Which iris is your favorite historic iris? Mine is Crimson king.

Too many to pick just one. How about if I try to pick one form each decade?
20's:

'Rheingauperle' (and there is an american mis-named version- which I think this is- and a German version)


30's:
'Sable'


ok... too hard to pick one.. I also love 'Rhapsody', and 'Michelangelo'


oh, and 'The Red Douglas' and 'Serenite'


I think I'd be up 'til 3 or 4 in the morning posting my favorites from the 40's... so I'll stop here for now..

You honestly didn't expect me to pick just one did you?

Sherry, I know it's hard, picking one. It can be a bakers dozen. Those are some pretty ones. There's just something about these older one that the newer one can't beat.

Our family pet is 'The Black Douglas'. John's grandmother grew it.

Oh, I just got the Black Douglas this year.. It's one I've wanted for awhile, so I'm really looking forward to it.

While I'm icing my knee.. here come the 50's.. This is my favorite era.. I think of this as an era of change.. the flowers were becoming more tailored, but there were breakthroughs in size and ruffling..

'Father Rigney' was sent as an extra to an order I got years ago, and it's just gorgeous!


'Blue Sapphire' must have been a sensation in 1953.. I associate this form more with the late 60's or 70's.. Small surprise that it won the Dykes in '58


'Mary Randall' was also an amazing Iris for it's time.. Also received the Dykes in '54.. You'll probably find her DNA in a lot of modern Iris, as there were over 350 registered offspring... That's a lot of kids!


I can't believe that 'Persian Robe' didn't win any awards, as it is stunning!


'Tropical Butterfly' delights me when it blooms. Love the almost perfectly round falls, and that striping is fantastic.


'Painted Doll' almost looks to me like a precursor to Starship Enterprise (with a little more drama) in a neat little package..


'Jungle Shadows' in in a class of it's own, in my opinion.. There hasn't been anything quite like it since..


My also rans:


Just starting to get the gardening bug in the early 50's...

There's that Tropical Butterfly again! Gotta get that one.
I got Painted Doll this year, and have had Jungle Shadows for a while and love it.

You skipped the the lovely Wabash introduced in 1936 and won the Dykes award in 1940.

Well, we know what Daisy's favorite is! I like Wabash, but was *trying* to pare down my list

I had Tropical butterfly about a year. Those darn rains did it in. This year I saw the first bloom on Painted Doll. What a lovely iris!

That's quite a cute baby picture, Sherry!

Sherry, my list of most wanted is growing. I have 95 on the list here I think and about 25 more written down in a notebook.

I can never fault Quaker Lady. Incredible grower.

I really like Striped Butterfly:

Of a more modern historic period, I adore my MTB Frosted Velvet:

Magnolia is so graceful:

Wyomissing is so dainty:

And for reds both Spartan
and Sultan's Palace


This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are SOOOOO many incredible historic iris!

Sultons place and spartan are great and quaker lady is also beautiful.

To me, the two best things about the historics is that they have withstand the ages and their simple forms.

Oh it just has to be Kings Jester.
The years it took to acquire this historic iris was rabid haha


I

Kahumingi said:Oh it just has to be Kings Jester.
The years it took to acquire this historic iris was rabid haha

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'King's Jester')
• Uploaded by Kahumingi

I

It's beautiful.

Henhouse said:
Just starting to get the gardening bug in the early 50's...

I love this photo

Totally_Amazing said:
I love this photo

Thank-you! I was in my Grandma's garden.. all kinds of treasures there for a toddler. Apparently, I hadn't missed many meals at that stage of my life either

Oh my. King's Jester is striped! I am a sucker for stripes......

I'm a sucker for stripes too.

Ed, who doesn't love some stripes.