I would love that, Neal. I have immortality recently id'd from growing it side by side but even then I will share it only as reblooming white TB because I cannot follow its parentage.

It would, indeed, Neal!

In the meantime -- if I'm in doubt about the identity of a given Iris, I label it *NOID whatever* -- sometimes referring to the color, or the name of the person that gave it to me. If I have a pretty good idea which Iris it is, I will label it with the suspected name, followed by a question mark. That way -- if I were to keel over tomorrow or the day after, anyone viewing or raiding my Iris beds would know which Irises are not definitively identified. It's the best I can do -- and beyond that I'm not gonna worry about it!!

I'm growing about a thousand different cultivars......"named".....and a couple hundred "noids". Are the named ones 'correct' ?? A few I would say are 100%...but very few. If YOU buy a cultivar DIRECTLY from the hybridizer.......and he didn't "error" by sending it's bed-mate, and you didn't error by letting it get mixed In with a similar looking clump of another iris......yeah, that one is *probably* 100%, but it goes downhill, fast, from there !
Between hybridizer who have sold, or given away "seedling sibs" of their introductions....and also sold, or given away unused seeds from their crosses, to he fact that all of them tend (and have for years) to "follow trends".....we want luminatas...they produce luminatas.....plicatas are "hot', so let's use plics in our breeding program, to the fact that iris are *probably* the most 'passed along" plant, and even a relatively new cultivar may go through several gardens, in a short time.....and every time it moves, there is a chance for error, and every time it's divided, there is a chance for error, and every time it's planted, there's a chance for error ! So, a "historic" cultivar.....one from the 1920's, for example.....how many gardens has THAT clone grown in? How many "chances for error" ? Many, many iris have very poor AIS descriptions recorded...or various reasons....and "photographs" can be scarce....and "accurate" photographs, even scarcer ....so the best anyone can do is say" the iris "fits" the AIS description"....if enough *experts* agree .
Now, every one of us will jump up and say, " I have a LOT of iris that are 100% accurate ! I only buy from the hybridizer !, or I don't make mistakes in MY garden !", or some such.......and most of it is all wishful thinking, on our part ! If you want a "100%" accurate iris.......you'll have to go to Superstition (or any other of the hybridizers) and be first I line to buy a clone of the "just named" seedling.....that' one will be 100% !
Bottom line.....get your plants from *reputable " sources.....keep accurate records......have good tags, labels, and garden maps, keep a "clean" garden.....no pods allowed to form, no clumps over growing their neighbors (in fact, no 'similar looking' iris planted anywhere NEAR one another!), when dividing, and "sharing" the iris, provide *provenance*.....I got it from Sally, she got it from Sue, who bought it from Schreiners in 1992.....if the recipient wants it. If it's noid, that " probably" is Wabash DON'T call it Wabash, or even call it "Wabash-not"......just call it a NOID ! *Probably*, and *Not*, are likely to be dropped, or forgotten as the years go by. And, above all, remember that gardening is supposed to be a fun, *stress-reducing* hobby , and don't get in a dither over an ID! Names are nice, but NOT necessary ! So, if accurate record keeping, and the rest , really ISN'T your thing, tell folks when you pass it along, " I don't know WHAT it is, but, it's a nice iris, so I hope you like I !" and get back to pulling weeds, and relaxing in the garden!

Sage advice -- as usual -- Arlyn.

Arlyn, you're such a wordsmith!

I have to stop myself from obsessing over it, it activates some latent OCD and I lose my mind! A couple of years ago I got active on this forum for advice because I wanted some pretty pink irises and didn't care about names- just wanted some vigorous pinks to grow in a mixed perennial setting. Now I have tags throughout my garden (which I had sworn against), an iris data base and crude mapping. I must resist going any further down the rabbit hole, otherwise the roses, daffodils, tulips, peonies, veggies, and every other flower I obsess over may suffer

Just when I consider ditching a clump of noids I see a photo of them in bloom and change my mind. So many have tolerated such neglect over the years and remained healthy in spite of it, I don't want to be without them.

And, there is nothing wrong with wanting a "named plant", or, in spending a lot of time and effort in finding a 'lost" name. Besides being a fun activity, it's a learning experience, and a chance to interact with other iris lovers. The "rub" comes in when we have that "found iris"....a noid....that we are *sure* must be "XYZ", and do all the ID checks we can......AIS descriptions, old catalog descriptions, and even purchasing a "verified" plant of that cultivar for a side by side test.....and have to admit that the "verified" plant might NOT really be "the " iris....just a look-a-like, that has fooled a LOT of experts ! The best anyone can do...is their best ! The "rub" can really get "chaffing" when someone takes that "found iris", compares it to a picture , on line, or in a catalog, and declares it to "be a match to.XYZ..." ,and ever after swears it IS XYZ ! A lot of folks WANT to put a name to their iris.....and as I said, there's nothing wrong with that.....but it's a long, tedious, possibly expensive, and often impossible thing to do ! And not many of us want to put in the time, work, and money that's necessary .........it's too easy to post a picture, ask for an opinion....get several, and then say, "yup ! Everybody agrees that it MUST be XYZ !
So, if you REALLY want XYZ.......go buy a "supposedly" verified one, otherwise....just learn to love the NOID !

I have Tom's Red Noid. That's its name on the tag.

I like Neal's idea. A cheap DNA test. And register the iris DNA with the AIS. Otherwise, you can never REALLY know.

But then there are sports so even that wouldn't be 100%.

So really, Why worry?

Speaking of identifying irises, a funny thing happened a little while ago. I was digging planting bulbs in a spot where a clump of noid lavender TBs had grown, and found an old plastic tag. Cleaned it and could still see the image and read it- tall bearded iris Mary Francis! Several years ago a member of another gardening site sent me several labeled rhizomes she had just purchased (she suddenly had to move to Florida where she didn't think they would grow). They each had plastic tags with photos. I'm shocked how well it held up!

If they are buried, and the "UV" can't affect them, they stay legible for a long time ! If they were printed on Twinkies, or hot dogs.....they would last forever

Twinkies, maybe. Varmints would dig up the hot dogs and eat them.

Or McDonald's fries.

Arlyn, that was a great rant on plant IDs.

I have always wondered about my 'Navajo Jewel'. I bought it somewhere (I can't remember from where) under that name, but I have always wondered about the color description of "turquoise". To me, "turquoise" means a medium light shade of teal or blue-teal. My 'Navajo Jewel' (yes, I have it labeled as such) is a beautiful ethereal blue. I love, love, love it. But I do wonder about it.



Neal, I gave up the tag battle a long time ago. Daylilies, irises, roses, and miscellaneous other plants are all labeled, otherwise I would surely forget what they are.

Bonnie, speaking of labeling NOIDs... I will shortly be making another order of garden labels. I am contemplating having one made for that one BJ Iris seedling NOID, IF it survived and is in the unlabeled pot that I think it is. (Fingers crossed that whatever the iris is, it blooms this spring.) And I just discovered another potted iris whose label went missing... Maybe I need to make a series of labels... INOID1, INOID2 etc for the irises, DNOID1, DNOID2 for the daylilies...

I think I see the faintest bit of soft turquoise at the hafts.... It is a wonderful blue!

grannysgarden said:I have Tom's Red Noid. That's its name on the tag.

Same here!

It is a beautiful Iris -- but I see no turquoise...................

Neal -- you just dug up buried treasure! Mary Frances is one of my most favoritist Irises in the whole wide world. And you not only have her, but you know it!!!

That would be Tom's Famous Red NOID!

tveguy3 said:That would be Tom's Famous Red NOID!

I got Tom's Famous Red NOID this year,
thank you Mary Ann!

Muddymitts said:
Same here!

I labeled it that way too.