T O P 3 irises

16 years ago

I've ordered hundreds of irises over the years.

If I were to keep only 3, I would pick:

FOOTLOOSE: a huge, very early grape purple plicata. It's done flowering when the mid-season gets going.

BOLD FASHION: absolutely breathtaking. Subtle, rich coloring. Vigorous, and the biggest flowers ever, by a long shot - puts 'Dusky Challenger' to shame. Lots of buds, long flowering period. I'd go as far as to say that if I had only one iris in my garden, this would be the ONE.

SEA POWER - Amazing looping ruffles, beautiful, deep, uniform blue.

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Comments (6)

hosenemesis
16 years ago
1. Total Recall, hands down for number one. Pale yellow color goes with everything in the garden, blooms here from March to at least November.
2. Frequent Flyer is shaping up nicely. Instant rebloom, tall and double-socketed with nice branching and long-lasting blooms. Pretty form, and it's not gray like some whites.
3. Nothing else comes close to these two so far.

Renee
iris_gal
16 years ago
For an additional 3 to the top 10 post. All pastels.

Elizabeth Poldark - open standards which normally I don't care for. In this iris they're a plus. Creamiest white and great lasting power.

Chanteuse - love this older form pink - the fall drape, the petal substance - lovely. Can't find anymore. Hope mine is still alive.

Altruist - one of three of my fav pale blues.
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hosenemesis
16 years ago
Oh yeah, just so you get an idea of why I like those two irises: my favorite car is the Honda Civic.
Renee
Nancy
16 years ago
That is hard for me to do, but
1. Bliss Bomb, not a huge flower but nice ruffley very soft color, vigorous, good bloomer
2. Daughter of Stars, rich velvety color, seems to be a good rebloomer here
3. Earl of Essex, not a big flower either, but ice picotee & great rebloomer here. Sometimes those smaller flowers are a bonus, they don't tend to fall over as much in heavy winds.

Of course, my favorite iris is really the one in bloom right now.
jmcdmd
16 years ago
That's a tough one, just to come up with three. It comes down to asking this: "What three would I defintely replace if I lost them?" Here they are...
1) EVERYTHING PLUS. This one is perfect for landscaping. A big plus is that it doesn't have to be staked.

2) MARY FRANCES. A pastel purple. Very reliable. Will probably never have to replace it because it is SO reliable.

3) DUSKY CHALLENGER. The best purple on the planet. Without question.
mooseling
16 years ago
Hard choice.

1. Gingersnap. Maybe not the most attractive flower, but I love the scent. It's addicting, and the only other Iris that I've smelled that's similar was a seedling in a hybridizer's garden.

2. Jurassic Park. I thought about Edith Wolford as that was my first Iris that I got when I was ten, but Jurassic Park is bigger and I like the color better. Not as ruffly, though.

3. Before The Storm. The other two options here would be After The Storm or Davy Jones. I love the dark flower, a little more than the blue though. I think. And this was the first year I've had Davy Jones, and I love it, but right now, Before The Storm has a bit of an edge. Maybe not next year.