Tall Bearded Iris Color Terms

By Renee Fraser

For those of us still new to the world of irises, there is much vocabulary to master. The parts of the iris flower, the different species of irises, the parts of the plant itself, and of course, the specialized terms categorizing irises into color types. Here is a quick reference, with photographic examples, of some of the major color terms you will encounter while reading about your favorite flower.

SELF

The falls and the standards of a self are the same color. These irises really stand out in a garden setting and are wonderful companions to other plants.

'Adriatic Waves' with Allium.  Photo c. Brad Collins

'Beverly Sills' with Paludosum Daisies

'Fine Wine'

PLICATA

Plicatas have stippled, dotted or stitched edges on a white or yellow ground.  I love the white ones with the pretty picotee edging the best.  

The Plicataman himself, hybridizer Keith Keppel, contacted us to remind us that the definition of a plicata as having a white or yellow ground needs to amended, "as hybridizers have worked hard and we now have lots of plicatas with pink or apricot ground, and we're working to intensify the depth of color so you can really say 'orange, and mean it!"

For more on plicatas, click here.

'Paprika Fonos' 

'Rare Treat'

'Spice Lord' Photo c. Margie Valenzuela

AMOENA

Amoenas have colored falls and white standards.  The most famous is probably, and justifiably, 'Wabash', pictured below.  To see another post on amoenas, click here.

'Wabash' Photo c. Mike Unser

'Venetian Queen'

'Dreaming of Rio' Photo c. Betty Jacobs

VARIEGATA

An iris with red falls and yellow standards.  My very favorite photo of this color, below, shows the cultivar 'Supreme Sultan' with its earliest progenitor, the original iris variegata. Can you believe what modern hybridizing has accomplished?

'Supreme Sultan' compared to the original species variegata!  Photo c. Chuck Chapman

'Decadence' at Schreiner's Iris Gardens. Photo c. Betty Jacobs

'Rogue Trader' Photo c. Betty Jacobs

NEGLECTA

A blue or purple-blue bitone iris with lighter standards.  Click here for more photos of neglectas.

'World Premier' Photo c.TBGDN @All Things Plants

'Northwest Progress' with Julia Child rose

GLACIATA

An iris with no purple anthocyanin pigment.  These irises often seem to glow.  The colors remind me of that wonderful "polychrome" daylily color.

'Glacier Blush' Photo c. Blue J Iris

'Snow Lion' Photo c. Jan Lauritzen

'If Not For You' Photo c. Stout Gardens at Dancingtree

LUMINATA

Another glowing iris type, the luminata, is an iris with a white or yellow base washed over with color so that it appears to glow from within.  More luminatas can be found here.

'Pretty Pansy'

'Wise Woman' Photo c. Brad Collins

BITONE...

This is an iris which has standards and falls of the same color,  but the standards are a lighter shade than the falls.

'Bayberry Candle' 

'Smoky Shadows' Photo c. Rick Tasco

AND 

REVERSE BITONE

A bitone, REVERSED!

'Missouri Mist'

BICOLOR

An iris of two colors.

'Adoree' Photo c. Betty Jacobs

'Smoke and Thunder' Photo c. Brad Collins

'Sweet Musette'

BROKEN COLOR

These flowers have splotches, blotches, and streaks in random patterns.  For more broken color irises, click here.

'Maria Tormena'

'Batik' Photo c. Andi Rivarola

EMMA COOK PATTERN

A darker ring of color around the falls of the flower is referred to as the Emma Cook Pattern, which is named after this famous ground-breaking cultivar.

'Conjuration' Photo c. Dan Holt

'Alsea' Photo c. Brad Collins

'Rare Coin' Photo c. Brad Collins

Many new and exciting color combinations and patterns are emerging in the world of iris hybridizing, so many that it's hard to figure out if they fit into an existing category or if new ones should be created.  I am partial to amoenas. Which is your favorite?

Iris Classics: "Pretty Pansy"

By Mike Unser

From a cross of the lovely historic iris 'Bertha Gersdorff' by the classic 'Moonlit Sea' we were blessed with a new variety in the now-termed 'luminata' pattern: 'Pretty Pansy', a wonderful introduction from the Sass Bros. in 1946. They had often followed breeding lines where this rare and recessive pattern appeared so it was no surprise that this lovely flower would make a big splash in the iris world.

It was described in the Iris Test Gardens catalog for 1954 as:

" 'A purple and white of Moonlit Sea coloring without the yellow. 36 inch stems.' Our comment: 'Here is a knockout, different from anything we have seen, will attract attention anywhere. A fine thing.'"

A fine thing, indeed. The white heart combined with the fresh purple wash makes the entire bloom glow from within - grabbing the eye and pulling the viewer in. This pattern has often been followed and today has been expanded to many other color classes, but it all started back in the '40's when the Sass Brothers pursued their vision of what irises could be.

'Pretty Pansy' is an excellent grower and is easily found. Consider adding it to your garden. You won't be sorry.

Luminatas: Iris Color Terminology

By Renee Fraser


Flowers that glow?    LUMINATA.  A wonderful word and so very descriptive of these irises.  A luminata is a white or yellow flower with color washed over it.  The lighter shade bleeds through, which makes the flower look as though it is lit from within. After amoenas, I am in love with luminatas.  I grow a number of them and they never disappoint.  


My very first order of irises included a luminata, 'New Leaf'.  This iris has been blooming its fool head off for me in Southern California for years and years.  It likes it here so much that it reblooms some years!  

'New Leaf' is extraordinarity photogenic, as are most luminatas.  I may have more pictures of it than I have of my dog.

"New Leaf"  Ghio, 1997

'New Leaf' with Marmalade Skies rose and 'Venetian Queen' in the background

'Moonlit Sea' is a justly famous historic luminata that is still a favorite in the garden.  The colors are particularly lovely, and the long romantically draping falls give it an elegant appearance.

'Moonlit Sea' Sass 1942  Photo by Margie Valenzuela

Two more recent introductions with similar coloration are 'Mindreader' and 'Telepathy'.  Margie Valenzuela, a hybridizer who lives in arid and hot Arizona, says 'Mindreader' does better in her heat.  Here is her photo of it in morning sun.

'Mindreader'  

Here is 'Telepathy'.  I am hoping it will give an impressive display this year, its third year in my garden.  Oddly, in my garden this year it rebloomed beginning in November, although it is not normally a rebloomer.

"Telepathy" Keppel, 2002

'Telepathy' in December

Margie also grows 'Flights of Fancy'.  Look at the healthy leaves and the profusion of blooms!

'Flights of Fancy'  

My most recently acquired luminata is 'Daughter of Stars', a rebloomer.  I don't have this color in my garden.  I didn't want this color in my garden.  But how can one stick to a pre-planned color scheme when faced with this?

"Daughter of Stars" Rebloomer, Spoon, 2001

Some people are under the mistaken impression that luminatas have some sort of a virus which results in their lovely coloration.  This is not the case.  Although viruses can cause broken colored patterns, these lovelies get their patterns from careful hybridization, not from disease, so you do not have to resist them for that reason.

Do you grow luminatas?  How do they do in your garden, and which is your favorite?