After many years as one of the most famous and beloved iris hybridizing nurseries in the world, Australia's Tempo Two run by Lesley and Barry Blyth is set to close after the 2017 season.

While this is sad for iris lovers everywhere, I think we should celebrate their many years working with irises by posting our favorite Blyth irises. There sure is a lot to choose from!

The first irises I think of when someone mention the Blyths are:

(1990) Named for Barry's mum. Can be found in the pedigree of many of his later irises, same as


(1991) One of the first Blyths to ever make my iris wish list. (Still looking!)


(2015) To me, this is a quintessential Barry Blyth iris - and, no surprise, it has Adoree in its pedigree.

This is the only iris by Lesley Blyth that I have (on order this year):

(2010) With both name and colours to warm the heart!

And finally:

(2007) The iris which has resided on my wish list longer than any other. I am still looking for it and one day I hope to add it to my modest, but much loved collection of Blyth irises.

Do you have a favorite Blyth iris? Or ten?

Please post away!

Does this mean that Blyth will no longer be Hybridizing and have his new things introduced and distributed by some one else?

According to the post on the Mid America Facebook page, they will continue his work, but it does not list any details.

I was adding onto my order today and expressed my sadness for their closing. He sent me this attachment:

Hi ,

The time has come for Tempo Two to close and for us to retire and take things easy.
Our family has had a nursery since 1890, starting in Christchurch in England.
Barry’s great grandfather started it and it was continued in England until 1966.
It was called Riverslea Nurseries and they specialised in Alpines and Perennials including some Iris.. My grandfather left the family business in the early 1900’s and migrated to Australia where he began a nursery at Bayswater in Victoria. This continued until about 1955 when he retired early due to war injuries from WW 1.
His daughter is Barry’s mother (Adoree Pernettya) and she married Charles Blyth and after WW11, they began to grow vegetables and plants, specializing in Iris and Dahlias. This became Sunnyside gardens.
When Charles retired in 1973, Barry and Lesley took over the business and changed it’s name to Tempo Two.
So it has been going a long time. Now Barry is 75 and Lesley is 73 and we have decided to close the nursery and slow down.
The last export orders will be sent out in April and the Australian orders will continue until about the end of June.
So for those interested, if you wish to add to your current order, please feel free to do so. If you have not ordered and were thinking about doing so, last export orders close on March 15, 2017 and cannot be extended.

There are 3 of out current new introductions in our catalogue completely sold out. KISS THE PRINCESS, SWEET AS HONEY and TEND MY HEART. There are also a number of other varieties through the catalogue that are also sold out. So if ordering any of the older varieties, please list acceptable substitutes or clearly mark the order NO SUBS.

In the future Thomas Johnson, the owner Of Mid America Gardens in Salem Oregon USA will be introducing some new varieties from us when he has the stock acclimatized and has sufficient plants to catalogue. This will take at least 2 to 3 years to happen. In the mean time he does catalogue some of our older introductions, so check out his website and he will have a new catalogue out in the early part of 2017. He is also happy to export to most countries around the world.

Thank you to all of our customers for your loyal support. We have loved growing and hybridizing Iris and really enjoyed hearing how much you all have enjoyed growing Blyth introductions in so many countries and regions. We see many of them appearing in Iris pedigrees all over the world and are pleased that we have contributed a little to this marvellous genus IRIS.

Barry & Lesley Blyth

That's some sad news for iris lovers, but I wish them the best in their retirement.

Yes it's sad, but what a legacy!

Still in a daze about this. I was hoping to add more Dragons.... *sigh*

I do have some favorites, and also some that have yet to bloom that I am eagerly awaiting.

The first Blyth iris I got were both dwarfs.



There were many that I kept hoping would finally reach our shores. Since Mid-America has a large collection of dwarfs, I hope they add some of the Blyth ones to their stock.

I also love my BB Thundery

I knew that Barry and Lesley were reducing their range and that they would retire one day, but for some reason this feels very sudden. I just received my Tempo Two order and now I am going to place another order for a few irises I want and thought I couldn't fit in my garden. It is like the theory about how many people can fit into an elevator - there is always room for one more. I wish I'd bought Kiss the Princess

Leslie, Robin and Keith both have Dragon Kiss and Dance with Dragons.

The end of a great run by the Blyths. Bravo! What a legacy, indeed!
I've had a few irises for a long time, but only became addicted about 3 or 4 seasons ago. One of the first Blyths to set me sighing was Coffee Shop. It's peachy-beigeness blooms very early in my garden.
BB Code:

My last year's splurge was their intro - She. Looking forward to seeing her bloom.

BB Code:

I have over 100 Blyths - although some are included in the search that are wants. So many are favorites.

She is stunning, you're very lucky Jan. I'm sad it wasn't offered this year. Maybe Mid-America will end up carrying it.

Liz - she's making increases, so maybe I'll have one or two to share or trade.

I'm so excited for your pictures. The lace and ruffles make my heart pitter patter.

'Coffee Trader' was a must have after visiting Schreiner's Iris garden last year.

SDB growers are so grateful for Barry's work with pink
coming to the height with the introduction of 'Chanted.

It is always sad or us when one of our iris heroes retires. I hope they have a long and happy retirement. Some of my favorite Blyth's are the SDB's but all of his irises are beautiful. Here are just a few that bloomed in my garden last spring.

SDB Awake


SDB Chanted


SDB Wee Stroll


SDB Buster


ADB Making Eyes


I am still waiting for a few to bloom such as Forfun and I am still looking for a few to add to my garden.

We have a great selection of TBs in the states but I really wish there were more medians readily available.

I agree Liz. He has so many wonderful medians and few were imported early on. When imports started becoming more prevalent the newer ones were favored. That makes the older ones really hard to find now.

Two of my favorites came as bonuses in an order from Keith Keppel. Both are IBs. When they bloomed it was a pleasant surprise.
Glances


Glances


Toffee


Toffee

This is a photo from the database of SDB Whydidi. It is not a really old one, 2002 I think, but I have not found a source for it. Really pretty and a rebloomer.