This iris was given to me years ago. I'm not a huge fan of yellow irises, so it stands to reason that this would be the best performer here. At the moment, it's crammed into a wide, shallow pot in a shady spot, but still gives multiple blooms every spring (in Charleston, SC). I can't detect fragrance, but don't have a great sense of smell, so...maybe it's fragrant for others?

Just curious if anyone recognizes this impressive iris, and can suggest an ID?



Virginia

After a bit more searching, I saw a similar-looking heirloom Iris advertised by Old House Gardens called 'Coronation'. If anyone is familiar with that variety, I'd be interested if you think this iris could be 'Coronation'.
Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Coronation')

Thanks,
Virginia

Virginia ~ to the Iris Forum!

@DaveinPA ~ Would you say this is Goldilocks? It looks close to your picture of it.

Thanks for the welcome.

I agree that 'Goldilocks' does look similar. Scrolling through photos of yellow irises at the HIPS site, I also noted 'Happy Days', 'California Gold', 'Goldbeater' and 'Spun Gold' as possibilities. I don't have a good sense for how much iris varieties can vary in coloring, shape, patterning, height, etc., especially under different growing conditions.

The fringing on my plant is less dramatic than in the photos of 'Goldilocks', but I'm inclined to assume that could be due to the less-than-ideal growing conditions?

I should mention that there's nothing about the provenance of this iris to suggest that it need be very old. I received it in the 1980's or early 1990's, so theoretically, it could be late 20th C. It has an old-fashioned look to my inexpert eye, however, and it's clearly a tough plant, so I think it could date to the early 20th century...

Thanks again,
Virginia

I hope you find an ID for your pretty yellow iris.

virgina, welcome love the clematis in your avatar!

California gold or Spanish Gold. 1933. Mine has PBF. Blooming now this week tall and a vigorous grower. You cannot kill it. After looking at dozens of historic yellows lean towards California Gold as the name. But It is still a NOID because I cannot prove it without growing side by side. I have my yellow growing with a blue historic NOID. I think they look good together. The light in the second is an afternoon shot. It is not a pale primrose type of yellow. Everyone probably has this Iris if they are 60 or older. I am glad mine was passed along. Perhaps that is the name we should give our yellow NOID

Good luck with your ID hunt, Virginia!

KatsI2 said:California gold or Spanish Gold. 1933. Mine has PBF. Blooming now this week tall and a vigorous grower. You cannot kill it. After looking at dozens of historic yellows lean towards California Gold as the name. But It is still a NOID because I cannot prove it without growing side by side. I have my yellow growing with a blue historic NOID. I think they look good together. The light in the second is an afternoon shot. It is not a pale primrose type of yellow. Everyone probably has this Iris if they are 60 or older. I am glad mine was passed along. Perhaps that is the name we should give our yellow NOID

Your yellow iris looks just like mine; I wonder if it's a SC passalong, or do you know of it growing in other gardens out-of-state?

As I said in my initial post, yellow irises aren't my favorite, but who can disrespect these tough old birds that bloom and bloom, no matter what? And mingled with the blue iris, as in your first photo... Zowie! It really does merit better treatment than I've given it- for its looks, and not just its toughness. Plus, I don't have a lot of full sun here, so shade tolerance is a highly prized virtue.

Thanks so much for the info, and for the inspiring photos- now I have an excuse to acquire some deep blue iris to go with my "Passalong Yellow" plants... Or maybe they would "play well" with a bright blue iris that was also a passalong, and which I think might be I. hexagona or a near descendant.


Virginia

Reviving this old thread to say that my "Passalong Yellow" Iris just started blooming, and is definitely fragrant. If I can smell it at all it's probably very fragrant... Not sure about PBF, but apparently that can vary according to location/ growing conditions?



To me, it looks very like the photos of 'Goldilocks' at the HIPS web site, and it is early, fragrant and has a silky sheen to the bloom, so that is my top contender for actual ID. Perhaps it's just the lighting, but the photos posted at the NGA site look like two different plants? That would hardly be surprising when dealing with any older plant...

OTOH, some early reports of 'Goldilocks' call it a pleasing soft yellow, while others mention a green undertone (Schreiners called it distressing), so I wonder if this is an iris whose color can vary somewhat.
Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Goldilocks')

Virginia

A bit of variation in colour is not unusual, but as you said yourself, ID'ing an old iris can be difficult, not least because a lot of things have had time to happen since it was first introduced; early misidentified cultivars, accidental seedlings mistaken for the mother plant etc.

I think it looks like Golden Majesty. Check it out in the database.

IrisLilli said:A bit of variation in colour is not unusual, but as you said yourself, ID'ing an old iris can be difficult, not least because a lot of things have had time to happen since it was first introduced; early misidentified cultivars, accidental seedlings mistaken for the mother plant etc.

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Goldilocks')
• Uploaded by lharvey16

Aside from the darker falls, they seem to be much the same. Would you say that those falls were greenish? 'When I look through Iris descriptions online, 'green' Irises look more brown to me... The buds of my plant have a similar tone that looks brownish or bronzy, but I don't see that in the open flower.

In the old days, I could just ship you a bit of my Iris to see how it grows for you, but I think OR & CA have strict rules about plant imports, and I wouldn't trust a cross-country shipment with all the continuing USPS slowdowns even if I weren't worried about inadvertently shipping some novel microbe or insect egg to your garden.

Golden Majesty:

DaisyDo said:I think it looks like Golden Majesty. Check it out in the database.

Yes, the flower looks VERY similar, and it should also be fragrant, but 'GM' is supposedly very tall and mid-late season. Admittedly, my plants (one in a pot and another in the ground) get a fair amount of shade, but my mom has one at her house in good sun, and it is not taller than average, certainly not 42", as described by Mr. Salbach.

I think that 'California Gold' as pictured at the HIPS site also looks very similar, but again, I think it blooms later in the season, and if 'CG' is 30", it might be a bit too short?

DaisyDo said:Golden Majesty:

• Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Golden Majesty')
• Uploaded by scvirginia

I just posted another documentation photo, though it isn't as clear as the Cooley's catalog photo.

Argyl Acres has Golden Majesty, if you want to plant some for comparison: http://www.shop.argyleacres.co...

Thanks for the acorn, Virginia! I'm pretty sure it's Golden Majestry. If you google "Golden Majesty iris" (without the quotes) and then switch to images in your browser, you'll see a lot more photos of it. I do this all the time when I want to see a lot more images of a particular iris than show up in the database.

Bluebird Haven also has it. Here is a link:

http://www.bluebirdhavenirisga...