I am new to Iris gardening as well as these forums. i have a beauty of a Iris that i only know as "Mema's Bronze Iris". My wife and i moved some from here grandmothers house and we planted it here in our yard. I have been trying to get more info on the origins. This is what i know, it is a tall bearded that is from at least earley 90's.

Here are more pics from 2010.

Hi Irisdaddy! Your iris is a pretty one! I know nothing of Iris so I'll let other's try and ID it for you! to ATP though! There really is a lot of info on here for all levels of gardeners! It would be nice if you find an ID for your Iris! I like when plants have stories attached to them!

Irisdaddy! Can we have a name please?

I don't know the identity of your Iris, but it sure is a beauty!! I'm guessing that it's older than the 90's -- judging by the form, etc. I hope you find out what you have!!

It could have been bought in the 90s, but be older. sniff Does it have a fragrance? Th older ones often do so. Is the base of the foliage purple? Can help ID also.

Not a clue to it's identity, but just wanted to say welcome to the forum! Please stick with us, and post as often as you can.

Greg, i forgot to say i love your Iris "seattle sunset". I am still searching the data i can find about this Iris.Thanks for all the warm welcomes! i figured out where to put my name and pic,

Roy...

Thanks Roy! It is a pretty one!
It took me awhile to get to know how to set everything up on here! Still learning things!
You already got your Iris badge that's good!

Hi, Roy.

Calif_Sue said:

I got to get that gopher and a few others that are giving me problems. Today I discovered a plant totally sheared down to about an inch, I thought my husband had weed whacked it then I discovered a fresh hole next to it. Apparently one of these little buggers came and cut the whole plant down, dragging it into his hole. A week ago it looked almost like this:

• Betony (Betonica officinalis subsp. officinalis 'Hummelo')
• Uploaded by Calif_Sue

Whahhhh!

I know what you mean! I lost more than a few plants a couple years ago to some critters who insisted on tunneling everywhere. Not sure whether it was a mole, gopher, or something similar, but it did a whole lot of damage. What do they do with the plants, eat them? or are they just a casualty of the tunneling to China or wherever they have decided they must go?

"I am new to Iris gardening as well as these forums. i have a beauty of a Iris that i only know as "Mema's Bronze Iris". My wife and i moved some from here grandmothers house and we planted it here in our yard. I have been trying to get more info on the origins. This is what i know, it is a tall bearded that is from at least earley 90's."

It looks like a historic iris to me, similar to, but probably not, Dauntless. There is a gallery of pics at the Historic Iris Preservation Society. HIPS. Mine was here when I moved in - 35+ years ago and probably lots older than that!

OK -- so first of all -- you're not Caitlin? Could we have a name so we know who we're talking to?

Second -- I'm confused. Are you talking about two different Irises? The first one -- *Mema's Bronze* that is "from at least early 90's" -- would not be an historic, if it is from the early 90's. Unless, of course, you're referring to the 1890's and not the 1990's.....................

The second -- that "was here when I moved in 35+ years ago" -- would likely be an historic.

I'm not sure of the cut-off date for *historic* -- there's a lot of disagreement on that topic by the powers that be. But I believe that Irises from the 70's qualify -- and Irises from the 80's and newer do not.

Lucy probably knows for sure....................

update: we have a ID for "memas bronze". My wife and i (mostly her) found the true identity. "Rosy Wings" 1935.

'historic are irises 30 years old. they are getting so modern that they have to come up with a better set of definitions.

Mary Ann, I was confused at first too until I noticed that caitlinsgarden is actually quoting Irisdaddy's post, we are so used to seeing those in the quote boxes that the actual quotation marks went unnoticed.

Roy how cool is that!! Caitlinsgarden, you were totally right on about that one! Nice!

Ah -- Roy!! Great -- thank you!

Congrats on the ID. I love it when we find out *who they are*!!

Hey Roy,

Sorry to say it, but that doesn't look to me like "Rosy Wings," which is distinctly, uhm, rosy. More telling to my eye anyway, RW has a marked graduation of color on the falls, with a lighter midline and edges. Yours is definitely a beaut. I love old red irises, and yours has a really nice, rounded form. Maybe Christabel or Sachem? It's good news that RW is still pretty widely available because it's a Dykes Medal winner, so you could get it from a reliable source and grow it next to yours if you are in doubt.

Regards,
Brett

Brett,

Thank you for jumping in here and throwing some other possible irises out there for me. I am looking at more pics and trying to decide. I think my best

bet, short of buying a Rosy Wings from someone, is to take pics next year when they bloom. Some of our pics look like Rosy Wings and others look alot

like Christabel.




-- Christabel (not my photo)- Rosy Wings (not my photo)-- Our iris ---

it is a tough process if we only have pictures to go off of...

My lovely husband (Irisdaddy) has been beating his head on a rock, trying to figure out my iris's name. The color in the veins at the top of the falls, is definitely yellow. Truthfully, I call them "Mema's" irises. (My 82 year old Grandma) We dug them up several years ago when she sold her house and moved into town. I am including a few extra pics of them for everyone to enjoy.

The irises came from my great Auntie & Uncle's farm house in the early to mid 70's in South Dakota. I have no idea where they came from beforehand.

Sincerely- Christy