I've been looking for a true sky blue iris for many years. Now I realize my idea of true sky blue may vary from what others consider sky blue but what I'm looking for is the color that I have seen on photos of the small iris, Karen Jones. Most blues have a slight purple tint to them but I'm looking for one that has a small tinge of green in it rather than purple. I've been wanting to find a hybridizer who would work on this but I guess if that color was possible someone would probably come up with it already. Any ideas?

Also is the second photo of an iris for real or has the color been altered?

Hi Sherri. I looks altered to me. But if it real I wouldn't mind having that one.
@KentPfeiffer should be able to answer your question.

The second picture has been altered, in a very big way. There's no iris even close to that color in real life.

Donald Spoon, a hybridizer from Virginia, has been working towards blue-green iris for quite some time. But, as you guessed, it's not an easy thing to do. As best as I can remember, most of his success to this point has been with Standard Dwarf Bearded Irises

Thank you for the information Kent.

KentPfeiffer said:The second picture has been altered, in a very big way. There's no iris even close to that color in real life.

Donald Spoon, a hybridizer from Virginia, has been working towards blue-green iris for quite some time. But, as you guessed, it's not an easy thing to do. As best as I can remember, most of his success to this point has been with Standard Dwarf Bearded Irises

Thank you for the help. If a person wants to make blue green you would add yellow to blue, but since all the blue irises have purple in them, which is the complement color to yellow, I would guess that most irises of that combination would come out a grayish color.

SherriRaye said:

Thank you for the help. If a person wants to make blue green you would add yellow to blue, but since all the blue irises have purple in them, which is the complement color to yellow, I would guess that most irises of that combination would come out a grayish color.

The color depicted in the pictures (in the database) that I took of Karen Jones was true to the color on the iris.

SherriRaye said:I've been looking for a true sky blue iris for many years. Now I realize my idea of true sky blue may vary from what others consider sky blue but what I'm looking for is the color that I have seen on photos of the small iris, Karen Jones. Most blues have a slight purple tint to them but I'm looking for one that has a small tinge of green in it rather than purple. I've been wanting to find a hybridizer who would work on this but I guess if that color was possible someone would probably come up with it already. Any ideas?

Also is the second photo of an iris for real or has the color been altered?

That last photshopped picture has been around the block a time or two, seems like it shows up on here at least once a year since I've been a member. Brad had a couple seedlings that had some turquoise color in them a while back, but I don't know if any of them survived his disaster.

I remember us discussing this not too long ago and someone mentioned

(Black 1989)

I have SDB Cold River (Black 2000) and it is supposed to be a blue/green blend, but it is new in my garden, so I haven't seen it bloom yet.
Pictures of it in the AIS database: http://wiki.irises.org/Sdb/Sdb...

I wish Brad (and Paul) would start posting their pictures again. I enjoyed and learned so much from their posts on hybridizing.

Cold River looks beautiful, Lilli. I hope to see your photos next spring.

Sherri - are you looking for a sky blue that is all blue or just the falls? There are several dwarfs that are a turquoise color, but I think most have white standards. Don Spoon's Larry's Blue is all blue - http://winterberryirises.com/y...

but might not be the exact color you wanted. No purple in this one though!

iciris said:The color depicted in the pictures (in the database) that I took of Karen Jones was true to the color on the iris.

The blue on Karen Jones is what I'm looking for. That's a great photo by the way. I'll get that although I was looking for a bigger iris.

Thank you.

Lestv said:Sherri - are you looking for a sky blue that is all blue or just the falls? There are several dwarfs that are a turquoise color, but I think most have white standards. Don Spoon's Larry's Blue is all blue - http://winterberryirises.com/y...

but might not be the exact color you wanted. No purple in this one though!

Leslie....that's the exact color I'm looking for if the photo is accurate. I'll see if I can order it. Do you know if it is for sale? It seems if they can come up with that blue in the SDB that eventually someone will have success with the tall beardeds.

They say they take orders until October! You can ask them too if Don has any larger sky blue iris he is working on.

Winterberry: http://www.winterberryirises.c...

KentPfeiffer said:The second picture has been altered, in a very big way. There's no iris even close to that color in real life.

Donald Spoon, a hybridizer from Virginia, has been working towards blue-green iris for quite some time. But, as you guessed, it's not an easy thing to do. As best as I can remember, most of his success to this point has been with Standard Dwarf Bearded Irises

I had an opportunity to speak with Don Spoon yesterday - what an interesting individual! He seems to be making progress with a TB sky blue iris and is closer to coming up with a true red one as well. Thank you for telling me about him.

Lestv said:They say they take orders until October! You can ask them too if Don has any larger sky blue iris he is working on.

Winterberry: http://www.winterberryirises.c...

As I stated in a follow-up to Kent, I had a chance to speak with Don yesterday and he was a great help. He said that TB Iris "Procrastinator" is a probably as close to what I'm looking for as is available at this time.

Thank you, Leslie, for giving me the winterberryirises website information. I phoned them and Don answered the call. He's a very interesting person to talk to about irises.

Ginny is a great too. They have a passion for their work which is nice to see.

Lestv said:Ginny is a great too. They have a passion for their work which is nice to see.

Don was trying to convince me to start hybridizing because he loves their work so much and wants everyone to be able to share enjoyment.

I spoke to Ginny today. They are both very nice and love to talk about their irises. I ended up ordering SDB Karen Jones, SDB Larry's Blue, TB Procrastinator and TB Red Lace Petticoat. I'll share photos when they bloom next spring. Thanks, Leslie, and to everyone with their great suggestions.

IrisLilli said:I remember us discussing this not too long ago and someone mentioned

• Standard Dwarf Bearded Iris (Iris 'Tu Tu Turquoise')
• Uploaded by GreenIris

(Black 1989)

I have SDB Cold River (Black 2000) and it is supposed to be a blue/green blend, but it is new in my garden, so I haven't seen it bloom yet.
Pictures of it in the AIS database: http://wiki.irises.org/Sdb/Sdb...

Honestly, I think that is a far cry from turquoise, IMHO.