I have started a collection of iris hybridized by Orville Fay and I'm looking for some rare (no commercial sales) iris. I just wondering if they are out in the small gardens.
These have been sold at some point as they all have photos listed on HIPS or AIS.

TB
Champagne Music
Chinese Coral
Ester Fay
Flaming Dragon
Galilee
Irish Linen
Kingdom
Orange chariot
Pink cameo

BB Toy Shop

Thanks!

I believe Bluebird Haven Iris Gardens is your best bet to find those varieties. They specialize in preserving all irises, but especially historics.

Jess ~ Mary at Bluebird Haven Iris Gardens, has a few available and some others that are not ready yet. She has stellar reputation for only selling accurate named irises, and she guarantees them to be true to name.

Chinese Coral - $6.00
Esther Fay
Galilee - $5.00
Orange Chariot
Pink Cameo

So only 2 of these are available at the moment, but it might be possible to reserve some of the others when they are ready. Just send Mary an email and see what she says.

There's a hard to find iris thread somewhere, come to think of it, we haven't heard from Scott in a long time, Hope he's well.

I know of Bluebird, I have ordered from Mary before, last year we adjusted my order because some of these were out of stock. I haven't heard that she's ready to accept orders.

There are a few other that have a commercial source that are on the shopping list for this season.

I have also seen one that I'm looking for only to find the garden no longer ships, and I'm 4 states away from them.

Mary opened the first week in January. She has a lot of new ones, though some of them are not ready for sale yet.

Also, there are a few on sale...2 for 5 or 6 dollars. But, of course, you have to look through the whole website! Most likely, you will find some companions to "come along for the ride" to your home.

BTW, it takes a while to go through the whole website. It is fairly easy to navigate, and there are pictures for most of them.

Please don't display email addresses in forum posts, especially someone else's email address as it exposes them to spammers.

Kent ~ Thank you for the reminder. It is too bad, but better safe than sorry. I will surely keep that in mind for the future.

A couple of these are on the list of iris from Thelma's Garden. You can't order by mail or online, but I can pick them up when I go this year if there are enough to split. Just let me know.

Chinese Coral $2
Ester Fay $3

tveguy3 said:There's a hard to find iris thread somewhere, come to think of it, we haven't heard from Scott in a long time, Hope he's well.

Hi Jess, below is a link to the thread Tom mentioned. If you can't find a source for some of your desired historics, I can add them to the list in hopes that someone might come across them at a club sale or other obscure source.
The thread "Wanted: these hard to find irises" in Irises forum

Hi Tom! and others! All is well here, just plenty busy. I check-in regularly to see if there are responses to the "Wanted..." thread so I can fulfill my self-appointed obligation to maintain the list. Now that it's winter, I've been slowly catching up on the some of the threads. 67 days until spring!

for checking in Scott and especially for keeping the 'Wanted' thread up to speed!

Glad to hear all is well with you Scott, and that you're not buried in snow some place, or overcome with awe from seeing all the new introductions coming out this spring. Keep well.

Lestv said:A couple of these are on the list of iris from Thelma's Garden. You can't order by mail or online, but I can pick them up when I go this year if there are enough to split. Just let me know.

Chinese Coral $2
Ester Fay $3

I have gotten a order from Thelma's through HIPS, but I didnt see these on the list they had a few years ago. Please, if you can get them, that would be great! Message me when you are heading out to see her and we can make arrangements!

Jess - please remind me too in early April.