For you who've had numerous dark purple iris, and are thus in a position to judge, what is your favorite of the dark purple ( almost black, but not black) irises? Consider form and substance, too. Vigor is not so much an issue, since here, everything seems to grow well.

I am thinking of a near-black that would contrast well with something like Golden Panther. Or Solar Flare. I would prefer dark clear colors, rather than something with a grayed or smokey effect.

Hello there DaisyDo-
Living here in the "little Siberia" winter zone I can only speak for adaptability and hardiness of any plant, irises for sure. With that said I have three that I keep above the other black/dark purple category because they perform well, and are good looking irises. There are others that are equally nice, but not here; among which are Midnight Oil & Superstition. Now whether they contrast well with Golden Panther I don't know, but I'd say yes. Hope this helps.

Anvil Of Darkness, Sterling Innerst 1998


Hello Darkness, Schreiner 1992


Black Suited, Innerst 1999/2000

Leon, are those colors right? Or are you (or your camera) adjusting the colors? The reason I ask is that the green of the grass and foliage are all unreal looking (too fluorescent greenish yellow) which a usual clue of an adjusted image, or a camera that is a bit off.

Thanks for the input. It's nice to have the opinion of someone who really grows a lot of iris, sees them in person, and so has made the comparisons.

I'll go to the database and look at the images there. What I try to do is look only at the images that show the iris foliage as what I know to be a natural grayish green. Then I can be pretty sure that I'm seeing the flower colors as what they really are.

These three are extremely similar. Having looked now at multiple images of them in both the iris.org database and the iris encyclopedia database, I think I like "Hello Darkness" the best of these three, but I'm still not sure. I am also thinking that a dark purple with blue undertones rather than red undertones, might team best with Golden Panther and other hot colors. So, I am thinking of Magnificent Mastepiece, which is not as dark as these, but has the dark blue tones.

Or are there any other near blacks with blue tones?

Daisy,
I never take a picture of a dark iris in direct sunlight because these "blacks" will always show the red undertones. And, I NEVER adjust color. Period. Simply because it looks so artificial.......I only use point & shoot in AUTO mode in OVERCAST skies. Whatever the foliage looks like is beyond my control. I am not a professional photographer and I could care less if it t turns out lime green or whatever. BTW these blacks/darks have red pigmentation...not blue. HTH.

Might be nice to pair your Golden Panther with something like Black Suited that has an orange beard. Black Suited may not be as dark as you are looking for, but I think there are some that are more black.

That's an excellent suggestion - dark with orange beard!

The only problem is that the database pics do NOT show an orange beard for 'Black Suited'.



How about something like 'Paul Black' (not that dark and Mid Late, but has a wonderful orange beard) or maybe 'Visiting Royalty' (Mid) ?

Leon, it must be your camera then. I have a camera that allows all sorts of image adjustments internally, so I had thought it might be a misadjustment in that regard. If your camera has no such internal image agustment capability, then you get what you get.

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200. It did not come with a decent user-friendly manual, so finally a third party author, Graham Houghton, wrote a kickass manual for it. Only then did I understand all the camera's capabilities.

I took this camera to Longwood gardens. Saw a waterlily about 10 feet away in the center of the pond and wanted a center shot of it. This is what I got, but this is not anywhere near the resolution of the original photo. Click to enlarge, but the original photo (not reduced in size for internet use) was better.mind you. That's from 10 feet, and not cropped.



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Nancy, now that's a thought!

Daisy Do - I grow most of the dark iris that you mentioned. Hello Darkness is pretty, but not a good grower.

Leon's pics are spot on as to appearance.

I think a bigger issue would be that, here anyway, most of those darks bloom toward the end of the season. Golden Panther and many other of my oranges bloom more toward the middle. You might not have much overlap.

And then again, this past season was a right royal free for all as to what bloomed when....

Don't know what I was thinking Poly, of course you are right. The one I was thinking was Sharp Dressed Man. Guess I was thinking black suit for a sharp dressed man😉. I was looking through some iris and found this one too, I might like to do this
Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Brilliant Disguise')

Polymerous, Paul Black and Golden Panther are stunning together. You do have a very good eye for color.

Thanks, Andrea.

I am not much for eyed daylilies, but I have learned that having other things nearby of similar color to the eyezone really enhances the visual beauty of the eyed daylily bloom.

Beards aren't eyes, but I figured an orange beard (on the desired dark iris partner) would play well with the orange iris bloom. Plus I am currently infatuated with 'Paul Black'.

Unfortunately the seasons aren't exactly the same.

There are dark purples with blue undertones that would look great with Golden Panther, such as Badlands or it's child Coal Seams. They are both good growers but they do bloom later.

BTW I have a bunch of iris foliage that never looks grey green. Probably differences in minerals in the soil. And in the spring my grass looks quite green, as it does whenever we have had lots of rain. So I would not judge people's photos just on that criteria. Sorry but it irked me that someone offered you suggestions and your response was the person's pictures are doctored. Let's please be nice to each other.

Thanks all for the suggestion of Sharp Dressed Man or Paul Black, Badlands, Coal Seams, or Badlands. I will haveto seriously check as to time period of bloom to see if these might work even a little.

Leon, I want to thank you, too, for your response, and for your many photos contributed to the database. They are invaluable to us all.

I would have to say that I agree with Leslie. Most of my iris foliage never looks gray green. Perhaps it is the soil that makes the color difference. And as far as the photos of actual blooms, some that take photos ~like me ~ just use whatever camera is at hand and 'get what they get', while others ~like Leon ~ take reliable photos you can use to compare and choose from. Good luck choosing the perfect iris DaisyDo as there are so many wonderful ones.

I was going to say 'Paul Black', but Marilyn beat me to it...

'Dracula's Kiss' also has an orange beard.. It's more of a red-black

'Sharp Dressed Man' has done well for me..

I prefer 'Coal Seams' to 'Hello Darkness'.. it grows better for me.
'Black Lipstick' is probably the blackest that I grow. The camera picks up more blue/purple than the eye sees...


You can also do something crazy like this: