I was looking at different sites for reds (categorized as red) and was wondering since they sometimes seemed more purple than red to me. Could be my computer but maybe not.

What are some of the true reds you've grown?

Truly there is NO TRUE RED iris. Lots of time and money been spent for that iris.

D

The operative word is "true" and the answer is no. Close but not yet. Joe Ghio's are some of the best. Look at Betty's pictures.

Paul2032 said: Joe Ghio's are some of the best. Look at Betty's pictures.

Betty? Sorry but not sure who that is.

I think he means me. I've been running through the reds for a few years now, and so far my favorite is Joe Ghio's MARCHING ORDERS. I absolutely love it, even though it chose not to bloom for me this year -- but never fear, I've ordered two more rhizomes from Rockytop!

MARCHING ORDERS - Isn't it a beauty?

The reddest iris I have is this old rusty red NOID:

Julia...I called up a thread on "red" iris.

I don't have a picture of my red BB seedling. Just as well as it needs much work. As Dee mentioned no true red is available in iries. 'Cardinal Coat' bloomed for the first time this year. As you would realize in this garden it is a SDB. It was a very dark almost black red, not as light as in VA soil.

For those looking for red 'Spartan' an old Schreiner red is a color which draws attention.

Hello Julia,

This is the red I have and it's a NOID. I can share a rhizome or two with you if you are interested.

I have quite a few new ones this year I thought I was lacking in Reds so I tried to pick up some more these were my favorites the first few pictures were taken at Superstitions in California I know they sell them all or another good place to buy would be from Joe Ghio There is no true red Iris but they are getting closer

Cardinal Rule


Red Skies This was my favorite of all just a beautiful flower and a great parent from what I saw out there.



Smoky Shadows


Mad World


Trial By Fire


House A Fire


Dynamite


Pianoforte


Saturday Night Live


Lentin Prayer


Romantic Gentelman


Red Handed


Up In Flames


Grand Classic

The red that Rick Ernst of Cooleys Iris was working with Oregon State University they used the red geranium and did gene slicing. One or two bloomed red and would revert is what I was told. A red like the red geranium will bring a hybridizer big money as sure it will sale for 100.00 or more per rhizome

I have two reds:

*Red Hawk*:


and *War Chief*


These are oldies, but are probably as red as any others.

Beautiful reds, everyone. I think DYNAMITE is an excellent red, but it seemed to only bloom every other year for me. And I also like Ghio's RED SKIES and HOUSE AFIRE a lot, but MARCHING ORDERS definitely won out for me! It has great substance. And my second favorite red is NEBRASKA BIG RED by the Jedlickas at Blue J Iris -- a gorgeous ruffled dark red.

Schreiners SDB 'Snuggle Bud' is red with a darker spot.

Thank you all for the information. I plan to visit a local iris farm and see what they have in reds, if any. The problem is I'll start to look for red and end up with other colors too
The photos you all posted sure are tempting.

In one of the recent Mid-America catalogs, Paul Black stated that he believes that it will be possible to develop "visually red" iris in the near future. We saw a seedling of his (or maybe Tom Johnson's) that is certainly close:



There is some orange and a bit of violet in the standards. But, it would be hard to say the falls are anything other than red. From a distance, my reaction was "Wow, an actual red iris!".

Kent that is a beautiful and I agree that is about a close of a true red as I have seen and the beards really make it glow

These are the ones I saw at Napa Iris last week:

BATTLE ROYAL


CLASSIC BORDEAUX


HOUSE AFIRE


ROGUE


TRIAL BY FIRE

I like Trial By Fire! Red and ruffles!

I like *Classic Bordeaux*. I tried to get that a couple years ago, and they were sold out. That *Battle Royal* is beautiful.