Japanese Iris 'Silverband'. Also known as 'Variegata', which is how the tag was labeled when I purchased it. I love the foliage on this one.

Vickie, thanks for sharing the images, & everyone else too !
(The Japanese Iris here just aren't cooperating by simply opening up, today.)
Apparently, they're taking their own "sweet time".

You're welcome, Shawn! Looking forward to seeing yours when they do decide to open!

Vickie - Loving your sibs! And thanks for not adding to the database because of uncertainty. Too many incorrect iris get added and later cause confusion.

Yes, my Caesar's brother is much darker than Vickie's. People have already uploaded pictures of it that aren't it, unfortunately. I read that no one really knows what Caesar's Brother looks like anymore, because so many vendors have sold stuff that is mislabeled. Unfortunately the registration was quite vague in describing it simply as, "blue." Gah!

And I certainly wouldn't trust a Big Box store to send properly labeled iris. If you want properly labeled iris, it's safest to order them from an iris specialist, and even then it's not 100%. Only experience will inform you as to which iris nurseries are ethical about not subbing another iris for one you ordered, when you specified no substitutions, and they don't want to have to refund you part of your money. I have had so many irises sent under names that I ordered, but which turned out to be something else. I don't reorder from companies that do that. Many customers are none the wiser, unfortunately. And those companies count on that. They also count on many people not putting permanent markers on them when they arrive. And if they don't bloom for two or three years, so much the better when they've subbed one. I had one company that sent me 50% wrong stuff. All the correct stuff had plastic labels stapeled to them. All the incorrect stuff had the ordered names written on the leaves with Sharpee. What the heck, they knew those leaves would be gone by next spring! Little did they realize that I always plant things with permament markers. And now on the marker, in addition to the iris name, I add the vendor's name and date planted.

I have never had a problem with Schreiners or Mid-America sending me mislabeled stuff, so I have to give them credit for that. It has only been some smaller nurseries that did that, and one of them went out of business within a couple years after my order.

At times, I simply like, & enjoy surprises, when the bloom I'd found to be delightful.
Though, with one specialist vendor, I'd had some issues, with them even surviving, at all !

While others had grown much quicker, & had much better results, especially in regards to their flowering in the very first year, I've had them.
(Apparently, it'd been quite hot, last Summer, where they'd been grown, & sent from.)

Here's a couple of them, just as they're opening up, for the day.
(One, appears a bit like that, 'Lion King',) Though it's been quite awhile, since I'd previously had that one...


While this other, with very fine veining on the falls, (which don't show, nearly as clearly,) compared to as in person, in the "ultra brite" sunshine of this morning.

Then this one, which resembles, 'Lion King,' somewhat...

@bluerose - I believe it is Ocean Mist. I've had it for more than 20 years.

Thank you, Arlene!! Mine really does look like yours. I think it is gorgeous!

Shawn, I have 'Lion King' too and it is probably going to open tomorrow or the next day. I can't wait to see it since I just got it last year. Hope it is not another one that was tagged wrong, lol. At least the bud looks purply.

pirl said: @bluerose - I believe it is Ocean Mist. I've had it for more than 20 years.

Wow that Ocean Mist is beautiful. The color is perfect.

Thanks. It's my favorite.

Vickie, I'd grown 'Lion King" at least twice, now. (Got too dry, & the last one was very short !)
Wouldn't be the least bit surprised, if it were to appear in this group of J.I. "mix".

Pirl (Arlene,) I like that pastel color of blue too, of your 'Ocean Mist'.

Just found out that we have a wild Siberian iris plant growing on our property. Never seen it before anywhere on our property. I wonder how it got there, twenty acres from our house in a forest where no planting takes place.

Gift from a bird.

That's what I thought at first, but it's in really thick foliage. I mean, it'd be pretty hard to drop there from the air. You'd have to see the area to know what I mean. I suppose, though.

Seeds can drop through even dense foliage. And birds can drop them anywhere. I had a seedling peony sprout in my garden about 100 feet from any of my other peonies. The only way it could have gotten there is for a bird to have carried the seed. I let it grow, and it bloomed this spring. Its bloom was identical to my peony Vivid Rose, but that and my other peonies are, as I said, about 100 feet from the seedling.

Birds can carry seeds in their gut during long migrations. If a seed is not totally digested, the gut chemistry can soften the seed coat just enough to assist germination.

Do you have a creek or any water channel? Having had a very large container of dirt and plants picked up and carried far downstream during a flooding rain I can safely say plants and seeds can travel a very long way during just one heavy rain.

True, Daisy. It could've been a low-nesting bird.

Leslie, it is actually right next to a channel that isn't active right now, but every time it rains we get a small stream in there.

Iris sibirica 'Riverdance' 6/2022 sib G4- (Schafer/Sacks 1997) Deep Blue Siberian Iris sib Beardless, Mature plant size: 45in., BLUE, rich blue flowers with large rolling ruffles. A sprinkling of white on the falls, and white wire edges on the falls and styles., USDA Hardiness Zone 5, Michigan Bloom Month 6-, In Garden Bed G4 for 289 DAYS (Draycott). Planted in 2021.

Joe Pye Weed's Garden: RIVERDANCE - '97, M, 40-45". Stunning rich blue flowers with
large rolling ruffles. A sprinkling of white on the falls, and white
wire edges on the falls and styles. Plenty of stalks with 4 to 5
buds each. Morgan-Wood Medal '06

Photo by F.D.Richards, SE Michigan. Link to additional photos of this plant from 2022:

https://www.flickr.com/search/...

#MWM2006, #midseason, #Perennial, #Monocot, #Rhizome, #SIB, #Iris, #IrisSibirica