New Iris Species ‘Azure Blue’

By Bryce Williamson

In the spring on my trip to Oregon and Washington for the joint Region 13/TBIS meeting, I had planned to spend the day after the meeting in Oregon at Mt. Pleasant Iris Farm, then at Aitken’s Salmon Creek, and then the evening with my niece and her family.

Sunday morning, I got on the road only to find the rental had a leaking tire; Thrifty did a quick exchange of vehicles at the Portland Airport and I arrived mid-morning at Mt. Pleasant. Seeing that Chad and Dale were both busy, I headed for the irises. Almost at once, Chad Harris came up and wanted me to go up the hill to the patio and to see a new iris species he had in bloom, especially since one flower was fading rapidly.

At this time the new species does not have a botanical name and goes by the garden name of ‘Azure Blue’. Chad had two specimens blooming in pots and there was enough difference between the two clones to see that they had been raised from seed. One of the most interesting things about this new species is the notches in the standards that locks the standards in place. Right now the goal is to obtain more seed so more growers can propagate the plant. Later down the line, the hope is studies will be done to see where it fits into the genus iris. The current thinking is that it is an unknown species of crested iris most likely related to I. milesii and I. tectorum; however, it has resisted setting seed with either one of these groups. The stalks had two flowers in the terminal and one flower in the side branch.

This new species was one of the highlights of my Oregon and Washington trip. It is not every day that we get to see a new species live and bloom.

The background of this iris is also interesting. It comes from the least populated states in India, Arunachal Pradesh, and borders Tibet, Myanmar, and Bhutan. The climates range from subtropical to alpine and even tundra.

Travel to the state is not easy, but in 2009 the plantsman Peter Boardman went on journey through the state. There he took pictures of an unknown iris. In 2014 a collecting trip was made, plant material collected, and then that material sat in the post office and customs and was destroyed. Until I made the trip this spring to Oregon, I was not aware that seeds had made it to the United States. We should consider this a developing botanical story with the next chapter yet to unfold.

Irises at Aitken's: Part Four - Misc. Species

Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden grows a large variety of species irises. here are a few that were blooming last spring during my visit. First up is I. lactea, a lovely little species native to the Asian steppes across to Korea. I had never seen this species before and found it really charming, with a profusion of light lavender-blue flowers featuring narrow spidery petals and tall feathery standards.


I. tectorum is a species native to China and is one of the few species closely related to bearded irises. It has even been successfully crossed with them. It is a low growing species with a rhizome very like bearded irises, however its petals are adorned with a filamented crest where a beard would be. It has a very open habit giving the flowers more of a flat appearance. Terry and Barbara grow both the blue and the white varieties of this charming iris.




Last I have an example of a siberian iris to show you, not a wild species variety tho -this one is a modern hybrid and is really different. 'White Amber' (Schafer/Sacks 2001) is a large colorful flower showing a major advance in the range that this family has acquired thru the efforts of breeders over the past 30 years. They are really creating a revolution in siberian irises equivalent to what bearded irises went thru when the explosion of tetraploids first came on the scene in the late 1920's.


Unfortunately it was a bit early for the siberians and this was the only one blooming, but that is just an excuse to return again later in the season to admire a new crop of flowers in full bloom.

Tomorrow we'll conclude with a peek into the future - seedlings growing at Aitken's under trial for eventual introduction.