Greetings! I have a little mystery in my garden (actually, I ought to say quite a large mystery, as it is a huge iris!) and I would like to consult you all. This plicata consistently reads as blue in photos, though it is more of a medium purple to the naked eye. It may have a very slight fragrance or perhaps none (I can't quite make up my mind on that point). Its most salient feature is that the bloom stalk is about 49" tall. It was an error in my order from Schreiner's, but nothing among their offerings this year seems to match it.

Has anybody purchased a similar plicata from Schreiner's in the past that might be the same variety, or do you have any theories about this plant's secret identity? I've searched as exhaustively as I know how online, but I haven't been wholly convinced by anything I've found, and this winter was so strange that registered bloom seasons mean absolutely nothing at the moment, so that's not providing me much of a hint.

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

Hi Amy ~ to the Iris Forum!

Have you contacted Schreiner's? There are so many blue-violet plicatas.

Maybe someone here might recognize it. But the best thing, in my opinion, woulld be to send a picture of it to Schreiner's and see what they say.

Good luck in your search!

I did contact them with pictures and asked whether they thought it might possibly be "Spirit Rider," which was, though not an exact match in my opinion, the closest of the plicatas in their current catalogue. They said they didn't think it was and went on to suggest, essentially, that I should just enjoy it as a mystery iris, without giving any further insights into what variety it might be. I was hesitant to press them further, but perhaps I should?

Amy ~ It is possible that they are not allowed to give a name to an iris, once it has left their gardens. Especially if it arrived with the incorrect name. Did they offer to replace the correct one?

Oh yes, absolutely. They've been really wonderful to work with--I was only disappointed that they didn't offer a possible name for this one. I had thought they might at least speculate, since I assume it's very likely planted near the variety I had actually ordered.

Just curious, what iris did you order?

Moonlit Water, which I had already wanted for years and years and just never got around to buying, so waiting one more year won't kill me!

janeite06 said:Moonlit Water, which I had already wanted for years and years and just never got around to buying, so waiting one more year won't kill me!

Oh, that's a pretty one!

welcome to the iris forum, amy.

i looked in the database, just under schreiner as the hybridizer, & got a few hits. i pasted a few examples. but, since there are many, many purple/blue plicatas, and are unsure of the hybridizer. i might suggest that you search as i did under, hybridizer, as one of the main searches? then filter the search to just include "tb" (tall bearded) and "plicata". hit the search button. another filter that might be tried, is the height, and the season it blooms; early, mid, late. try as many different hybridizers as possible; keith keppel is another famous hybridizer, known for his plicatas.

you'll see why, imho, it's the most difficult combination to search. (tb & plicata)

happy hunting!

.

Daredevil is a strong possibility IMHO -- I see white tipped orange beards in your photo. Daredevil is a methyl violet plicata with this characteristic
Daredevil -- Keppel '88


That beautiful branching in your photo -- a classic Keppelian trait

Thank you both very much! I had attempted to search this database, but I hadn't thought to search by hybridizer. That's an excellent suggestion that might help narrow things down!

Daredevil also has mostly purple standards as soes the one you got from Schreiners. But it is right that there are a whole sea of purple and white plicatas so probably the hardest type to match.

You are going to love Moonlit Water when it finally arrives. I have had many "mistakes" sent from Schreiners, but they are always helpful with replacements.

If you bought it as an introduction knowing the year could be helpful.

Amy

I also find purple and white plicatas difficult to identify. The most unique thing about yours is the height, the thin line running down the falls which may not always be present and the beard which I would describe as orange tipped mauve or blue or white.

The first iris that came to my mind was Stepping Out but the falls on yours look wider. I then looked at its children and found a few irises with the correct beard colour but the standards were too white to be a match. A lot of these were Schreiners. You may wish to go through all the grandchildren and their children etc.

I then searched the garden.org database and only found one iris worth considering. This one is 42 inches tall and described as violet even though it looks paler and more pink in the photos.


I really like your iris and would love to know its name too. I wish you luck.

Oh, wow! "Place Your Bets" does look promising! Thank you--I'll see what other examples of that one I may be able to turn up online, and I'll explore the children of "Stepping Out" (which I also happen to have in my garden and love).