Two Days to Party: Good News and Bad

First the bad news.  I am concerned that a number of my blooms are misshapen. It may be weather. I hope that's it and not my fault for misusing Preen or other methods to get weeds under control.  

The good news is that more and more tall bearded iris are opening.  Blooming for the first time in my garden is Richard Tasco's 'Celestial Explosion.'  I believe this is one of last year's Wister medal winners.

'Celestial Explosion' (TB Tasco '04)

 One of the later IBs is 'Concertina.'  It's so pretty and I lost it several years back. The replacement bloomed this year. This 'space age' iris has very interesting horns at the tip of its wispy rust to lavender beards.

'Concertina' (IB George Sutton, R. 1999)

 Hard to capture the color even with some post photographic manipulation. but it is copper.

'Copper Classic' (TB E.Roderick'77)

 The evening light compliments this classic border bearded iris.

'Crabapple' (BB J. Terry Aitken '95)

 As I complete these blog entries, I realize they are all my favorites.  This on is too!  Monochromatic except for the throat of the beard, the being in the standards and the bleeding of lavender blue on the falls is quite dramatic.  The bloom is not large.

'Electric Shock' (Virginia Messick '95)

 To be an historic iris it must be more than 30 year since its introduction.  This on sure qualifies, but it foreshadows the modern iris with peppering on the falls.  But the falls are the traditional teardrop shape. Evening light makes it glow.

'Gibson Girl' (TB J.M.Gibson 1946)

'Gibson Girl' (TB J.M.Gibson 1946)

 I have a thing for peach. Jaime Lynn is an elegant iris.  In iris terms this is "ruffled coral peach self."  "Self" refers to a solid color on standards an falls.

'Jaime Lynn' (TB Hammer '84)

 For 75+ years, Schreiber's has dominated the hybridization and retailing of irises. A breathtaking sight, their display gardens and hundreds of acres of stock fields makes a trip to Salem, OR well worth the trip during bloom season.

'Let's Boogie' (TB Schreiner 1997)

Introduced almost 40 years ago, 'Sultan's Palace' remains great example of the pursuit of the elusive red iris.

'Sultan's Palace' (TB Schreiner 1977)

The joke about 'Victoria Falls' is that with a little rain and wind it surely will. At a stately 40 inches it must be staked. But it's worth it.  Introduced in the same year as Sultan's Palace it shows the pursuit of ruffling.

'Victoria Falls' (TB Schreiner 1977)