These irises may be obvious, or this topic meaningless (because irises come down in price so quickly, and one can easily search the AIS or garden.org databases for the various winners), but because I am bored, but also think this may be of some use to newbies, especially those with limited garden budgets...

Many years ago, shortly after I joined the AHS (now the ADS ), there were one or two articles in the Daylily Journal that were titled "The Best for Less". At a time when new tetraploid introductions were going for $100, these articles showcased a few older but still very good daylilies, which could be had for a relative pittance, at $15 or less. The daylilies all had to have something good about them that made them still garden worthy, as compared to the newest (and supposedly latest-and-greatest) daylily introductions.

On the basis of those articles, I bought a few plants for my daylily garden. After more than 20 years, I still have one of them, MARY'S GOLD, because of the garden impact of its large eye-zorching gold blooms. (Indeed, MARY'S GOLD is still widely grown for just that reason, although honestly I would love to seem some improvements in it. It is still available at a few nurseries; 2018 prices ran from $9 to $16 for a double fan.)



In that vein, what, comparably, would be the iris world's equivalents of "The Best for Less"? With new bearded intros typically going for $50, I would put the price at $7.00 or less. These must be garden do-ers performance-wise, and in terms of bloom beauty (color, form, patterns, substance - the whole bloom package) they should be competitive (or nearly so) with the latest bearded intros.

I'll throw out a few:

MESMERIZER
Space-Ager and 2002 Dykes Medal Winner; At that time (two seasons ago, mid-season), this was the only iris in my garden which held its own against THAT'S ALL FOLKS. 2018 price at Iris4u: $6.50



PAUL BLACK
2010 Dykes Medal Winner; tall grower, purple blue self with beautifully contrasting orange beard, to-die-for carnation-like fragrance. 2018 price at Iris4u: $7.00



THAT'S ALL FOLKS
Bill Maryott's last iris registration and the 2013 Dykes Medal Winner; This one simply demands your attention. 2018 price at Suttons: $6.00

Thornbird [M. Byers 1989] is an all time favorite of mine (I might have mentioned this before? ). It's a Wister and Dykes winner and a great grower, so I expect it can be found at a reasonable price somewhere.

In Australia, dwarfs and intermediates are generally cheaper than the talls. Neon Blue and Devil May Care are two of my favourites.

Oh Robin ~ I LOVE Neon Blue!

Since I am fairly new at iris growing, Ihave purchased no introductions. I need to refine my technique to growing quality rhizomes. At the moment, my garden is full. I do have a small space available for seedlings, should any of them live and grow.

Quite a few have mold on them. I will be finishing treating them today, and then spraying them with a fungicide. So actually I want to investigate the ones that I currently have and see which ones do the best. A small notebook is going out in the garden with me today, as it is sunny and cool. Tomorrow it is predicted to be colder and partly cloudy.

The "best" will be mold-resistant, among other good qualities. Of course, other parts of the country may have diffferent strains of mold, but I can only deal with what is here. Otherwise, many of them, even if small, have increases. So everything will be monitored.

Does everyone get mold on their rhizomes?

I've gotten black mold in the past. I just scrape the surface off and it doesn't seem to come back.

Liz ~

I have been busy, out in the cold air (for me)...applying 10% bleach solution to every rhizome. Most have it, some do not. I don't want to lose my whole crop, or even most of it.

Evelyn, I do get similar molds here in the damp forest. I just have a little this year, but last year was very rainy and I had a lot. There is no mold at all on the potted irises in the cold greenhouse which are protected from rain.

It seemed to me that if it did any harm, it was only because it kept the surfaces of the rhizomes a bit extra damp. It didn't seem to directly cause decay in the rhizomes as such, but I thought it was potentially harmful to wounds on the rhizomes, as I would prefer to keep wounds especially dry. I do the same bleach treatment that you do, but only if the black mold grows really thick or when it affects wounds.

I wish ya luck with the mold issue, Evelyn.

I have not yet had enough time to decipher whether the irises I have will grow well or not - in fact, the only answers I could give are from noids.

There's a tan noid in our yard that has proliferated so very much. Whatever cultivar it is, it is fast growing, strong(stalked) and strong regardless. It's tan, so you'd think it would not be pretty, but I still don't know why I find myself constantly checking the progress on them all in the spring.

William ~

As much as I would like to have a greenhouse, I don't want to be growing all of my irises in there. The iris growers manage to grow them in the ground. I would like to do that as well. Even though we don't have rain in the summer, we do get rain in late fall off and on through late spring, as well as snow in April, just to mess everything up.
Aren't irises supposed to be adaptable? If I cannot grow them well, then I probably shouldn't be thinking of hybridizing them.

Prove the naysayers wrong Evelyn. Gardeners have always stretched the boundaries.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "black mold' on the rhizomes. I agree with William's take on it....unless it gets thick enough to hold a mot of moisture, it won't be an issue. I'd skip the bleach, and spray abroad spectrum fungicide....giving the whole plant good coverage (the "run off' from the leaves should give you "extra coverage" at the rhizome). As soon as some sun....and drier conditions....arrive, the mildew will just dry up.

At Sisters Iris Farm for $8.00: .

I have Bolshoi but it has not increased too much. It is beautiful and I hope it will put up some increases when spring comes. Beautiful picture and a good price!

i agree with jane on its growth. i got my rhizome from keith keppel as a bonus. it bloomed for the first time last year; bloomed deep in foliage. i am looking forward to its bloom this year!