Bearded Iris 2007 to 2009

[fermi de Sousa]

This is DBI cult 2, name lost - for those who worry at the carelessness of losing a name, the blackbirds chucked the labels around the garden, and sadly, until now, I had not got round to creating a photo ID kit!

Hristo,
have a look back at reply 202 and 176; possibly "knick Knack".
cheers
fermi

[Hristo]

Hi Fermi,
You are a gent and a scholar, that's the one, I even remember the name now you say it!
One variety down, 50 or so to go! 

[Hristo]

Note to self - photograph the only flower of your new iris  before the torrential rain blows bits of grit all over it! Hey ho......
Iris DB Extra

[Lesley Cox]

Very nice though Chris, even if slightly gritty.

[Hristo]

Cheers Lesley, and it it isn't even from Yorkshire!
Flowering today a yellow DBI, again no idea what name it was bought under, but probably bought it to take part in some devious breeding programme or other! ( mad laugh, little finger in mouth etc ) 

[Lesley Cox]

These two have a really nice form to them. Modern dwarfs tend to have wide, flaring falls, the better to appreciate the colours and patterns on the falls, from above. I like these little jokers. They're quite plump. Fellow feeling probably.

[Hristo]

Hi Lesley, yes I like the form of the older cutivars I guess, not to say that I don't like some of the more modern 'complicated' colour combinations! They are classy and quietly appealing, even if a little plump! 

[Lesley Cox]

Hi Lesley, yes I like the form of the older cutivars I guess, not to say that I don't like some of the more modern 'complicated' colour combinations! They are classy and quietly appealing, even if a little plump! 

Describes me to a tee Chris.

[Regelian]

I didn't realize we had a bearded iris thread, so I'll repost this new cultivar from Ransom, Benazir.  It is an aril-bred, but is branched and carries typically 6 blooms.  As you can see from the top view, there are six beards.

[Lesley Cox]

This one's not to my taste and highlights, for me, the wrongness of using true oncos as parents of onco/tall beared hybrids. Sure, they're easier but all the exotic elegance and spectacle of the oncos is lost. Particularly, I think it is sad that some people want more oncos ONLY to use them as hybrid parents rather than for their own sake. Each to his own, however.

[Joakim B]

Lesley if the aim is to do an "onco like" flower that is an easy garden plant I think that goal is good. On its way some odd ones may be produced.
Sometimes it is nice to have plants that one does not need to worry about every year and hope that they survived and that they will survive an other year.
But as You say everyone for their own taste.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Hristo]

It is interesting to see the hybrids that can be produced and whilst I appreciate and rather like the colour of the hybrid Jamie showed I can't say the form is pleasing, it seems a step too close to a double iris for my taste, but as Lesley and Joakim point out, it is simply a matter of taste, which is of course entirely subjective!

So, the following iris hails from Janis a few years back;

Iris babadagica

[Hristo]

This is another name lost DBI, looks similar to 'Knick Knack' but has a flowering period 2 weeks later than 'Knick Knack'.

[Regelian]

Actually, there is no Oncocyclus blood involved in Benazir.  It is a cross of a pumila dwarf hybrid (Outrageous) with 'Eastern Blush', a cross between the Regelia 'Vera' and the tall bearded 'Faux Pas'.  I am very fond of the effect in the garden, as the colouring is unlike any bearded I have seen and the flowers are as large as a bearded on a strong, small to mid-sized plant.  Of course, as with all flowers a question of taste!

As to oncos and regelias in and of themselves, I would never be able to grow any in my climate, in the garden.  I know fo only one person in Germany who grows them well, in large raised and covered beds, where the temperature gets very hot in the Summer.  For the rest of us, the only was to get this wonderful effect of colour and form is to aim for gardenable hybrids.  While I have quite a few oncos and regelias in pots, they are on a southern balcony where they can bake in the Summer.  None have survived the garden.

I won't apologize for people creating hybrids using species, rather I commend the practice as these species that excite us so are impossible to maintain for the vast majority of gardeners.  I would prefer to promote creating sustainable plants, rather than encourage people to try species that are not suitable to their conditions.  You gotta scratch that itch!  This will certainly reduce pressure on difficult species.

That said, the fine and fragile beauty of the wild plants will most likely never be equaled, and I do not see that it must be so.  After all, most of us would prefer a plant that performs and looks wonderful for a few weeks, rather than one that eeks along and puts out a poor, shortlived blossom in the good year and eventually expires.

Nuf sed

[Anthony Darby]

This is another name lost DBI, looks similar to 'Knick Knack' but has a flowering period 2 weeks later than 'Knick Knack'.

I will take a pic of what I have as 'Knick Knack'. It looks different from both of yours Chris. Here is a plant I bought as Iris pumila in a 4" pot.