Flowers of irises are plants that you can endlessly admire their rainbow coloring that will decorate any of the flower beds in your garden. And today I invite you again to the Botanical Garden, where colorful, multi-colored varieties of irises are patiently waiting for our attention.
We will turn our attention to the following varieties:
- two-tone (bicolor);
- iridescent (blend);
- the edges of the petals are decorated with a border of a different color (plicata);
- fouls with light veins (luminata);
- irises with broken color.
Let’s take our time: we will stop at each position and take a detailed look at the color features. Among the two-colored irises, there are:
- amoena – varieties with white upper lobes in any color combination with lower;
- variegata is a variety with yellow standards;
But this is not all the two-color variety of irises that inspires artists and designers.
Other groups of irises have the color of segments like a perianth:
- iridescent (blend) – the perianth lobes of the varieties are colored in several colors, passing into each other;
- plicata – perianth lobes decorated with border (dots, strokes) on a white or yellow background;
- luminata is plicate vice versa: the edges of perianth segments and veins of light, and the spaces between them dark;
Varieties of other types of combinations.
- irises with broken color;
At first glance, everything is difficult, but let’s look at these colors on the examples.
Amoena irises
Do you remember the dress code (white top and black bottom)? In Irish, it is simply amoena. A luxurious ‘World Premier’ variety with a white top and a blue-purple bottom, decorated with a lilac beard and a light wavy edge.
Under the strict requirements for the dress uniform, a lace garden ‘Iris Gay-Parasol’ option with a silver-white top and a purple-pink bottom would definitely fit. A pale blue beard is an additional decoration of the flower.
The duty officers and inspectors would have no complaints about a student dressed in the colors of the ‘Futuriste’.
For skirts and trousers, color varieties of iris are also suitable: ‘Sharpshooter’, ‘Teamwork’.
The inky lower lobes of the perianth often “enliven” tangerines or red beards.
In more democratic institutions, light brown skirts, such as the lower lobes of the perianth of the ‘Champagne Elegance’ variety, would also be lacking. Often this color is described as beige-apricot, peach shade.
But a real fashionista would prefer bolder skirts of yellow and apricot colors, as in the varieties: ‘Aura Light’ and ‘Apricot Frosty’.
The light orange bottom looks good with a white top.
Suede trousers and skirts of exactly the same brick color, as well as a lower proportion of the variety, were considered complete creativity: ‘Copper and Snow’.
Next, we continue to consider the two-tone color of the iris, for example, the following varieties – ‘Variegata’.
Irises Variegata
Let me remind you that they have yellow upper lobes of the perianth. And this is not only my favorite variety ‘Arabian Story’, whose flowers smell of vanilla and citrus, but also almost its exact counterparts: variety ‘Caprice’, ‘Supreme Sultan’, ‘Gypsy Caravan’.
They are so similar to each other that only advanced specialists can distinguish them.
We focus on labels (they are a mandatory part of the presented collection).
In addition to the two-color variety, an effective variety is used: ‘Jurassic Park’.
Here is one of the most beautiful variations in this group and grade: ‘Elegant Impressions’.
That’s not all, there are even more interesting color combinations!
Irises iridescent
They are difficult to describe. In the color of the perianth, several colors are distinguished. One of the best of these varieties: ‘Celebration Song’.
This is the so-called mixture of irises: they are delicate and luxurious.
Blend – a harmonious romantic irises in the gardens.
Plicata irises
Many interesting varieties with dots, strokes or borders on a light background. The appearance of this painting, which has been known for about 400 years, is still shrouded in mystery – there are simply no such irises in nature!
An extremely interesting variety of ‘Ivory Way’ with a soft cream top and snow-white bottom. Additional decor standards are lemon streaks, and fouls are a thin lemon border. The yellowish beard looks harmonious on the white lower lobes of the perianth.
Irises-plicata better to plant it in the foreground of the flower bed, so that you can see the pattern on the perianth lobes.
A charming variety of ‘Lovely Dawn’ with a pink-peach top and a creamy-white bottom, decorated with a purple border and a coral beard.
A very bright variety of ‘Kilt Lilt’ with a brown-apricot-gold top and a bronze-white bottom. A transparent bronze stripe on the fouls divides each lobe in half; at its base, the beard is the same color as the standards. The finish gives a beautiful image of the corrugation, which also softens it.
Luxury grade ‘Seakist’ surprises with the exquisite beauty of the cream-white top and cream bottom with blue blurred stripes and light blue coating.
Irises of luminate
This is an inverted plicate. A very beautiful variety ‘Flights of Fancy’ with a cream-pink and white top and pink-purple bottom. Cream streaks, which are harmoniously combined with a yellowish beard at the base of the petals, give a special charm to the fouls.
Such irises claim the most prominent, honorable place in the garden.
Combining Irises with other flowers
Here you can find two-color varieties, the type of which is difficult to determine within the framework of the presented combinations.
Spectacular among them is the variety ‘Romantic Evening’ with a lilac-purple top and dark purple bottom. All the lobes are on top of the corrugated flower, which gives it tenderness and lightness. Slightly burdens the lower lobe of the brick-red perianth.
Each of the options has its own zest, as a result of which the iris has received the status of a variety.
I have long been attracted to its unusual variety ‘Revolution‘. Starting with the name (which, at first glance, does not fit with irises) and ending with an orange-red beard on the rich blue lower lobes of the perianth. On closer inspection, you realize that everything in it is not accidental: in this variety there is some internal expression, especially clearly manifested in the mass flowering of the iris. The bluish-white standards of the flower are impeccable.
Here it is worth paying attention to the unusual option, which I like the most.
There are also ‘Constant’ – favorite varieties that are exactly the same.
Surprisingly beautiful two-color ‘About Town’, the upper lobes of which are silver-purple, and the lower ones are reddish-purple, with a thin lace silver-purple border.
An interesting variety of ‘Fogbound’ with a light purple top and a creamy white bottom. The bright highlight of the flower is a tangerine beard. The wonderful aroma of iris with hints of spices and caramel is especially pronounced at the beginning of flowering.
In conclusion, I will present more rare, but really colorful varieties with an irregular (chaotic) pattern of lobes.
Irises with broken color
These are varieties whose flowers are covered with strokes, splashes and stripes – the achievements of iris breeders.
They have nothing to do with the viruses that cause variegated tulips.
I hope that today’s journey into the world of colorful irises was exciting and interesting, so I will be glad to see you in other articles of our project.