

Greg -- yes, Elizabeth Poldark was the beauty that the main character lusted after, you could say, throughout nearly the entire series. The TV series started about 1975. Still remember it well because it was extremely popular and people named all sorts of things after the characters. A friend of my sister's, for example, named a cat after Ross Poldark. LOL.

I guess the idea with Elizabeth Poldark the iris is that she is fair, beautiful, and to be desired.

My favorite this year was "Oasis Gary." Maiden bloom in my garden, and it turned out to have a lot of presence -- lots of class. Only sorry that I did not get a better photo. Maybe next year!

Very nice!

'Song of Norway' has been a bit of a dog for me, and a bit too "ghosty".. I may try it in a different spot to see if it performs any better... but after several years, it's so far failed to impress me.

I haven't seen 'Elizabeth Poldark' before... she's lovely! I've heard that 'Vanity' is a better grower than 'Beverly Sills', which has been a little slow for me.. Someday I'll get one to find out....