What a wonderful page -- the pictures everyone has sent are superb. I grow ALL the tall bearded Dykes Medal winners and have for years, or rather I TRY to. Some just will not grow for me here in Oklahoma -- especially Sea Power, Crowned Heads, Splashacata, Brown Lasso, Before the Storm, Hello Darkness, Bride's Halo, Kilt Lilt, Swan Ballet and Elmohr. Bride's Halo is one of my favorites when it blooms, but that is rare.
My favorites are Blue Sapphire, Ruffled Ballet, Stepping Out, Mary Frances, Vanity, Dusky Challenger, Jesse's Song, Celebration Song, Silverado, Song of Norway, Stairway to Heaven, Yaqina Blue, Mesmerizer, Thornbird and Queen's Circle. Since there are already wonderful pictures posted of most of these, I will add only Mesmerizer and Blue Sapphire (not sure why it didn't center -- the photo is, but I'm still not fluent in the digital age!! Some of the older ones that really do well and make such wonderful clumps with bushels of bloom are Wabash, Ola Kala, Spun Gold, Great Lakes, Missouri, and Cherie. I have won "Best Historic" at our Tulsa shows with both Great Lakes and Missouri. The iris I think least deserved the Dykes Medal is Victoria Falls, because nearly every year it blooms Victoria falls. The stalks are so long and spindly they just will not hold up the large number and size of blooms which are admittedly lovely, but you can't really enjoy them when they are lying on the ground.
But thanks, Paul, for posting this forum and all of you for the wonderful pics.
Mesmerizer
Blue Sapphire
