Bearded Iris 2019

[Armin]

Hi Armin,
the pics on the two websites are completely different!
On the Historic iris site I found another possibility, 'Agrippa' Cayeaux 1936 https://www.historiciris.org/listings/agrippa/

Another one called 'Andromède' Vilmorin 1926 is a possible ID for this one
cheers
fermi

Hi Fermi,
I like these old irises. 'Agrippa' is a lovely one, too. It is quite difficult to differenciate them by images.
 
Your ID  'Andromede' could be true, however 'Lent A. Williamson' (E.B. Williamson 1918) is very similar.
In the northern hemisphere 'Lent A. Williamson' is still under commercial production and quite widespread.

[Leena]

I sorted out pictures from last summer, and here are some old irises. All are found in old places, and do well also here in colder climate.
First one is thought to be 'Flavescens'. It is a common old iris here, and flowers always very well.
Second is possibly 'Sangreal', stronger yellow, and flowers earlier than 'Flavescens', and is also maybe a bit shorter.
Third one has no name, or it is called Terola2, because of the nursery who found it and grows it. One one knows it's real name, so any suggestions are welcome. In my garden it flowers in early June, before 'Flavescens', and it starts when 'Cherry Garden' finishes.

[Leena]

The next ones are also nameless old varieties. It is suggested that the first one could be 'Antiope', maybe..
In the background of the second and third picture there is a blue iris, an unknown found in two places in Finland where it has been taken to cultivation. There are so many light blue irises, that it may be impossible to say what it is from the photos.
Both of these flower in early June here.

[Leena]

One more unknown old iris, found in one place here and taken to cultivation. It flowers about mid season, and is very cold hardy and reliable.

[Armin]

Hallo Leena,

thanks for showing your lovely garden with the irises in midwinter.
It is hard to identify your unnamed ones, sorry.

[Leena]

Thank you Armin.
I know, it is so hard to identify cultivars from pictures, it is the same with all species not just irises.
Some of these old ones must be named cultivars, because they were found in several places, but as new cultivars come along, the names and old ones are forgotten.

I have to show one more iris from last summer. This one I have grown from seeds, and I haven't given it a name yet.
It had flowered already once before but last summer it was so good. I like the colour, sturdy stems and vigour.

[Gabriela]

All your irises are very beautiful Leena and they look so good in those large garden beds! The last one is particularly gorgeous.

I also don't know the names of two tall Irises that I found at the present place; they were both on the brink of extinction. The one pictured flowered well last year, after 3 years! It is very tall, extremely fragrant and the flowers are more velvety than the picture can show. The other one, a nice bicolor white/blue, is still to make a come back. It produced one flower, maybe more this June. Only 4 months to go!

[Leena]

Thank you Gabriela.

I'm no iris-expert, and it is so difficult to say from photos, but 'Lent A.Williamson' is tall and old variety looking like yours. I used to have it but gave it away because it needed staking and my sunny places are limited, so I have only some irises left. Anyway, I don't remember if it was fragrant or not.

[Gabriela]

Thank you for the suggestion Leena. I googled a bit after it and it is a very nice cultivar that seems to thrive on neglect.
It has a fairly good amount of blue/purple in the flowers while mine is reddish/violet to brown, depending on the light. So, I think is something else, but it doesn't really matter.
They are beautiful even without names