Well, turquoise that is. hehehehe
A few years ago I did a cross and once again put it on the back burner. But just for fun thought I would bring it up and see if anyone else has noticed this. I know there are two different types of flower people. Those that just want some color along the side walk and then those that see the blossom as a glittering jewel of nature to be inspected closely for every delicate nuance of detail it has to offer. Consider me in that latter bunch. One day I was looking closely at a very blue iris 'Touch of Sky' and noticed the aqua/turquoise markings on the styles. Wow, really neat. And then I thought I saw hints of aqua along the edge of the standards. Later I was closely scrutinizing the colors in the old plicata 'Daredevil' which would hardly grow for me but I loved the colors. Sure enough there was the aqua on the styles and a little in the stitching on the standards. So , on a whim I decided to make the cross and I took the pollen to 'Touch of Sky' and got a pod of maybe 10 or 12 seeds. Two years later I had a few blooms from some of the plants and sure enough one of them had turquoise markings. Now I have rarely selfed any iris in my work but I thought, why not. Two years later I get a couple of plants from THAT cross that actually were strong enough to send up a spindly stalk. And I was amazed how in just two generations I was able to pull the aqua into the veining around the edge of the standards as well as the falls, not to mention a substantial amount on the styles. There is even markings in the main center of the falls. I still have that plant sitting idle here and wondered if the iris specialists out there know of a particular cultivar to help me take the next step. I know this is quite a reach here and I didn't mean to write a book, but wouldn't it be worth it if somehow we could create a real turquoise?
