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The pages of the Gallery have been divided into Two Pages with lists of irises into Categories.  Page One begins with Medians and Dwarfs (MDB, SDB, IB, BB, MTB, BB), then the AB and the Non-breaded Iris follow.   Page Two contains the Tall Bearded Iris only.  Below are charts and lists of information that may help read the List of Iris Tables.

To view a picture of the iris (not many pictures available, and submissions are greatly encouraged) - click on those Iris Names that are underlined.  Click <BACK> button on the Browser Software to return to the chart.

Click Here to Enter the Gallery

The information on the lists may never be totally complete due to the time required and the constant addition of new Reblooming Iris to add to the list.  The lists began using iris names appearing on the 2003 Symposium, additional names from the Winterberry Gardens Catalogue, and from miscellaneous other sources. 

Every five (5) years a composite of Reblooming Iris information is bound into book form called the Cumulative Check List of Reblooming Irises.  Ken Roberts is working on this and you may send reports of the irises that rebloomed in your garden directly to Ken at his home address (341 Schwartz Rd. Gettysburg, PA 17325) or to his email address:  Builderken@cvn.net   So if you do not find all of the information you want on these pages, please consider purchasing a checklist.  It is a valuable resource.  There is more information about Reblooming Iris on the Culture page of this web site.

USDA Hardiness Zone Map

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Abbreviations for different types of Irises:

Median – All bearded iris classes (MDBs, SDBs, IBs, BBs, and MTBs) shorter than 27.5", except for MDBs.
MDB
– miniature dwarf bearded, to 8" tall, the first bearded to bloom in earliest spring
SDB
– standard dwarf bearded, 8 - 16" tall, blooms in early spring
IB
– intermediate bearded, 16 - 27.5" tall, blooms after SDB’s and before TB’s
MTB
– miniature tall bearded, 16 – 27.5 tall, the flower is no more than 6" combined width + height, blooms with the TB’s
BB
– border bearded, 16 – 27.5" tall, blooms with the TB’s
TB
– tall bearded, more than 27.5" tall, blooms in mid to late spring

SIB – Siberian Iris
JI
– Japanese Iris
LA
– Louisiana Iris
AB
– an iris that is part aril and part bearded iris
Sp.
– species iris, as originally collected from or found in the wild
PCI -
Pacific Coast Iris or Californiae 
HIS
– Historic Iris cultivars are any iris introduced over 30 years ago

Season of Bloom:

VE - Very Early
E
- Early
M
- Midseason
L
- Late
VL
- Very Late

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Parts of an Iris Flower:

S- standards – the upturned three petals, (technically called sepals) that surround the three style arms
F – falls
– the downturned three petals, (correctly called petals) that possess beards. These may also be    horizontally flared or flat instead of downturned)
B – beards
– Elongate groups of fuzzy hairs in the middle at the upper base of all three falls
SA
– Space Age iris, have something extra, beard appendages called horns, spoons or flounces.
Spoons
– Appendages extending from the tip of the beards that widen into spoon shaped petaloids.
Horns
– A protrusion or extension of the beards, often ending in a point or may be hair covered.
Flounces
– Wide, folded, often canoe or fan shaped appendages extending from the tips of the beards.
Hafts
– Areas on each side of the narrow of the falls, on each side of the beards
Shoulders
– The areas on the arching upper middle part of the falls on each side just beyond the haft areas.
Pistil
– The style arms with stigmatic lips and the ovary. The female flower parts
Claw
– The narrow base of the standard and fall, the expanded leaf-like part is called the blade.
Ovary
– The enlarged green, three-chambered structure enclosing the ovules where fertilization occurs.
Spathes
– The pair of modified green leaves that enclose the flower bud, usually turning tan after it blooms.
Stamen
– The anther plus its attachment filament. The anthers contain the granular pollen. The male flower parts.
Rhizome
- Brownish, potato-looking, fleshy root

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Descriptive terms:

Self – standards, style arms and falls are the same color, as a complete self they have the same color beards.
Amoena
– white standards and anthocyanin pigmented falls
Reverse amoena
– anthocyanin pigmented standards and white falls.
Emma Cook pattern
– an amoena pattern with white standards and narrow anthocyanin pigmentation bordered falls.
Bicolor
– standards are a different color than the falls
Bitone
– standards are a lighter shade of color than the falls
Neglecta
– blue or purple bitones with standards a lighter shade of the color of the falls
Reverse bitone
– a bitone with the standards a darker shade of the same color as the lighter falls
Blend
– combination of two or more colors, can be smoothly or unevenly mixed
Variegata
– yellow standards and maroon or brown falls
Plicata
– stippled, dotted, or stitched margins of anthocyanin pigmentation on lighter ground color
Luminata
– the reverse pattern of a plicata, with darker ground color and white edges, veins and around beards
Glaciata
– these lack all anthocyanin pigments and are pure whites, yellows, pinks, or oranges, formerly called ices.
Substance
– thickness and resilient tensile strength of the flower parts
Texture
– surface sheen or finish, such as velvety or satiny finish of the petals
Diamond dusted
– tiny, conical raised areas across the petal surface that shine like diamonds in the light
Silver lining
– standards and falls have raised areas on the edges that reflects light in a shining light
Wash
– obvious or definite overlay of one color on another
Infusion
– faint or subtle overlay of one color on another
Sunburst
– white or light streaks fanning out on the falls around, and sometimes beyond, the beards
Spot
– darker area around and below the beard on lighter or different colored falls
Signal
– an area or patch of contrasting color below the beards (usually on arils, and some beardless varieties)
Zonal
– a distinct white or light area around the beards in the middle of the falls

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Awards:  All AIS awards except ECs are based on voting by AIS judges on performance in the garden.

HC - Highly Commended - for a non-introduced seedling as judged in the garden and receiving five judged votes.
EC - Exhibition Certificate - awarded to the best seedling in an iris show or receiving five votes from judges present.
HM - Honorable Mention - award for an introduced variety, eligible the second year after its introduction.
AM - Award of Merit - required award for eligibility for all yearly awards (eligible second year after receiving HM)

Special Medals - Yearly awards -  given to the top voted cultivar.
Medal Name Iris classification type
Caparne-Welch Medal:   Miniature Dwarf Bearded
Cook-Douglas Medal: Standard Dwarf Bearded
Hans and Jacob Sass Medal: Intermediate Bearded
Knowlton Medal: Border Bearded
Williamson-White Medal: Miniature Tall Bearded
John C. Wister Medal:   Tall Bearded
C. G. White Medal:   Aril (1/4 Ancestry)
William Mohr Medal: ArilBred (pure to 1/2 breed)
Morgan-Wood Medal: Siberian
J. A. Payne Medal: Japanese
Mary Swords Deballion Medal: Louisiana
Founders of SIGNA Medal: Species
Randolph-Perry Medal: Species X
Sydney B. Mitchell Medal: CA
Eric Nies Medal: Spuria
Fred and Barbara Walther Cup: Winner of most HM votes
Dykes Memorial Medal Highest Award of any class
Must have won an AM to
qualify

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