I have some iris that bloomed for the first time this year. The lower part of the iris, the petals that are supposed to fall, are standing straight out. Is this weather related or ? Will those always do that or not? I don't like this characteristic and I'd like to avoid it in the future if I order more iris. The specific one today that bloomed this way is Honey House, also Bearded Wonder. I think they look strange.

Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Honey House')

well here a pic of Honey House in the database and the falls do not look like they are down in it either. But when I did a google image search there were pics of it with the falls down. Do the blooms vary on the same plant?

I don't have a ton of experience, but some of the ones I have started out with horizontal falls, then the falls relaxed as the bloom matured. Some of them are bred to stand out, though, I think. I checked the Iris twiki and most of the photographs for Bearded Wonder show the falls standing out. Maybe checking both the ATP database and the twiki before buying or trading will help you avoid the ones you don't want?

http://wiki.irises.org/bin/vie...

Debra stated it very well. There are irises bred for color, type, size and form for every taste. It is important to do research if you there is a particular trait you do not prefer.

does this particular trait have a fancy name I should be looking for in an iris description?

Think it is called a Flared form. If you have one you are contemplating, you can search the database by that single field to see if it is registered as such.

I like flared falls....not horizontal but slightly relaxed.

the database describes Honey House as a Bubble Ruffled. Do all of the bubble ruffled have falls that stand out?

Hopefully, someone who is much more conversant with form will chime in. I'd like to know, as well.

No, not all bubble ruffled irises falls stand out. I grow Birthday Girl and her falls, although quite ruffled, do not stand out. This is a photo from the database of Birthday Girl.

In my observation of newly introduced irises for some years it seems like hybridizers are trying to achieve wider falls that are more rounded and do not drop straight down from the bloom. That is really evident in the smaller dwarf forms. When the little irises are near the ground the flaring falls make the bloom easier to enjoy and photograph. And if an iris bloom has ruffled edges or an edge with a distinctive pattern or contrasting color it is easier to enjoy if the falls flare out.

I like both but I am a bit partial to the older forms. smiles

Flared form on the dwarfs make them easier to see. As I am short, it is beter for me. The tall bearded are more variable.

I've also heard that form called a helicopter. I don't particularly care for it either. The angle of the camera can make the falls look like they're drooping. Rather than shooting straight on, it's kind of a 45 degree angle higher up on the standards.. It's also used to get everything in focus in micro... I do this a lot on newly opened blooms whose falls haven't drooped yet.. or to make a helicopter look like an Iris should..

Pulling some info from the HIPS references about iris identification:

Fall position-"carriage: nearly horizontal; flaring (approximately a 45 degree angle); drooping to straight-hanging; reflexed (bending back toward stem)." Some of course start out horizontal and then assume their normal position.

As Sherry noted it can be difficult to get pictures that properly show the form of the falls.

I sort of like what I 'grew up with", that strappy, hound dog eared, sort of thing, but , I'm pretty *adaptable* when it comes to iris ! It's pretty obvious, when looking at all the pictures that different folks post, that *most" seem to favor the view from "just slightly " higher than the bloom, and "just off center" of the fall

like this
but some like a more "straight ahead" view of the fall

and some prefer this angle

But, generally the "fully flared falls ", on a "Big" iris, don't show their full potential unless you look more "down the throat"

as Lucy pointed out the "little guys, being so low to the ground ,are best viewed "down the throat", and the flared falls are more of an "advantage"

and, of course, those that "prefer" the falls to actually "fall" usually wait for the bloom to "relax" before taking a pic, and the "fully flrared" lovers snap as soon as the bud opens, and the flower is still "stiff'. So , I guess what I'm getting at, is depending on what "agenda' the photographer has the picture *may* not be representative of how *most* of the blooms look, *most * of the time! So ,seeing a picture, or two, of a bloom may not tell the whole story of it's form....and the 'written descriptions" often follow suit, stressing points that are "popular" at the time, and glossing over those that may seen "old hat", or otherwise thought not desirable. So I guess the thing to do is ask lots of questions of those that grow it..Does it *usually* look like that? ...

One of the reasons you see strongly flared falls in some modern irises is that many people really like the look (I know I do). But, I also suspect flared falls are at least partly a by-product of breeding for heavier substance.

One of the most significant improvements in irises over the past 20-30 years has come in the form of flower petals with heavy substance. It makes them far more durable in the face of wind and rain. I don't grow historic varieties largely because they can't stand up to the weather we have here in the spring. Wind is a given, it's merely a question of how hard it blows on any particular day. Historics, with their vertically hanging floppy falls, get torn to shreds almost as quickly as they open. There is a public display garden nearby that is dedicated to irises hybridized by the Sass brothers from the 1920's through the 1940's. It's a wonderful collection that I try to visit at least once each spring, but getting good pictures of those irises is a real challenge. It takes a couple of days in a row of ideal weather to really get a nice show from them and that's hard to come by here.