My Perrin, Texas grandmother 1960's) had many Iris but there was a lavender/blue tall Iris that was a solid color so vibrant that it was breathtaking. It was mid season to late here in Fort Worth. How can I find possible sources of old irises?
Thank you!

to the site! I'm moving this to the Iris forum since you may get more answers there.

Moongardner said:My Perrin, Texas grandmother 1960's) had many Iris but there was a lavender/blue tall Iris that was a solid color so vibrant that it was breathtaking. It was mid season to late here in Fort Worth. How can I find possible sources of old irises?
Thank you!

Hey, welcome.

FYI, You can search specifically for the "historic" irises (they have to be more than 20(?) years old to be in that category).

On this forum there is a sticky note listing iris vendors-- it specifically mentions some vendors that focuses on historics.

Bluebird haven iris garden does alot of historic irises. Some going back to the 1930's and 40's If I remember correctly. She may be able to help. I'm using her to try and find a specific one to me.

Welcome by the way.

FYI In the iris world an iris is considered "historic" 30 yrs. from the year of its introduction , i.e. 1991 and earlier.

Joseph, yes, I know that and that makes me feel older than dirt. To me, historic means the irises n my mother's garden, but those were from the 1940s and earlier.

JosephGhio said:FYI In the iris world an iris is considered "historic" 30 yrs. from the year of its introduction , i.e. 1991 and earlier.

Thanks for the correction Joseph, "20" was my bad.

Moongardner ~ to the Iris forum!

Welcome, Moongardner! Good luck finding an iris that matches your memory of your grandmother's iris. A good way to find something you like is to visit iris vendor gardens at bloom time. It looks like Fort Worth has an iris society, whose members could give you some places to visit.

It took me awhile to figure out what my mother's Iris was (William A. Setchell), so don't give up hope...

Bluebird Haven carries almost exclusively Historic Iris.
Blue J has a lot
Superstition always carries some.
Also check with Iris Sisters, I think she's had some in the past. She's taking orders at the end of November for 2022, so we don't have long to wait to see what she's offering...
You could also check with Stout, Exline, and Argyle Acres.

Here are some that I can think of that were popular back in your Grandmother's day. to get you started.. (I'm betting on Blue Sapphire or Babbling Brook, as both are stunning)

Sapphire Hills was/is also a very stunning blue. Same blue as its more ruffled descendant, Yaquina Blue.

I sent our Chivalry to our daughter in Ohio. It was introduced in 1944.

Lucy I added chivalry to my want list this morning.

You can also contact H.I.P.S. which is the historic iris preservation society. They could possibly give you some leads.

Remember t he dwarf irises have older versions also.

DaisyDo said:Sapphire Hills was/is also a very stunning blue. Same blue as its more ruffled descendant, Yaquina Blue.

I thought of 'Sapphire Hills', but it wasn't introduced until '71.. but you're certainly right about it's beauty.. It's one of many I've grown trying to find a match to my blue NOID (FYI-close, but not right)..

Sorry that I didn't think of checking the intro date for SH. Its a bit more recent than I had been thinking. It definitely is a beauty. I bought it first and several years later bought Yaquina Blue, which if I recall is several generations removed from SH. This summer they bloomed together and the color match between the two was so exact that I looked up Yaquina blue in the database and followed its ancestry back...and sure enough, it led back to S H. And the funny thing is that although I like the ruffled form on YB, I also love the classic more tailored form of SH. I truly can't decide which I like better! So, I'm keeping both!

Thata Girl.

this might be similar to the Iris you recall, actual id very hard from photos as I have found.

https://wiki.irises.org/TbAthr...