Speaking of Wild Iris Rows... Their dwarf 'Intrepid Hunter' that's on their home page has a dandy beard.
...I'm not looking...

Yes, I had noticed that! I'm not looking either...it's funny how I had that page opened in my web browser already...just a click away!

Here's one I'm waiting to see in bloom...another lovely brown/rust beard!

Guatemala

oooooh, isn't that lovely,, now?

Wow, I had a lot of eye candy to catch up on. I have to many favs to name. The beards that are totally different from the petals. To me those are so eye catching!

Oh Marilyn -- that is a neato Iris! Haven't ever seen that one before!

Yes, Intrepid Hunter is in my future. Now I feel Guatemala will be too! Love the coloring of the falls with that beard.

Beards? OMG yes! they seem to be my latest passion. First it was the blue, now it's the orange ones. Paul Black nearly knocked me over this year.

'Paul Black' did it for me too Susan. Looking forward to 'Sharp Dressed Man' next Spring, which also has beautiful orange beards...

Wow, I looked up Paul Black that is an awesome bloom! A must have, and it has lots of awards to its credit. Where could I order it?

It's pretty popular, and you can find it at many vendors. I may have enough to share next year, will have to see what kind of a season I have here. Can't make promises if we have another year of "rot" like we had this year.

So true, Tom. I did not lose that many but even losing one hurts. Of the ones I have lost I am going to replace a few this year and will ponder on replacing the rest of them. Those blooms made me happy.

I'm going to start spelling "rot", as "rott",...'cause it definitely should be a "four-letter-word" !

Question for iris growers - do you automatically replace irises you lose to rott (SO TRUE, ARLYN!!!) or do you replace with another like it or just move on to others? What criteria do you use when making a replacement list? Is it based on love of that bloom or how it grew and performed?

I will be replacing the one I lost completely because it was a bloom I really really wanted (Red Rock Princess). I do have a couple of poor performers that I would not replace if they rotted. And in all cases I try to save them first. I was able to rescue 4 small starts from Secret Rites when it rotted, and they are all replanted in the garden now. And I have Venitah Faye potted up in the nursery where she has two new little starts. Hopefully she will get big enough to plant back in the garden by spring. I think I went to the effort to save those two because I had just gotten them. It also gives me practice in raising small starts, just in case I ever go as far as trying seedlings.

Bonnie that question is answered many different ways for me. For example, I lost Strawberry Shake this spring, I hadn't seen it bloom yet, it had grown really well up until this spring's rot issues. I got a free replacement, but would have bought it if not. I also lost Splurge, a really beautiful pink, but it was a very iffy grower, and when it died, I just didn't feel like having to hold it's hand all the time to get it to bloom. It had bloomed twice in 5 years then died. I have Novel Idea, very similar looking that just made it back from the rot, and I'll keep it of course. Same thing with Photogenic, not going to replace it. Some like Pop Idol, I really love, tried it twice and both times it died. So I gave up. I'm on try number three with Temporal Anomaly, it's going into winter really well, we'll see. So in answer I guess I'd say, "It depends".

Assuming it 's something I 'want" (and most fall into that group ! , although I do have a few that just "don't do it for me"....they were either 'bonus iris", that I never would have bought, or just 'mistakes' on my part!), and assuming it was a 'total loss"....I'll try them again, or, even a third time.

That is a good answer, Tom. Perhaps we all decide that way. I have lost several this year, though not nearly as many as others. I am deciding on what to replace by its performance in my garden as well as my passion for that particular iris. I feel a little mean not replacing each one I lost and just wondered how others made their decisions.