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Oct 8, 2015 9:43 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Darcy
Reno, NV (Zone 6b)
Hi Everyone...
Since I am so new to the whole iris thing, I'm looking for ideas - the treasurer of our club is looking for a LARGE iris flower...not the stem/stalk etc, just the individual bloom itself. She is such a great gal and I'd love to find something for her as a surprise. Any thoughts?
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Oct 8, 2015 11:04 PM CST
Name: Sherry Austin
Santa Cruz, CA (Zone 9a)
Birds Bulbs Region: California Dragonflies Foliage Fan Irises
Keeper of Poultry Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2015
I'm sure there are bigger, but 'Betty Ford' seemed to stand out in both size and beauty at Superstition this Spring.
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.
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Oct 9, 2015 6:12 AM CST
Name: Kayleigh
(Zone 5a)
Butterflies Seed Starter Plays in the sandbox Lilies Irises Region: Indiana
Canning and food preservation Hummingbirder Daylilies Cut Flowers Cat Lover Vegetable Grower
Things slowing down in the garden, and dewey wet cool 55 degree mornings keeping me out of the garden, have a little more time to post.

On this topic, I was extremely impressed with an Iris called Dinosaurian (sp?) Compared to all my other Iris, the flowers were extremely large. The only problem, although Dinosuarian has nice heavy stalks to support the blooms, in wind, it still wants to tople the stalks. Because I was so impressed, I had to measure. Had no help, so had to hold both tape measure and camera which can be extremely difficult. It is actually over 7".

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Last edited by HoosierHarvester Oct 9, 2015 6:13 AM Icon for preview
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Oct 9, 2015 6:37 AM CST
Name: Mary Ann
Western Kentucky (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Irises Hummingbirder Hostas Keeps Horses Farmer
Daylilies I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Container Gardener Cat Lover Region: Kentucky Birds
Another humungous bloom variety is Big Boss! I've never measured it -- but it lives up to its name!!

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It's bluer than the photo suggests -- a gorgeous color, and Iris! Lovey dubby
Thoughts become things -- choose the good ones. (www.tut.com)
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Oct 9, 2015 6:52 AM CST
Name: Debra
Garland, TX (NE Dallas suburb) (Zone 8a)
Rescue dogs: Angels with paws needi
Dragonflies Dog Lover Bookworm I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Photography Bee Lover
Plays in the sandbox Butterflies Region: Texas Garden Sages I sent a postcard to Randy! Charter ATP Member
Although I don't think most hybridizers list bloom size, you could go to the ATP Iris database, too, and pull up the few entered. I got no results in the 6-12 inch range, and five in the 5-6 inch range.
It’s okay to not know all the answers.
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Oct 9, 2015 7:02 AM CST
Name: Pam
Pennsylvania
Cat Lover Dog Lover Keeps Horses Irises Region: Pennsylvania
Supreme Sultan is one of the larger ones in my garden.

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Oct 9, 2015 7:17 AM CST
Name: Leslie
Durham, NC (Zone 8a)
Garden Photography Cat Lover Irises Region: North Carolina Peonies Enjoys or suffers hot summers
Celebrating Gardening: 2015
If you like spoons on your iris, I have three Burseen iris that were the span of my hand (~7 inches):

Purr Form Mints


Mercy Marci


and the biggest was Abby And Me


All are good growers too.
"The chimera is a one time happenstance event where the plant has a senior moment and forgets what it is doing." - Paul Black
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Oct 9, 2015 7:18 AM CST
Name: Leslie
Durham, NC (Zone 8a)
Garden Photography Cat Lover Irises Region: North Carolina Peonies Enjoys or suffers hot summers
Celebrating Gardening: 2015
If you want really large beardless iris the Louisianas can get better than 8 inches across.
"The chimera is a one time happenstance event where the plant has a senior moment and forgets what it is doing." - Paul Black
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Oct 9, 2015 8:34 AM CST
Name: Bonnie Sojourner
Harris Brake Lake, Arkansas (Zone 7a)
Magnolia zone
Region: United States of America Region: Arkansas Master Gardener: Arkansas Irises Plant and/or Seed Trader Moon Gardener
Garden Ideas: Master Level Dragonflies Bulbs Garden Art Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Gardens in Buckets
T-Rex. Aptly named.
Thro' all the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing; It finds an echo in my soul— How can I keep from singing?
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Oct 9, 2015 9:28 AM CST
Name: Debra
Garland, TX (NE Dallas suburb) (Zone 8a)
Rescue dogs: Angels with paws needi
Dragonflies Dog Lover Bookworm I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Photography Bee Lover
Plays in the sandbox Butterflies Region: Texas Garden Sages I sent a postcard to Randy! Charter ATP Member
I have a historic NOID that has 7-inch blooms.
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It’s okay to not know all the answers.
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Oct 9, 2015 10:18 AM CST
South central PA (Zone 6a)
Irises Region: Pennsylvania
I have measured most of last season's blooms. First number is the width of the bloom from fall to fall in their natural position, second is the height [in mm, with 25.4mm per inch]
Needlecraft-185, 80 [abt 7 1/4 by 3"]
Dusky Challenger-170, 100 [abt 6 1/4 by 4"]
many others are in the 5-6.5" range
Forgot to measure President Pilkington but remember it was quite large.
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Oct 9, 2015 10:54 AM CST
Name: Mary Ann
Western Kentucky (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Irises Hummingbirder Hostas Keeps Horses Farmer
Daylilies I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Container Gardener Cat Lover Region: Kentucky Birds
Leslie -- I have a question -- do all/most/many of the Burseen Irises have the horizontal falls?
Thoughts become things -- choose the good ones. (www.tut.com)
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Oct 9, 2015 11:43 AM CST
Name: Leslie
Durham, NC (Zone 8a)
Garden Photography Cat Lover Irises Region: North Carolina Peonies Enjoys or suffers hot summers
Celebrating Gardening: 2015
While many are, not all of his space agers are horizontal and most of his non-SA's aren't.

SA's that aren't tend to follow this form:

Pucker Power

Elvis Dreamer

Neither of these is an above average size bloom.
"The chimera is a one time happenstance event where the plant has a senior moment and forgets what it is doing." - Paul Black
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Oct 9, 2015 1:00 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Darcy
Reno, NV (Zone 6b)
Thanks!
I will research these and make a plan for next year's buying season. I know she has Dinosaurian and loves it! (And although I do love the way some of the LA's look, it would be very difficult to make them happy here in the desert. Crying )
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Oct 9, 2015 1:06 PM CST
Name: Niki
Bend, Oregon (Zone 6a)
Flowers are food for the soul.
Bee Lover Butterflies Daylilies Dragonflies Frogs and Toads Hummingbirder
Irises Region: Oregon Organic Gardener
My avatar, "Into the blue" measured my hand length 7 inches. I was really impressed by a lot of modern iris. Supreme Sultan is the biggest I have seen. I read Well Endowed was big, but I haven't seen it yet. Japanese iris can be very large. I plan on visiting farms next year.
"The Earth laughs in flowers."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Oct 9, 2015 2:48 PM CST
Name: Jane H.
Kentucky (Zone 6b)
Birds Region: Kentucky Clematis Daylilies Irises Region: United States of America
I had a bloom on Jamaica Me Crazy that was quite huge this last spring. I agree about Dinosaurian. That's All Folks is quite large here in KY, as big as my hand.
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Oct 12, 2015 4:19 PM CST
Name: Jan Wax
Mendocino County, N. CA (Zone 9a)
I'm a semi-retired studio potter.
Irises Hummingbirder Hellebores Organic Gardener Dog Lover Daylilies
Region: Ukraine Region: California Dahlias Garden Art Cat Lover Vegetable Grower
That's All Folks was a yellow giant for us this season.
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Oct 12, 2015 5:12 PM CST
Name: Sherry Austin
Santa Cruz, CA (Zone 9a)
Birds Bulbs Region: California Dragonflies Foliage Fan Irises
Keeper of Poultry Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2015
That's All Folks was large for me too. 'Hoss' is supposed to be pretty big. I was impressed with the size of Grape Echo this year. Wrist to fingertips, my hand is 6 1/2" long..
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The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.
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Oct 12, 2015 10:17 PM CST
Name: Barbara
Northern CA (Zone 9a)
Region: California Cat Lover Dog Lover Irises Enjoys or suffers hot summers
This was at Superstitions Garden this past spring. "Think Big" got three stars when I saw it.
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"Think Big"
• “Whoever said, ‘Do something right and you won’t have to do it again’ never weeded a garden.” – Anonymous
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Nov 13, 2020 5:51 AM CST
Name: Daisy
close to Baltimore, MD (Zone 7a)
Amaryllis Plant and/or Seed Trader Region: Maryland Peonies Organic Gardener Irises
Herbs Hellebores Growing under artificial light Container Gardener Cat Lover Garden Photography
William R. Setchell is huge, and smells like grapes. It was by far the largest in my mother's garden, and one of my favorites in my childhood.
-"If I can’t drain a swamp, I’ll go pull some weeds." - Charles Williams

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