I've got a bunch of iris that decided to change color. I'm pretty sure that I've lost my mind now, so I thought I'd ask if this is even possible, just to be sure that it's not really me. A neighbor down the street has some that he swears changed color, but I was skeptical. Now it seems to have happened to me!

Anything that you can tell me about this would be most appreciated!

Natalie

Not possible for Iris to change color unless hit with round up or some chemical at least that is what I have always been told and I have never had any change color

Once the seed has germinated the color is set for live. Never changes

A couple of things can happen and this is why changing colors always comes up.

A bee pod burst and it was stronger than the color you once had. Several colors crossed over and where you once thought was purple has been overtaken by a yellow say.

D

Could you go into some more detail on what you experienced? I find this interesting because I have heard this before a number of times.

K

Irises do NOT change color, just as you cannot change color. Two things can happen, a bee pollinates a flower from a different color, the pod ripens and the seeds fall to the ground and grow and then bloom later in a year or two. So then you have a flower of a different color in the same place.

The other possibility is that a stronger growing variety took over and grew across a weaker variety, thus choking the weaker one out. My irises grow across each other all the time, they spread out all over the place. This is probably what happened.

Dot

I rescued a median from the garden of a friend who had passed away. Two years later there were bloom stalks of a taller one with different color. At first I thought it had sported but then realized I had just brought some small pieces of the second one home and after a couple of years it had bloomed. I agree with the bee pod theory also. Those seedlings may have been more vigorous and taken over.

There are little pieces of plants left behind that could suddenly flower. Bee pods are quite possible if you don't cut stems after bloom.

There is an interesting article by Jan Sacks in the spring Siberian Iris about color change in (Siberian) iris and the possible factors. The article discusses not only the differences in appearance of iris grown in different geographical locations but in his own gardens. Could depletion/changes of some soil component cause subtle changes to color?

Quite possible is shades of the same color, not yellow to purple etc.
Jan & Marty have been growing siberians since the early 80s.

That's right Lucy. Not Yellow to purple but intensifying or fading of certain colors which dramatically or subtly change overall appearance.

Natalie, what kind of color change are you referring to?

Sorry for the delay in getting back to everyone, and I appreciate all of the replies. I've been out camping and just got home, so I'll get back to this a little later today. I'll see if I can find pictures from last year and post them along with pictures from this year. I still have a couple blooming that were the same as last year, so if I can't find the pics, I'll take new ones.

There were no bee pods as I cut the stalks as soon as they were done, and no crowding of others either. It's really crazy!

Natalie

Melvin
April 30, 2020 Name: Melvin
Indianapolis, IN. 46250

I have a new friend that has a greenhouse and grows Irises. He contends that when planted close together, they will change color to mix together in a new blend. I have grown Irises for several years but never had that experience. He says that when planted close together, it will happen so you shou should keep a good space between them.
Any comments or suggestions? I just planted a bunch and they are jammed together.
Above comments are very interesting. Thanks.
Melvin

Melvin. Like said in previous posts, iris don't change color. If two irises are planted close together after a couple years, they might get mixed together and if one is stronger it can overpower the other one and take over smothering the weaker one out. There won't be any Mixed blends of the two unless they cross pollinated, and produced seeds that grew up into a new cultivar. If you dead head the blooms after they are spent, you won't have to worry about that happening.

Melvin Name: Melvin
April 30, 2020 Indianapolis, IN

Tom, pardon the ignorance but what is "dead head the blooms"? I do remove them so the following buds will look good.

Thanks,
Melvin

you 'dead headed'

Yes, you deadheaded. But if you left the last one on (because there were no buds following it), it could have produced seed.

oops, sneaky plant

I do agree the same Iris can appear lighter or darker depending on weather, health, etc: But it stays within the same color range. There are also the broken color Irises and some can appear quite different from bloom to bloom.
But I have been growing Irises for 10 years and have lots, and have never had one change from a yellow to a purple, etc;

I have had people tell me they didn't want to invest any money in Irises because they will all just turn purple but that's so untrue, and well, just sad, cause they are missing so much!

Natalie said:I've got a bunch of iris that decided to change color. I'm pretty sure that I've lost my mind now, so I thought I'd ask if this is even possible, just to be sure that it's not really me. A neighbor down the street has some that he swears changed color, but I was skeptical. Now it seems to have happened to me!

Anything that you can tell me about this would be most appreciated!

Natalie

I have a six year old clump of transplanted deep purple bearded iris in my yard that all came up a beautiful porcelain white last year! This year they didn't bloom at all. I'm transplanting some of them today to a new area and see what color if any they become next year.

They don't change. Usually means other plants were in with the originals or seed pod formed & they dropped seeds.