From all you that look at a lot of Iris, does this seedling look uncommon? It has good branching, and one stem with a bud count of 9. Would it be considered luminata? Thanks!

I don't know about luminata, but it does have interesting veining, and I like how the haft color bleeds throughout the rest of the falls. Was they similar on all the blooms?

I'm not sure of I said it to you before, but....welcome Teresa!

It's a beautiful seedling!

I think it's interesting. If everything else is good as you say, you should introduce it.

Quite unusual--but not a luminata which is part of the plicata class.

So what is the correct definition of a luminata? At Schreiner's, I find this: "An Iris whose style arms and hafts are white or yellow, and with veining on falls". I thought this particular seedling meets that description? But I'm also trying to figure out hafts, which I thought I found information indicating it was the area around the beard? But none of this information have I been able to find on the AIS site. Thanks for all your input!

That is a Very Pretty Iris. I would put it my gardens

And yes, Leslie, all the blooms are the same. I guess it's classification would probably be late or close to it since it's one of my latest blooming Iris. But then I don't know about those classifications either.

How about this one, is it a luminata?:

The hafts are the shoulders of the falls. The beard may have a blaze or spot around it that is not necessarily part of the haft color. A luminata is based white or yellow, but it is one that's color glows through the overlay color making it look like it is illuminated from within. Look at Montmartre, Moonlit Sea, Microburst as examples. There are many more as well.

While not a luminata, your iris is unique. If it continues to increase, and has that color pattern and good branching you really should consider Introduction.

Hi Teresa! Welcome to our Iris forums!!

Hafts are actually the shoulders of the fall petals. Sometimes the color of the hafts extends to the area around the beard -- but oftentimes it does not.

The *correct definition of a luminata* -- well a luminata Iris is one that appears to glow from within. So -- yes, the style arms and hafts are either white or yellow -- but in order to glow from within, the rest of the flower must necessarily be another color -- generally, a darker saturated color. Here are a couple of examples:

Montmartre -- maroon with yellow:


Fancy Woman -- violet with cream:


Inside Job -- blue with white:


These are a few luminatas that I grow in my gardens. Does this help?

Sorry Leslie -- crossed................

Welcome, Teresa.

Thank you, Mary Ann for those beautiful examples in different colors.

I have one luminata. Secret Recipe, dark purple with white. Your Iris seedlings still are beautiful. It is good you are already thinking of overall quality too.

Thanks. I have a couple luminatas including Fancy Woman and Double Click (I think Elizabethan Age is also luminata). I'm trying to figure out these Iris flower patterns. I went searching through my photos to see if I could find a picture of an individual fall of an Iris to make sure I'm getting the haft (shoulder) part correct (where it's at), but I couldn't find one to post with what I'm now thinking the haft/shoulder area is. Missing from any online descriptions of luminata I found I guess would be the "glows from within" part, which the name itself actually implies. But I was just going by Schreiners definition and had the wrong definition of the haft area, so I was getting pretty confused. I think I'm a little more straightened out now.

Secret Recipe that's a double well fitting to the name. But to me when I look at the photos, the hafts on most all look color, like purple.

Here is a picture of My Oh My. Not a luminata or anything, but it illustrates the haft area as the iris is falls are mostly white (with a orange rim) and the hafts are orange.

Another good example of colored hafts is Persian Berry:

Thanks Leslie and Mary Ann. Both very good examples for showing the haft areas! Next year when my luminatas bloom again, I'll probably be pulling them apart. I thought sure the haft area on them (Fancy Woman and Double Click) were purple, and just white around the beard. When I look at my photos, that's the way they all look, even in the side view.

think of luminata as a reverse plicata. Where plicatas have dark colors, luminatas do not.

Niki -- your Secret Recipe Iris is beautiful!!!

I am partial to Luminatas.............

My Oh My, Leslie!