Re: Are they really all different?

Yes, you are correct that many do look very similar and it's not a silly question. Some have very distinct personalties once you get to know them "in person".  I am assuming that you are looking at solitary flower photos?  Many Iris fanciers can tell them apart quite easily on sight of a plant in bloom, but it does take a trained eye.  Some can even do it from a single bloom picture, if it's a good picture.  You should be able to see differences amoung the flowers if those photos are detailed and large enough.  A lot can depend on the photographer capturing the flower just right - the right angle, light exposure and flower age.  I have seen some awful pictures of some varieties that I grow and would hardly recognize it as the same thing simply because it was taken at the wrong angle or in bad light.  If so then there are many other characteristics to look at and consider - hafts, beard color variations, beard size and density, texture veining, haft veining, haft width (which may not be immediately visible), ruffles and lace in varying degrees, and diamond dusting.  Other characterisitcs to consider that may not even be in the photos and really can only be evaluated in person are things such as the foliage broad or narrow, blue green or pale green? How is the stalk branched?  How many buds or double or triple bud sockets.  

You certainly do not need to be a geneticist to see these things.  Your continued growing an observation of your cultivars and cultivars in others gardens should bring your ability to detect the details. It may simply be a matter of knowing just what it is you are looking at ...or looking for. 

If you can I would suggest that you might find someone to show you these details in person in some flowers.  You could do this on your own, but it would certainly speed up the process and maybe save you money buying plants that you don't really want.

I am a self taught breeder and learned the hard way on this journey

Paul Archer
Raleigh, NC Zone 8  



-----Original Message-----
>From: Donna Millican <donnamil@yahoo.com>
>Sent: Aug 15, 2007 8:54 PM
>To: iris@hort.net
>Subject: [iris] Are they really all different?
>
>As I said, I'm totally new to this so this might be a silly question, but here goes. I've been looking at many websites and catalogs and books and I cannot believe all the different irises. Yet so many look very similar. With many people involved in hybridizing, does it take a geneticist to really tell which iris is which or can a knowledgeable fancier tell them apart?
>
>
>Donna in WA zone 5
>
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