Boy -- if I ever got ONE pot to look like those.........................

Susanne Spicker has some beautiful pictures of iris collages and color combinations as well as companion plants on her blog "Sowing the Seeds" . She also writes some articles for the AIS on color combinations. You might check out her site for ideas and color combinations for irises. I love her collages.

Muddymitts said:Boy -- if I ever got ONE pot to look like those.........................

Me too Mary Ann, I was glad I had my I-pad with me to take the pictures.

You could use a free program like Picasa to create collages.

I think I'm like Neal too.. OCD pretty much describes the effort I put into trying to get pleasing combinations. I download pictures of every Iris I get.. I play with the pictures on iphoto and then take a screen shot of different combos. Here are a couple I did last night (you do have to click on it to get the whole picture):


I can only do 8 pictures at a time with it though. I also print out sheets of pictures which I cut up and arrange. I write the bloom times and height on the picture, so I can use that information while I'm shifting the pictures around.

I'm with Leslie on putting a white between 'Wabash' and 'Helen Collingwood', Patrick.
A nice clean yellow like 'Happy Days' might look nice with 'Indian Chief'... Or 'Easter Bonnet' and 'the Red Douglas' look nice w/ it too.

I have "Coronation" which is a nice Yellow - that I can put by "Wabash" and "Helen Collingwood", or by "The Red Douglas". Fortunately, I have doubles of all of these rhizomes.

What are some good reds? I love to dabble with art projects and love contrast. Darks and light/white.
Color echoes are interesting too. To pick up the color of the orange beard of one plant with the planting of a solid orange beside it.

Jane, I'm glad you mentioned Susanne Spickler's collages- that's who I was thinking of and couldn't recall her name.

Sherry, that's a great combo of historics there- makes me think I need Red Douglas! And nice incorporation of Adoree (I think) with those lavender and peach combos- that's one I've always liked but thought it would be tough to combine with others.

Teresa, I love picking up a bright beard color with a solid too. I planted Paul Black a few weeks ago and think that big, bright beard needs a solid orange nearby- either an iris or maybe a poppy.

You are right. Mary Ann sent me a start of Paul Black and that would look so awesome together.

Neal, I'll send 'The Red Douglas' for you w/ the others.

Someone needs to come and design my yard. When I plant the iris beds, I just grab whatever pot is next in the garden cart(s), then go back and refill the cart(s). I try to stay away from planting the same color next to each other, but that's about it.

Ooooohhh, happy dance! Thanks Sherry!

Rob, I'll do it for a plane ticket.....LOL!

gemini_sage said:Ooooohhh, happy dance! Thanks Sherry!

Rob, I'll do it for a plane ticket.....LOL!

How about a bus ticket and pack of Little Debbies?

LOL! A bus ride all the way to California would kill me ...or rather I'd probably kill someone else, LOL. But I won't say no to nutty bars...

gemini_sage said:LOL! A bus ride all the way to California would kill me ...or rather I'd probably kill someone else, LOL. But I won't say no to nutty bars...

No..to SC. I need to re-do all my beds and I plunk plants where ever I find an empty spot. I just have a mish mash mess. Ah well....maybe next year I will find some rhyme and reason. Remember that old commercial...What would you do-oo-oo for a Klondike bar??

ooooooo, a Klondike bar. yummmmm

Henhouse said:Neal, I'll send 'The Red Douglas' for you w/ the others.

Hey Sherry, where were you when I needed 'The Red Douglas' ?

Ummm...Klondike bar,....almost lost my train of thought!

I'm glad Tom pointed out the difference in bloom times. A red that you want next to
a purple may bloom months apart! Also, would one have to leave a space next to the red one that
was planted in June, for the purple that arrives in August? Like "this garden space is reserved for...."
I do try to scatter the earlies, mids, and lates throughout. So something is always blooming in the area. I also
tend to view the irises as distinct individuals - I'll always be grateful for the joy my very very early-blooming
Coffee Shop gave me this past spring - after a long winter!

What a great way to start the Iris season, Jan!! It's beautiful!

With the reds there are those that are distinctly more on the cool side, those that you can see purple or violet undertones, and then there are those that are more warm, with orange, gold, or rust influence. The historic reds seem to be more on the cool side, and I really like combining those with plum and reddish purples. That's kinda how an area of the garden is developing, I think it will be gorgeous!