http://irisparadise.com/Iris/i... if you're not familiar with this, it's also a good source of info

Henhouse said:Nicky, Do you try to get "proven" examples to grow next to you NOIDS. Some, I don't think you need to do that. I think what pushed me over the edge Iris appreciator, into Iris mania was searching for names for Iris that were existing on my property. I'm nearly 100% certain that I've got 'Indian Chief' and 'Crimson King' just on the preponderance of evidence. Early on, I had a hard time telling IC and Dauntless apart. Now, there's no question as to the dissimilarities of the two. Also, IC has a wire line on the edges of its standards that makes ID and elimination of other possibilities easier.

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Indian Chief')
• Uploaded by Henhouse

Yes I do have, on rare occassions, had noids planted near actual cultivars, to compare later on.

Just wondering, do you look for PBF when you receive your irises? Its the first thing I check for when receiving mine. It get noted down on their profiles. Some will come through, showing PBF at blooming times. Who knows why but the presence of PBF helps eliminating a lot of cultivars that doesn't have it.

While I think wired edged standards are worthwhile noting, I would advise having a look inside the standards, as its like a kaleidoscope in there. Its fascination actually

To me, the inside of the standards is what I've considered to be the 'blue print' of each cultivar. One word of caution though, I wouldn't bother with prying the standards open until the day after it first bloomed and had gone past its blooming peak.

You've really opened my eyes to paying better attention to the styles. I do pay attention to PBF, although I have to confess my record-keeping is not great. I did go through last year and wrote down everything that had PBF, but did't get around to it this year.

I usually do a "dissection' (sorry some of these are a bit blurry) Both sides of the standards, both sides of the falls, style arms, beards , etc., etc.

Then there are the idiot hybridizers like us who forgot to note pbf on a plant when sending it in. More careful since then.

I wish the AIS would adopt a set of guide lines for descriptions on new registrations.....and make the registrants stick to them !Some do really well, noting foliage, bud count, and have the color 'keyed" to a color chart (Like the RHS), and some just a brief (sometimes VERY brief ) color description, height, and season. It would seem that a good descrition, and a good three photo set (top, front and side) wouldn't be too much to require.

AI S asks for photos, but does not require them.

OMG, I am obviously not taking this ID thing seriously enough. See, @Crowrita1, I knew you were a mad scientist in disguise!

I'm really more of the "Igor" type, Lori !! I drool a lot, and say "maahster".....

Why am I not having a problem picturing that???

Nicky,

Here is a discussion that you should look into. It was about the three "Reds" that were produced in the early 1920's and the confusion there after.

Indian Chief
Dauntlaee
Numa Roumestan


http://www.historiciris.org/ar...

Interesting article, Greg.

I've finally waded through this entire thread, and the one big question that I have is -

- how can you all be so *certain* that you've identified those NOIDs?

A couple of years ago, I had to figure out which of a handful of lavender and purple irises were which cultivars - and in that case, I knew all the names (at least, the names that they were sold to me under), and I only had to match up the correct name with the correct plant. I found that challenging enough!

But you are trying to match up NOIDs when you don't know what the cultivars could possibly have been (no list to work from), and there are how many registered irises that could be possibilities? (Not as many as with daylilies, I suspect, but still....quite a number!)

And to top it all off, what makes you think that your NOID was ever a registered cultivar? Someone could have hybridized their own iris, kept it around because they liked it (but never, for whatever reason, registered it (as with a seedling I did and still grow))...

Yikes.

(I'm not trying to be a wet blanket or Debbie Downer here. I can see the fun and appeal and challenge in trying to uncover the identity of a NOID, especially if it is a beautiful NOID that you want to keep forever. But unless the iris was really unique and distinctive, I don't think that I would ever feel comfortable with and confident about the presumed identity.)

Personally, I agree with you, Polymerous. I have some NoID's that I love and it would be nice if they had a name but I do not pursue it. I would wind up with a garden full of plants that look 'almost' alike. Then the one I would reject may be the right one but not look like it due to the differences soil and temperatures make in an iris. So, unless I have one that is entirely unique I leave it to the folks, and there are a few on here, who may take years and put in countless dollars and effort making comparisons before narrowing down the selections. Kudos to them but I do not have their knowledge or dedication to precise detail that would justify me to undertake that challenge.

I don't think most of us iris enthusiasts would ever feel 100% sure that a noid has been identified. I wouldn't recommend that anyone add a photo of a noid that has been presumably identified to the data base or trade it as such because it really is a needle in a haystack. Some of us have sent rhizomes of the known cultivar to each other to grow next to a noid to compare. If it is distinctive, you may be somewhat sure, but even then there is room for error.

However this thread was started to simply show off our noids and toss out ideas as to the id.

and sometimes people bought it and the tag has gotten lost and they cant quite remember the name. when one of us makes the right suggestion they may recall the name.

That happens with me a lot, LOL! Several I had lost track of the names were sent to me several years ago by another member and she recognized a lot of them

"However this thread was started to simply show off our noids and toss out ideas as to the id."

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to step on any toes.

I'm fine with showing off noids (I've had my share ), and the guessing game can be fun, but I really hate mis-identified plants.

Somewhat related, somewhat not...

I have a daylily that I bought years and years ago from a somewhat local (2 hr + drive away) nursery. This is a miniature polychrome daylily, and in general I don't like miniatures. So why did I buy it? If memory serves, this daylily is 'Little Rainbow', which I had read about in the Daylily Journal, and was surprised and pleased to find at the nursery, and pounced on it because of the beautiful polychrome face.

IF MEMORY SERVES.

Because, stupid me, at that point I was starting to acquire "just a few more" daylilies , didn't think to record all of my purchases on the computer, and somewhere, somehow, the label went missing. (There was a lot of chaos going on at that time, due to landscaping.)

Now, is it really 'Little Rainbow' (which I think, at the time, was somewhat unique)? I'm about 97% certain that it is, but being paranoid, I must consider the possibility that it could be some other yellow polychrome miniature daylily. So, I think of it as 'Little Rainbow', and have it labeled as such for my own purposes (mine is a private garden, not on tour or anything), but I wouldn't give it away under that name.



'Little Rainbow' (2 ATP gardens) and my possibly 'Little Rainbow'

edited to add pictures

I have a few irises like that too, Polymerous. I do not give away or trade them at all with the exception of one. I have a small SDB that an elderly (a relative term at my age) friend gave me. She bought it so I know it is not a seedling but has forgotten its name. It is beautiful and very hardy but still a NoID. I have shared it for the joy it brings but under no name. I am really irked when someone posts a photo of iris X that is 'similar' to a named iris that I grow and just by looking I know it is not the correct iris. The color may be almost there but the beard, hafts and form will be different. Then they state that they sent a photo to the hybridizer and the hybridizer confirmed that it is iris X. Then what the heck did the hybridizer sell me???

With these genera that have been so extensively hybridized it really is nearly impossible to accurately id them. I have what is most likely TB Immortality in the garden that was supposed to be Cherub's Smile. Even though that is probably the id, the hybridizer did introduce other similar seedlings (siblings and some shared blood lines), so there are other possibilities that keep me unsure.

Wouldn't a cost effective DNA test for noids be awesome!