Ok firstly this is not my picture but someone on a trading forum posted this and a few others. (Not on this site) I called them out because maybe I'm being a Karen but it's seems underhanded to me to be offering these irises for trade when this isn't their true color. You can even see all of the greenery is an odd yellowish, grayish color and when I asked them why they did it they said they just took the picture with their phone…. Well you can adjust color settings with your phone…… and of course I was told I was being rude. I guess I shouldn't bother but I would think other people would notice this, it is an iris group but people were just excited about these.

Yes, that's unlikely to be the true color. When you see that sort of thing, ask for the registered name of the iris. Then Google the name, followed by the word "iris". Then switch to images and you'll get an idea of what it really looks like. If they say it's unregistered, don't buy it.

The vendor will lose credibility when the people who purchased the iris see its real colour.

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If someone had actually bred an iris that color, everyone here would already know its name!!!!
quote="DaisyDo"] Yes, that's unlikely to be the true color. When you see that sort of thing, ask for the registered name of the iris. Then Google the name, followed by the word "iris". Then switch to images and you'll get an idea of what it really looks like. If they say it's unregistered, don't buy it. [/quote]

Sometimes a camera can give that color all by itself when simply set to "auto", with no color manipulation at all. I have had it happen to me when photographing Absolute Treasure at various different light conditions.

Same flower, same camera on auto setting, different times of day.





Obviously that last one is way off! That's why it's important to view as many pictures of a cultivar as you can find before choosing to buy it. And that's also why registered names are important! You can always Google a registered name, followed by the word "iris" and then when you get your search results switch your browser to "images." You can also do a name search in the NGA iris database and then scroll down to see all the images for that cultivar.

One of the reasons that different times of day affects color is that if the sun is directly overhead, its rays are coming through a thinner section of atmosphere than if the rays are slanting through the atmosphere at dawn or dusk. The atmosphere acts somewhat like a color filter. So you get more or less filtering out of certain colors depending on time of day. Old, retired optometrist speaking here.

I think the first and third photos are probably most representative of this particular cultivar. It really does seem to be the truest blue iris that I've seen. I also have Sea Power, but I like AT better.

And I really agree that looking at the foliage color in a photograph can give you a big clue as to whether the depicted flower color is realistic or not. When I am looking at a whole lot of pictures on an iris database page, I try to concentrate on the ones that have what I know to be true gray-green foliage for the iris.

Daisy your right that they can appear to be more blue but not that intense color none of your pics look anywhere near that photo. And I agree Absolute Treasure is a stunning blue possibly the best! I love it and may need to get it again!

Thanks for the impute Daisy, Lyn and Robin. I'm just a bit irritated, because I asked why they altered the photo and was told twice I was rude for asking and they said they were going to report me to the admin. I just said please do. Hopefully an admin will recognize alteration. I'm over it but thanks for letting me vent a bit

I agree with Daisy that the first and third of her images are more or less what 'Absolute Treasure' looks like, at least in my garden.

I have a general impression that images from my cell phone are more saturated in color than those from my digital camera, but I can't really prove it.

I'm also going to chime in here and say that apart from color, unmanipulated images can also make a flower appear cleaner (have more clarity of color) than it is in real life. I once had a daylily seedling which basically bloomed a rose bitone. From the image you would think that it was a gorgeous clear bloom, but in reality the bloom was horribly muddy. (As to how that relates to irises... My general feeling about "red" and some "orange" irises is that they have a lot of mud in their color. (Some of the oranges are not too bad and are acceptable in my garden.) What this means to me is that you should try to see the iris bloom in "real life" before you buy it, especially if it is a new and pricey red or orange introduction, because you might not like what you get.)

Marilyn, your point about "red" irises is a good one. I remember back in the 1950s my mother being disappointed with an iris that had been depicted as redder than it turned out to be in person.

I have not been disappointed with Lady Friend, though. It is a pretty nice rosy red.

My cell phone makes the pictures overly brilliant, I think. While the camera is a bit dull. And sometimes purple flowers become blue--so I will adjust the color a bit.

Thanks for the acorn, Marilyn! @Polymerous

My pleasure, Daisy.... excellent explanation for color variance in images.