Hi, I took a picture yesterday of my first iris bloom, -- a red iris called Berniece's Legacy. I did not post the picture because when I looked at the iris I saw that it had 4 falls and no petals (or should I say small weak or insignificant petals) rising from the center (standards) to make the official iris shape. I cut that bad flower off and waited till this morning when the next flower was due to bloom. That one also had no inner petals and 4 fall petals.

I have seen this cultivar (Berniece's Legacy) in pictures online with the correct number of petals and falls. Did I get a genetically bad plant? Is this a disease? Should I fertilize with something else? Did the grower perhaps add growth hormones that deformed the plant and will this get better once the chemical or hormone is out of the system-- Like next year. It is a pretty color, no doubt, a burgundy with a bright orange beard.

No, it is producing chimera, deformed blooms caused by environmental stress of some type. It looks to have more blooms in bud, so hopefully the later ones will bloom normally. And wait a year before you think of tossing it, as next years blooms will probably be okay. If it is the first time blooming it may still be settling in to your garden conditions.

Katy ~ to the Iris Forum!

I had one iris do that last year, and a different one do that the year before. However, not all the blooms were with 4 falls. Like Leslie said, give it a chance to prove itself.

With the consensus here - this can be typical of an iris who is still getting used to their new area. Or stressed out for another reason.

Hopefully, it's just the first bloom.

Some irises have a propensity for anomalies.

Thanks, everyone. Yes, this is the same thing I have encountered with some orchids-- the first year first blooms are often deformed-- especially paphiopedilums. I just went out and looked at it this morning, and the 3rd bloom was normal. I guess it encountered stress while those first buds were blooming. This is the earliest bloomer I have, and for the next 3 days it will be below zero so I will cover it tonight and hope for the best for the final blooms.