Getting an "exact match" to put a name on an iris is a very tricky thing to do ! As was stated above, without growing a "known example "(if one can be found !) next to it, in the same soil and climatic conditions....and then doing a REAL close examination of both plants (usually a "dissection " to compare every part of the bloom)the best you can hope for is a "probably". I applaud Kent's efforts to keep the data base as accurate as possible. We have reached the point where there are so many "wrong iris" out there in "irisville" that finding a "true one" is pretty hard to do. Most data bases...if you look at all the pix of certain cultivars....are likely to show several DIFFERENT irises, under the same name!
While , for most of us that have the :iris virus", a "Named Plant" is a great thing to have, and, "putting a name TO a plant can be a fun...an educational thing to do....we have to ask ourselves if a "name" is REALLY necessary ! If we can't be at least 99% sure of ID, I think (IMHO) that we need to call it a "noid", and enjoy it that way ! I've acquired a LOT of irises, over the years....from all kinds of sources , private gardens, iris buddies, vendors, hybridizers...you name it....and the number of "noid" irises that I have amassed I staggering ! We can't do anything but our "best shot" when it comes to sending the "correct" iris....mistakes are easy to make....you can drop one, put it in the wrong pile, forget to mark it, let the clumps grow together, dig the WRONG clump, etc., etc. But we CAN be vigilant in not naming something without all the "due process " of ID groundwork. All these irises we grow , (again, IMHO) aren't REALLY ours! We're just keeping them going for the gardeners that are yet to be born! So, if they HAVE a name, we need to do our best not to LOSE it, and, if they DON'T have a name, they need passed on as "maybe's", or "probables", or "noids'...so we don't muddy the water for those 'future irisarians".
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