yadah_tyger said:There is an alternate treatment.

"Take two catalogues and call the vendors in the morning".

Blessings to you..

John for the win!!!

Thank you all, for the recommendations, I'm writing down all of them! I really like the look of Dodger Blue!
Au Sommet is Fantastic! Absolutely beautiful tveguy3!

I didn't realize soil affected the colors so dramatically, though I guess I shouldn't be so surprised after all its affects other plants. Muddymitts what type of soil do you have? Is it the acidity that affects them? Being I'm in the northwest and close to the woods, I'm betting my soil is acidic though it's also highly sandy and likely nutrient poor. So compost, compost, compost when I can. We moved to this house, our first house, last November and there weren't any flower beds so I'm hand digging new beds and trying to build up the soil. So far I've planted four fruit trees, 8 blueberries and lots of roses. I built three raised beds and am in the process of building the third and largest bed that will span the border of the front yard. I was thinking, because a number of my roses are Austins and in the peach to pink range, white and purply- black Iris would really make a great contrast.....haha but of course I have to firstly have blue and I keep seeing color combinations that look amazing so who knows if it will actually look planned out...none of the ones I've purchased so fare are even in that color range.

Cuzz4short, yada_tyger: Lol!!! I'm sure its true! I've been scanning recommended Iris sites for the last few days! and checking my purchases from last year.(just from home depot) They all seem to be doing well but unfortunately the ones I have bloomed purple rather than the blue they were supposed to be. While theres nothing wrong with lavender its not what I wanted. This year I grabbed a few rhizomes at a local hardware 2 of chasing Rainbows and a Rhizome of Firebird. They were the tallest of the offered varieties plus I love the ruffles

Welcome, Rebekah!
I bet you're going to want to spend some time looking at the database to find plants you want. Here's the stats and info about 'Chasing Rainbows': Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Chasing Rainbows') You can go crazy finding and creating a "want" list (I have), but I know of no better way to learn about the huge variety of irises available! Good luck selecting choices! People here can tell you how they grow and how they increase in their gardens. You might want to update the settings to put your general location and zone in (you'll see mine at top right) so people here can help even more!

Jan...

Another really tall one is Don't Stop Believing, however it does require some supports when it has lots of blooms going on one stem. The data base says it's 42 inches tall.

Hi, Rebekah, as has been commented on in previous posts, a bloom color can be influenced by a multitude of factors--time of day, lighting, soil, etc. I like Blue Trill. It is blue for the most part, but sometimes has a hint of lavender at the base of the standards, which may or may not be seen in successive blooms.

Rebekah! Blues are very tricky. My truest blues are all shorter iris, especially dwarfs. Now if you want tall iris then please consider some by Tom Burseen. His yellow and white irises Abby And Me and Purr Form Mints are always the tallest in the garden. For dark Purple Black his Blackbird Landing is tall and has impressive large blooms. It has thick stalks but staking in high wind is still a good idea.

tall irises often (but not always) can suffer wind damage. You will find many colors.

Rebekah!

You'll have lots of fun trying out all the different blues.. I will also second 'Absolute Treasure' as being a beautiful light blue.. An absolutely gorgeous flower. Iris look beautiful with roses too, by the way...
I also like 'Sugar Blues' because it has a lovely fragrance, in addition to being a reliable re-bloomer here.

Go for all sizes and classes. Different bloom times will keep your iris season going a while. Make sure to Check out websites and mail out checks for catalogues to have. Some vendors will include gift iris too that jump your collection up fast. Now is the time to start planning!!!!!!

Henhouse said: Rebekah!

You'll have lots of fun trying out all the different blues.. I will also second 'Absolute Treasure' as being a beautiful light blue.. An absolutely gorgeous flower. Iris look beautiful with roses too, by the way...
I also like 'Sugar Blues' because it has a lovely fragrance, in addition to being a reliable re-bloomer here.

Several people have mentioned scent in irises - it's strange, because the first thing I do when I see a rose is to smell it, but it never occurs to me to see if an iris has a scent! Next year I will sniff every bloom...

I have a NoID iris you don't want to put your nose to. It smells like cat urine....

I think "English Charm" smells like "cat pee", too

crowrita1 said:I think "English Charm" smells like "cat pee", too

I would have been deeply offended, but I was too busy laughing... I really like English Charm (but have never sniffed it, I'll try it out next spring).

Welcome Rebekah

Thanks for the welcome and advice everyone!
Thank you Barbalee for directing me to the database!
Thanks Lovemyhouse for the amazing photos! wow Blue Trill is amazing!
Don't Stope Believing is beautiful tveguy3.
think I love every Iris color that isn't the purple one in my mothers garden ,that one, and a tanish-gold white one, were really the only two I saw in my parents neighborhood. there must have been a great sale because it seems like everyone who grew irises had the same varieties it's only in the last few years that Ive seen other varieties.....is that odd? Not that those irises are bad they are super hardy, but there are so many variations I've never even seen.

Iris is the messenger of the rainbow so has every color except spectrum red & several combinations to boot. They should be great companions for the roses,.

Rebekah -- to answer your question, my soil here in western Kentucky is very acidic.

And a word of warning -- composting is a good thing -- but it is easy to over-do. Irises will tolerate almost anything except poor drainage. So a little bit of compost in your clay soil will benefit them -- but composting to the point of the soil being slow to dry can cause rot.

Also -- any Irises that you buy at the big box stores cannot be deemed to be correctly identified. Packaged Irises are notorious for being completely mis-identified. The only way to be sure that you have purchased the Iris that you want, is to buy it directly from an Iris vendor. And sometimes even THEY make a mistake.

Muddymitts said:Rebekah -- any Irises that you buy at the big box stores cannot be deemed to be correctly identified. Packaged Irises are notorious for being completely mis-identified. The only way to be sure that you have purchased the Iris that you want, is to buy it directly from an Iris vendor. And sometimes even THEY make a mistake

True in purchases from garden centers as well!

It took two years for a bloom from an Iris I bought at a nursery to not be 'Savannah Sunset', it is one of 'Starship Enterprise's abundant offspring. There was nothing to be done by then. The vendors are more trustworthy.