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. 

Green? It ain't easy!

By Griff Crump

Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder.  And maybe "green" is, too.  At least, that's what one might conclude after seeing what some of our iris fanciers consider to be green or partially so.

Here's what Wikipedia says about the phrase "It isn't easy being green":

 "Bein' Green" (also known as "Green") is a popular song written by Joe Raposo, originally performed by the Muppets and then covered by Frank Sinatra and other performers.

"In the Muppets version, Kermit begins by lamenting his green coloration, expressing that green 'blends in with so many ordinary things' and wishing to be some other color. But by the end of the song, Kermit recalls positive associations with the color green, and concludes by accepting and embracing his greenness."

Well, that may be okay if you're a faux frog, but if you're an iris, you're going to be judged, and must stand or fall on your own merits.

So, recently, I asked some Facebook friends to send me photos of irises which they considered to be, wholly or in part, green.  To these I added a number of others that I dredged up from various sources, including my own garden.  In order to make some sense of the results, I have, utterly arbitrarily, grouped them into the following various categories:  Veins, Chartreuse, Olive, Plicata, Green Ground, Blue/green, Green Gone Wild and "?"  Some, particularly the blue/green, could be (and are) found in more than one category.  And I don't anticipate that everyone (anyone?) will agree with the categories into which I have put the several cultivars.  As the title says, it ain't easy. 

I am much indebted to our friends who responded, and I hope I haven't overlooked any contributions.  There were several more submitted than are shown here, but both time and space have limited what I could include.

Please also bear in mind that some of the seedlings shown here are selected not for their beauty, but for their "greenery".  So, let's begin.

Category: Veins

It was soon apparent that many irises are given the monicker "green" because of the veins in the falls. 

The first responder to my call for folks to suggest green irises was Coro Martin, who is enamoured of 'Snow Tree's' veins. 

SDB 'Snow Tree' -- R. Sobek.  Photo by Laurie Frazer

After that, things got both greener and less green.  Tom Waters suggested P. Cook's 'Green Spot'. 

IB 'Greenspot' --  P. Cook.  Photo by Jensen

 

Loic Tasquier contributed his seedling B018N:

Tasquier sdlg B018N

and his seedling C050H:

Tasquier sdlg C050H

Seedling 05M1 comes from my garden. 

 

Crump MDB sdlg 05M1

Don Spoon's 'Greenback Kid' has what I would call olive veins on a chartreuse or light green ground.

 

SDB 'Greenback Kid' -- D. Spoon

'Green and Gifted' has olive veins on what appears to be a pale yellow-green ground.  Here is its description in the Iris Register: "S. greenish champagne cream; F. overlaid blue when fresh, fading to S. color . . ."

 

TB  'Green and Gifted' -- P. Blyth

My SDB 'Greenwinkle' will be introduced in 2013. 

SDB 'Greenwinkle' -- Crump

 Then, there are some of my assorted green-veined seedlings, including:

Crump SDB Sdlg Apr 13 013

 

Crump IB Sdlg  Apr 29&30 09 056

 

Crump MDB Sdlg GC 3 001

 

Crump BB sdlg Apr 16 2010 025


ditto (top shot)

 and a rebloomer:

 

 Crump BB Sdlg 07P6 RE

Almost needing a category of its own, this is Chuck Chapman's 'Conundrum': 

 
SDB 'Conundrum' -- Chapman 

Finally, it may take looking quite closely, or zooming the picture if you can, but this seedling, 07H1, had both true green veins and aqua veins.  Unfortunately, it contracted rot and was lost.  I'll be making this cross again:

Crump SDB sdlg 07H1

Category: Chartreuse

In the foregoing, we have seen that many irises are termed "green" because of the influence of the veining in their falls.  Now, we turn to flowers whose overall coloring is termed green, but which is, in my opinion, really chartreuse.

The first of these is Loic Tasquier's Seedling B 114B (and notice the green veins):

Tasquier sdlg B 114B

Then, Linda Mann suggested 'Green-Eyed Lady':

TB 'Green-Eyed Lady' -- G. Plough.  Photo by BlueJIris

 

Not, I think, much greener than my 'Maid of Orleans', which I consider to be a very light chartreuse:

TB 'Maid of Orleans' -- Crump

Here, again, we see 'Greenback Kid':

  

 SDB 'Greenback Kid' -- D. Spoon

Then, 'County Cork':

 

TB 'County Cork' -- Schreiner, R.

Chuck Chapman offered this bright seedling:

 
 Chapman Sdlg 94-234-1

 and his 'Green Gizmo':

 
 
SDB 'Green Gizmo' -- Chapman

as well as his 'Lookout Sunshine':

SDB 'Lookout Sunshine' -- Chapman

And his 'Wee Granny Smith' has plenty of green in it:

 

SDB 'Wee Granny Smith' -- Chapman

 
From Winterberry Gardens comes 'Granny Apple':

SDB (?) 'Granny Apple' -- D. Spoon

Here is my seedling 07H10:

 

Crump SDB sdlg 07H10

and another seedling from my garden, 093I21:

Crump SDB seedling 093I21

Olive

I have grouped in this category those irises which, to my eye, appear to be various shades of olive.

The first of these, suggested by Lucy Burton, is 'Gecko Echo':

MDB 'Gecko Echo' -- Kasperek

Loic Tasquier's 'Caonach' (pronounced KWEE-nock), which is Irish for 'moss'.

SDB (?) 'Caonach'  --  Tasquier

Next is Moss Spot:

SDB 'Moss Spot' -- D. Spoon

Then, several seedlings of my own, starting with 07A1:

Crump SDB sdlg 07A1

followed by 07A2:

Crump SDB sdlg 07A2

and 07A6:

 

Crump SDB sdlg 07A6

and another sibling, 07A8:

Crump SDB sdlg 07A8

as well as 07I2:

Crump SDB sdlg 07I2

and finally, 08I15:

 

 Crump SDB sdlg 08I15

Green Plicata

Just a couple in this category  --  the late Mike Greenfield's seedling 06DH-80:

 Mike Greenfield SDB sdlg 06DH-80

and, from my garden, seedling 07I7:

Crump SDB sdlg 07I7

Green Ground

The shades of green in these next few irises vary widely, but, judging only from the photographs, each flower seems to me to have a green base  --  and in both standards and falls.

Chuck Chapman's 'Green Waves':

SDB 'Green Waves'  --  Chapman

Chapman seedling 06-077-B:

 

Chapman seedling 06-077-B

Don Spoon's 'Senorita Frog':

SDB 'Senorita Frog'  --  D. Spoon

Chuck Chapman's Limesicle:

SDB 'Limesicle' -- Chapman

Category: "?"

This is the greenest photo of 'Easy Being Green' that I could find.  Maybe its verdure is just camera-shy.

 

TB 'Easy Being Green' -- R. Richards

Category: Blue/green

I am sure there are more in this category if we look around in our gardens.

'Wee Granny Smith' again:

SDB 'Wee Granny Smith' -- Chapman

And from my seedling patch, 08D2:

Crump SDB sdlg 08D2

and a sibling, 08D3:

Crump SDB sdlg 08D3

and an SDB seedling slated for introduction perhaps in 2014, 09Z10:

Crump SDB sdlg 09Z10

Category:  Blue/green Gone Wild

As I warned  --  not selected for beauty!

Crump SDB sdlg 07H3

Well, that wraps it up for now.  I must say that there are more and greener irises out there than I thought! With the cultivars we presently have, I think we can look forward to it becoming easier to be green.  And, considering some of the ones we've seen here, I can only hope that my seedlings will turn green with envy. 

If you've gotten this far, which do you think are the "greenest" irises shown here?  And do you know of any greener ones?  In either case, please pipe up!