I think you may be missing the point. An iris can look great one year and be disappointing another, but that has nothing to do with them having been "changed due to hybrization". It's just a consequence of a living thing responding to its growing conditions.

As an example, I grow Baptisias (from wild collected seed) in my gardens. They looked terrible this spring, I suspect they didn't appreciate getting snowed on four times after initiating growth in late March. Or, maybe it was the 22 degree temperatures during the last week of April. Who knows . I'm sure they'll be just fine next spring, though. On the other hand, all my Penstemons seem to be really enjoying the weather this year, so it cuts both ways.

Hi Kent: I do not think I missed your point. I completely understand about weather affecting the way plants looks. I grow Baptisia and Penstemons also, along with hundreds of other perennials for my zone. Yes, they can look poorly from terrible conditions in the weather, either previous seasons drought, excessive rain in the spring such as I have experienced, frost and diving spring temperatures.........yet they still look rather poorly....but are not missing anything.

Perhaps smaller size, smaller and less blooms. Perhaps shorter and no blooms at all. Peonies suffered greatly from last years temperatures and drought. But I still have to say that they are not missing or reverting back to some other flower. Colors are more reliable and truer to what they should be. Thus, referring to iris (Space Agers) completely not looking anything like they should. So. I think we should stop comparing this to other plants, we all understand that weather can affect all plants. Not quite like the iris.....completely changing colors, standards, falls, beards......etc. I am not referring to size of bloom, height, how many blooms compared to previous year.....and so forth.

Again, this is just my opinion. I am sure other novice gardeners agree, but probably are not reading and commenting on their experiences with the "Space Age" iris. So with your encouragement, I hope they will look better next year. We all understand about " living things responding to its growing condition"; thus weather is then the culprit to blame and make the "Space Age" iris so unreliable.......mother natures throw us a curve all the time. I think we can probably all agree that the old reliable historics are a better choice for being much more reliable. I believe someone remarked on that earlier.

Nice being able to exchange our thoughts on "reliable" and on "consequences of a living thing responding to it growing conditions." Perhaps we have covered it all.

The historics still with us are reliable. Those which were not have mainly disappeared.

Lucy: Thanks for joining in, yes I realize this. Tobacco Road was truly one I would love to have in my gardens.

Is *Tobacco Road* no longer available?

I think that it was lost.

From what I've read, it seemed very susceptable to rot. None is known to still exist, and it's a shame . It was a vey important "parent plant", and was used a lot. not every "historic" was as indestructable as we would like to think they were! makes me wonder, in 50 years ,or so, how many of today's "favs", will be nothing but a memory ?!....Arlyn