Pink and Peach Irises

From Iris: Flower of the Rainbow by Graeme Grosvenor:

“Pink is currently and has been for many years the most popular colour in bearded iris and it is easy to understand why this is so when you observe the large range of quality iris available in the many shades of pink. It seems that most hybridisers cannot resist the temptation to ‘dabble in pink’ and so we have a huge pool of iris from which to select. Many pink iris have been less than satisfactory garden subjects and many have proven quite difficult to grow, but there are now plenty of pink iris with admirable garden qualities.

“‘Social Event‘ (Keppel, 1991) is my pick as the best all round pink iris available… [It] is a very clear light to mid pink with some peach overtones and a slightly lighter area beneath the flame-red beard. No matter how it is described it is a most beautiful iris which gives a very pink effect in the garden. The form of the flower is outstanding with beautiful balance between the standards and falls and heavily ruffled and laced petals of excellent substance. In quality of bloom it takes pink iris to new heights.”

From The Iris Book by Molly Price:

“To gardeners whose idea of pink irises stems from the old orchid-pink diploids such as ‘Pink Opal‘ and ‘Pink Satin‘, the modern tangerine-bearded pinks will be a surprise. As with other plants in which pink is bred from yellow varieties, the yellow influence is still discernible in many of these irises that produce such a dazzling garden show. Two of the tallest pink varieties — and my choice for the back of the border — are ‘Spring Charm‘ and ‘Garden Party‘.

“There are, as yet, comparatively few true pinks. ‘June Meredith‘ was the first and is the most famous. ‘Fairy Fable‘ is new with smooth ruffled flowers shading from deeper to pale pink; but the finest of all true pink irises is ‘Esther Fay‘ — even the beard of ‘Esther Fay’ is a deep true pink. ‘Fair Luzon‘ has smaller laced flowers of deep pink with a cerise beard. ‘One Desire‘ shows a faint blue tone but this somehow makes it seem pinker.”

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Hello!

Here we have another series of irises where one color — pink — dominates, yet each flower shows off a variety of additional related colors, including peach, apricot, red or burgundy, yellow, shades of lavender or purple, and swatches or beards of glowing orange. Many of the predecessors to irises like these — you can see some of them by clicking through the links in the quotations above — will show a single color, but subsequent breeding blended in additional colors, and separated them between the flowers’ standards and falls, or among their beards.

Thanks for taking a look!

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