Beautiful Surprise Purple Iris
Iris new purple bitone pretty petals
I found a brand new iris growing in my garden, and it is gorgeous. It is a bitone bluish purple with beautiful striations on the falls. It must be a cross between the two unknown type of iris that I grow, that hybridized on its own. Hurray for pollinators.
Iris new purple bitone glowing interior
It is a gorgeous combination of light bluish purple standards, and dark velvety purple falls, with wonderful striations on the falls, and a golden yellow beard. If I were going to design an iris, this is the type I would hybridize, and it grew all on its own in the garden. I’ve never had anything so beautiful magically appear in my garden- a gift from nature! The pollinators have been busy. I usually deadhead my iris, so one of them manged to set seed before I removed it.
Iris new purple bitone beard and striations
I love this closeup view of the golden yellow beard, with the snazzy deep purple zebra stripes on either side, and the soft light purple petals above. I’ve read that the markings are considered a fault on an iris, but I think it makes this more eye catching. It makes a great landing pad for a pollinator, with a come hither enticement, a come and get some nectar look.
I was just walking along as usual today, past the long section of yellow iris with the maroon coloured falls, and there, at the end was this stunning iris. I was so very surprised. There is a light bluish purple iris near there, but this was entirely different, and I had to examine it closely. It appears to have a combination of the traits of my two iris. Both of the two iris were in the garden when I moved in, so I never knew their names, unfortunately.
my 2 iris
The bluish purple iris has the same colour on all of its petals. They are plain, with no markings, except the golden beard. It’s a pretty colour, but not stunning. I only have one or two of them, which don’t seem to spread. The iris with the yellow standards and patterned maroon falls is very hardy, so I have divided it and planted it in many beds around the garden. I now have a couple hundred of the yellow iris, which thrive wherever I place them. I hope that the new iris has inherited the vigour of the yellow bicolour iris, which will grow anywhere. Here is a previous post about these original iris
Iris new purple bitone top down view
This new iris has the same standards (upright petals) as the old bluish purple iris. However, the falls (downward petals) are a very deep, very velvety, dark purple, with beautiful markings on either side of the beard. Those line markings are similar to the yellow and maroon iris. It’s possible that it is a cross with some neighbour’s iris, but it is situated right where my two different iris meet, and combines their traits in one iris, only it turned out far more magnificent than either of them.
Iris new purple bitone pretty buds
The new iris is 80 cm (31 in) tall, and the flower is 11 cm (4 in). Here are some more side buds about to open. The buds are tightly rolled dark blue tips. There are 8 buds on 2 fans, so there will be a number of gorgeous blooms to come.
This was the most delightful surprise I’ve had in gardening. It’s a brand new iris, with just the characteristics I would have picked, and it appears wondrously in my garden, in some of my favourite colours. I can’t wait for the rhizomes on this to spread. I will be dividing this up and planting it around the garden. There is more information about these iris in this post.
Iris new purple bitone inside flower
Have you ever had a wonderful surprise in your garden?
iris new puprle bitone angle view better
What a wonderful surprise! I lovely gift for the gardener!
Sheila, it was like an unexpected gift. The iris have been spreading into this section where the peony and dianthus are, and last fall I almost removed the fans, thinking they were more of the yellow iris, which I already have hundreds of, but didn’t get around to it. Now, I’m glad that the new fans are producing such pretty flowers.
What a lovely and welcome surprise. They all look nice.
Joanne, it stood out right away, as I walked past a hundred yellow iris flowers. The bloom time might overlap the double pink peony behind it, which would be pretty together.
I love the colouring. It is dramatic and yet elegant and understated at the same time.
A gift from Mother Nature! :)
That is a total BEAUTY ! .. I would be so elated for days, maybe weeks because we love our gardens so much as it is .. but to have an individual plant created like that … well it is absolutely wonderful ! Congratulations : )
The Garden Ms.S, yes, I love the colour combinations, and the pattern of lines. Last fall and early this spring I almost pulled back these ones, since they were spreading so close to the peony and carnations. I assumed they were more of the yellow iris. I’m glad I delayed, and got a chance to see the wonderful new flowers.
Joy, I was delighted when I spotted it in the garden, and so surprised. There are many buds on the iris, and at least two fans, so it looks like I will be getting a number of flowers. It appears to have strong growth, so I hope it is as tolerant as the yellow iris, which I can place just about anywhere.
Beautiful surprise! :-) I had a surprise iris in my front corner Sunny Bed this Spring. I believe it’s a Dutch Iris that I didn’t know was there. I thought it’d been moved 6 years ago… but obviously a piece was left! (It had even spread and was blooming in several places. Pretty crazy! But very pretty!) ;-)
Shady Gardener, isn’t it fun to discover something of beauty in the garden that you weren’t expecting? The iris has 3 flowers blooming now, and a number of buds still to open. All of the falls have that lovely dark purple velvet look.
beautiful
# 10, it really took my breath away when I came upon this new iris unexpectedly in my garden. The colours fit in with the plants in that bed too.
I have a purple bearded Iris that is in full bud and ready to bloom any day. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they bloom in the fall as well as the spring. What a welcome treat this time of year.
I didn’t know that some bloomed in the fall either. That would really extend the iris time. The delicate purple petals would look especially fine in the garden when most other blooms are fading.
Beautiful! This looks like the irises in my yard in Virginia. I love to paint them!
Ellen, I especially love the bitione iris, with light purplish blue standards and the dark falls. They would make beautiful paintings.