I had to choose between Never Been Kissed and Surfer's Dream. The latter has not been a good grower for me so not sure I made a good choice.

Jane ~ I couldn't answer that question as many irises, as you know, cannot be judged on their first year's performance. I may be pleasantly surprised next spring. I was debating at first, and then decided to give it another chance.

I probably don't have a lot of years left, so I am trying to get this "iris garden" organized and make some crosses. Many will be tossed (seedlings), and others donated to various groups and members. It is so rare to find a passion so late in life. I feel truly blessed to have the space and the support from loved ones and this wonderful iris group.

Still, I really want to only keep the best performers, so time will tell. On the other hand, it is quite impressive if the irises bloom well and increase in their first year. That is always a plus.

Great thread! So many beautiful blues!

Marilyn - I love Platinum Passion!
Jane - I just got Miah Jane in a mystery box. (And gave away Blue Suede Shoes. Hmm.)
Andrea - Money in Your Pocket was also in the mystery box. I've wanted this one for a while.
Sherry - LOVE your noid!!!
William - I agree. Neon Blue is beautiful.
Evelyn - So many!!! Though that should be expected if you're the Queen of Blues! (I've had Codicil for YEARS and it's yet to bloom. Patiently waiting...)

I've been searching for this noid for a while, or something a little more blue (less violet). It's beautiful with red poppies, and burgundy irises. And I love how the buds are dark, which pick up the dark violet splotches in the poppies.

Gorgeous Casey!

Lovely photo, Casey!

Casey, what a great plant combo!
Love the buds on your noid.

Casey ~ Where was that picture taken? That's a lovely combination!
I'm not the queen.. just looking for a real blue iris. Just because it says it is a blue iris in it's description doesn't make it so.

How many pictures of irises looked MUCH bluer than they really are???

Will the real blue iris, please stand up? (Or show up?)

An SDB:

Barbara, that is a gorgeous iris.

Thank you Evelyn! My garden in NC, years ago. Those poppies have morphed into giants. They're almost five feet five tall now and the blooms are bigger than my hand.

Ha, so true! I've been looking for a true blue as well. There are a few dark blues I've grown that I would consider blue. I'll go poke around and see I can find some pics...

I'm still gonna call you Queen of the Blues.

Hoping my Karen Jones blooms next season. It's looking good so far. This is year two.

Here are two pics of Navy Blues. I would say the true color is closer to the left pic, but a little darker/richer like the right pic. Definitely one of my favorites!

iciris said:An SDB:

• Standard Dwarf Bearded Iris (Iris 'Karen Jones')
• Uploaded by iciris

Barbara ~ Yes! Thanks what I'm talking about!

Any in the talls???

Navy Blues won Best of Show at our iris society this spring.

...and fool that I am (as though I need another iris), I got a piece of it at our rhizome sale.

(But I think it's a violet... a "navy blue violet", but a violet none the less.)

It's very dark.

love 'navy blues'! have to add it to my list.

Evelyn,
If you are going to be queen of the blues then you absolutely need to add Yaquina Blue to your collection. Depending on light conditions it will appear between purple to blue. My wife and I visited Napa Country iris a couple of years ago, and Yaquina Blue wasn't on our buy list, but as we were driving away we found ourselves in conversation about what we saw and liked and this one iris made the greatest impression on both of us out of their entire selection of hundreds of iris. Once we got home, the first thing I did was go on-line and add it to our order.

Richard and Andrea ~

I received it 4 days ago from Joni's Dance-in-the-Wind Iris Garden.

(Still NOT queen of anything !)