How Green is My Iris?

By J. Griffin Crump

Photography, soil conditions, and climate can all have an effect on how green an iris appears.  In the last post, we asked what the greenest of the green irises were, and we saw quite a bit of variety.   Actually, there are more irises in the green range than I could include in the prior post-- and one or two that I have to confess I overlooked -- so here are more, some with pronounced differences in the coloration of  the individual specimens, seemingly reflecting the conditions in which they are grown.

Veins

This striking seedling of Bob Van Liere tops the Veins category.  We certainly hope to see this one in commercial production.

 

Van Liere sdlg 24EM5

It was hard to decide into which category to place Mike Sutton's 'Return to Bayberry', but Colleen Modra's photo from Australia tipped the balance to Veins.

'Return to Bayberry' Michael Sutton  Photo by Colleen Modra

'Return to Bayberry' Michael Sutton

Chartreuse

Richard Ernst's 'Envy' leads the list in this category --  and a wide category it is, stretching from almost entirely yellow to almost green.

'Envy' Richard Ernst  Photo by Blue J Iris

Here's an early entry in the green class  --  Rex Brown's 'Green Quest', R. 1959.

'Green Quest' Rex Brown

And another early one, suggested by many, is L. Noyd's 'Pride of Ireland', looking just as it used to in my garden.  Registered as a border bearded iris in 1970, it was reclassified as a Tall Bearded iris in 1973 after receiving an HM in 1972 as a BB.

'Pride of Ireland'  L. Noyd

Still in the chartreuse category, but challenging the decision, is Keith Keppel's 'Secret Partner'.  And have a look at its varied appearance in different gardens!  It makes 'Thornbird''s variations look mild by comparison.

'Secret Partner' Keppel Photo by Mid-America Garden


'Secret Partner' Keppel Photo by Betty Jacobs


'Secret Partner'  Keppel

Barry Blyth describes his 'Devil's Own' as "brassy, greenish gold", and I'd agree, based on its appearance in France. 

'Devil's Own'  Blyth in Sologne, France

But in Oregon . . .

'Devil's Own' Blyth   Photo by Snowpeak Iris

The same goes for Monty Byers' 'Lichen' in Nebraska . . .

'Lichen' Monty Byers  Photo by Blue J Iris

vs. in the Loire Valley, France:

'Lichen'  Monty Byers  Photo by Sylvain Rouad in the Loire Valley, France

Here is Barry Blyth's 'Tuscana', as photographed by Chuck Chapman.

'Tuscana' Blyth  Photo by Chapman

And by Aurora Borealis Garden:

 'Tuscana' Blyth  Photo by Aurora Borealis Garden, zone 5a

Could some of these differences be ascribed to film or camera work?  Perhaps.


Olive

We arrive now at the olive category, and C. DeForest's 'Bayberry Candle', a justly famous historic iris.  

'Bayberry Candle'  C. DeForest

 followed by Bob Van Liere's 23GS24 which is to be introduced this year as Celtic Dancer:

Celtic Dancer  Van Liere  Iris4U

 'Ameila Bedeila' by Sterling Innerst has interesting olive hafts:

'Amelia Bedeila'  Innerst

And last in the Olive category, Anton Mego's 'Going Green'.  I'm an admirer of Mego's work, but I think that this one does still have a way to go before it can be called green.

 
'Going Green'  Mego

Blue/Green

Chuck Chapman's 'Ruth's Choice' is my choice for this category;

 
 'Ruth's Choice' Chapman

followed by Paul Black's seductive 'Green Oasis'.

'Green Oasis' Paul Black, 2013

and Bob Van Liere's colorful 24EM1

24EM1  Van Liere

Finally (and yes, yes, I know it's a Louisiana, but it's so green) is a new introduction called 'Reverchon Snowfall'.

According to Mary Swann-Young, on the Reblooming Iris Society page, Melody Wilhoit says Red Bud Lane will be introducing Hooker Nichols' reblooming Louisiana (LAB-5) as 'Reverchon Snowfall' this year. It has rebloomed in July for the Wilhoits, in central Illinois.  

'Reverchon Snowfall'  Hooker Nichols

So, there they are, their lovely colors at the mercy of the soil, the weather, and the camera.

Of one thing I'm confident:  They're gonna get greener. 

Neglectas: Iris Color Terminology

By Renee Fraser

Such a sad name.  NEGLECTA.   Neglectas are blue or purple bitone irises in which the falls are darker than the standards.  The Latin means something that may be overlooked or neglected, but that is unlikely to happen with these irises!

"Northwest Progress" Schreiner, 1997

This color class of irises was named after this shy little flower, the original "Neglecta".  You can still buy this darling 1815 historic iris.

  

"Neglecta" Photo by Rick Tasco

On some, the falls are almost an inky black.  

"Dangerous Mood" Schreiner, 2004   Photo by Margie Valenzuela

Median irises with their lovely beards also come in this color combination.  Here is the Intermediate iris 'Hellcat.'

'Hellcat' Aitken 1983  Photo by Sandra Eggertson

And here is 'Against the Tide', a Border Bearded iris.   Griff Crump says "the difficulty in keeping 'Best Bet' alive in some places is pretty well known.  So, late in the 1990s, I was discussing the matter with several iris friends, including a couple of well-known iris hybridizers, both of whom declared that they would never use it in hybridizing, for that reason.  I didn't mention to them that I had already crossed it with one of my seedlings..."  and for that reason, he named it 'Against the Tide'. 

'Against the Tide'  Crump, 2001 Photo by Donald Eaves

Some neglectas are very blue indeed, especially in cooler climes.  This clump will knock your socks off:

'Heartstring Strummer' Johnson 2001 Photo by AdamNAutumn

Lovely new neglectas with ruffles are now available.

"Fabulous One" Nicodemus,  2006  Photo by Kent Pfeiffer

'Global Crossing' Van Liere 2012

'World Premier' is a justly famous iris, and it is very, very blue.

Photo by Susanne Spicker

Some tend toward a navy blue.

'Phantom Ship' Baumunk, 2007 Photo by Elladan McLeester

'Best Bet' is a reblooming iris.  It is not a strong grower in some parts of the country, but it is popular nevertheless.  It is often included in reblooming 'starter' kits from garden centers in big box stores.

'Best Bet'  Schreiner 1988, Photo by Barbara-Jean Jackson

New neglectas are being created by hybridizers all of the time.  

Seedling #072I2 Crump 

Be on the lookout for this beauty, to be introduced next year.

'Sorority Sisters' Van Liere, 2013

Neglectas stand out well in the garden since their blue tones are unusual among flowers.  I have grown "World Premier" and currently grow "Northwest Progress," which has little dark spots on the standards.  Do you grow any neglectas in your garden?

How Do You See It?

By Griff Crump

Over the years, in observing seedlings, I gradually began to suspect that color in irises, and, particularly, the intensity of color, is not due entirely to pigment, but is also affected by the texture of the flower’s petals.  If I were trained in the physical sciences, which I am not, I might have come to such a conclusion sooner.  A recent article in the Smithsonian magazine, entitled “Why Are Some Feathers Blue?” tends to confirm my suspicion:

“For decades, scientists have known how birds with yellow or red feathers usually get their color: It comes from pigments in foods the birds eat. Flamingoes, for instance, extract pink pigments from algae and crustaceans they filter out of the water. The challenge has been to figure out exactly how blue birds get their color. It can’t be their diet: blue pigments, like those in blueberries, are destroyed when birds digest them. . .

Getty Images / Minden Pictures RM 

“Richard Prum, an ornithologist at Yale, discovered that birds make blue feathers in a different way. . .

“Prum discovered that as a blue feather grows, something amazing happens. Inside each cell, stringy keratin molecules separate from water, like oil from vinegar. When the cell dies, the water dries away and is replaced by air, leaving a structure of keratin protein interspersed with air pockets, like a sponge or a box of spaghetti. When white light strikes a blue feather, the keratin pattern causes red and yellow wavelengths to cancel each other out, while blue wavelengths of light reinforce and amplify one another and reflect back to the beholder’s eye. The result: blue, an example of what scientists call a structural color (as opposed to a pigmented color) because it’s generated by light interacting with a feather’s 3-D arrangement. And different shapes and sizes of these air pockets and keratin make different shades of blue.”

Blue, in irises, is produced by the presence of anthocyanin, a pigment, not air pockets.  But the article shows that the interplay of light and structure affects the eye’s perception of color.  It’s been my thinking that the way we perceive certain aspects of the coloration of irises, such as shading and intensity, is also affected by that interplay.

In the case of the seedlings that I have observed over the years, it happens that, in most cases, the color is red.  The first seedling that caught my interest in this regard was 985R4, a bee cross on 953P (Holy Night X 93RR2 (Margarita x Momauguin)).

 985R4

This is a scarlet flower with a pronounced sheen.  I believe that the sheen is caused by how the structure of the flower’s petals reflects light to our eyes.

Whatever is causing that effect, it was transmitted to 985R4's progeny, 062X27 (985R4 X Cherry Glen), but to a lesser degree.  And, in 062X27, we also see what we call “diamond dust” pr sparkles on the petals.

062X27

‘Prince Igor’, whose too-lengthy-for-here pedigree is unrelated to 985R4 (as far as we know  – but what may 985R4's bee know?), also has a sheen.

'Prince Igor' Crump, 2009.

Switching, now, to blues and blue/blacks, I find the sheen in 072O1 (Stealth Fighter X Ranks of Blue)

072O1

and, to a lesser extent, in its sibling 072O22, which also displays “diamond dust”.

 072022

Another 'Stealth Fighter' derivative, 09S12 (Stealth Fighter X Holy Cow), shows pronounced sheen, top and bottom, in a very ruffled flower.

09S12

If the structure of the petals can “sharpen” colors, it can also “soften” them, I believe.  Here, for example, is ‘That Certain Something’, which appears to have a suede-like texture.

'That Certain Something'  Crump, 2008

As with 985R4 and 'Stealth Fighter', above, ‘That Certain Something’ also imparts its softer tone to its progeny, as in the case of seedling 042F3.

 042F3

So something may be going on in the way that we perceive color in irises.  I suspect something similar is at work with irises which appear to change color during the day.  If I’m correct, a reader with a greater degree of scientific knowledge may say, “Well, anybody who didn’t flunk physics should know that!”  But I’m willing to suffer the slings and arrows in order to broach the discussion, because, when we know how something works, we can begin to manipulate it.


Does anyone else see it this way?