I know many members have this amazing iris. It has the largest blooms of any iris I have yet seen, bigger than my hand! It is also the perfect color of purple -- the color I think of when I think of purple. It's so hard to tell from pictures, but does anyone who has DC also have another iris that color and size?

Thanks

My vote for a gigantic modern purple is Jerry Richardson's Blued Indigo
Massive blooms!!
Blued Indigo ..........(Richardson '11)

Ghost Train is very beautiful and has large flowers but it is much darker than Dusky Challenger.

Try Titans Glory Huge beautiful blue blooms!!!!

Navy Blues impressed me when I saw it a couple of years ago at Napa. Mine had a lot of rot this year, so I still haven't seen it bloom here..


Both Titan's Glory is older than Dusky Challenger.. I have both, and they are equally impressive.

Majestic Ruler is newer, and was pretty nice, and fairly good-sized. Maybe a little more on the red side of the purple spectrum than Dusky Challenger.


Roger Duncan's 'One More Night' has a beautiful satiny finish that has been very nice in the garden.


Barbara Nicodemus has been working on some beautiful purples over the years. 'Magnificent Masterpiece' comes to mind, as does 'Ozark Rebounder'.

.

since i wasn't famililiar with all the irises that were suggested, i decided to do a paste-up. they are all beautiful.

Blues Indigo is gorgeous!

I think so too.

shizen said:

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Ghost Train')
• Uploaded by cliftoncat

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Titan's Glory')
• Uploaded by KentPfeiffer

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Blued Indigo')
• Uploaded by ARUBA1334

.

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Dusky Challenger')
• Uploaded by KentPfeiffer

since i wasn't famililiar with all the irises that were suggested, i decided to do a paste-up. they are all beautiful.

except, I think that the first one is not exactly in the same color category.

Dusky Challenger was introduced in 1986. Maybe I'm dating myself but I regard it as a modern iris. I regard the iris of the '60s and prior to be historic iris. I doubt that if it were considered historic form that it would have been #1 on the TB Symposium's annual popularity poll every year since about 1990, including the current year.

If you like more ruffles, yes there are some with more ruffles. But obviously many people regard the form and features of DC to be simply perfect, to this day. Go see 2017's TB symposium results on the AIS web page.

Thanks everybody for the iris ideas.

Yes, Daisy, the only change in the perfection of Dusky Challenger that I seek is more RUFFLES!!!! That is what I meant by modern. I am mesmerized by ruffliness

I think that in the case of Dusky Challenger, we can agree to disagree. I am getting one this year.

Yes, I like a certain amount of ruffles, but I think there are some with *too many* ruffles, IMHO. Just sayin'...

Evelyn, I don't think we disagree on having Dusky Challenger. I have it and wouldn't ever want to give it up.

In theory, there might be a thing with too many ruffles, however I have not yet seen it

I had Dusky Challenger for about 8 years in a sunny area. The flowers were huge, lightly ruffled, and magnificent. Then during years of neglect (during my own chronic illness) I lost it, due to borers or rot. But I knew I had to have it again. A couple of years ago I bought it again, but planted in a too-shady area. There its blooms were disappointingly small. But having seen it before in all its huge glory, I knew what to do. I moved it to a very sunny location again, and this year again it was wonderful.

So what I am saying is that if DC is turning out less than you expected, try it in full sun, and it will reward you.

Having said that, I'm awfully glad that you have it, and I, too, am interested in seeing some of these others in person, particularly, Magnificent Masterpiece.

DC is not disappointing me at all -- it is huge and wonderful, the largest flower I've ever had. Bigger than my hand. In response to my question, Kent, who I assume to be extremely knowledgeable, suggested Magnificent Masterpiece, which he thinks is even better than DC. It would have to be something great for its creator to have the chutzpah to name it that, I suppose.

Uncharted Waters is a beautiful iris! The color and the size stopped me in my tracks this year.


I'm 6'2" and here is the size of the bloom (and how rich the color is).

Uncharted Waters and Dusky Challenger really look alike.

I don't have "Dusky Challenger" so I can't compare, but 'Magnificent Masterpiece' is a wowser. Gorgeous surface texture, nice ruffles.

If you're looking for a deep purple with ruffles I would highly recommend Royalty Remembered. It was introduced last year. I had a hard time conveying the color through my digital camera but my phone camera is a bit more accurate so I'll post those. It honestly blew me away when it bloomed.

I got 'Royalty Remembered'... it didn't bloom for me this year.