Dusky Challenger and Yaquina Blue. Then it gets really tough.
Today I might select Bold Vision and Copatonic maybe Secret Service. Probably choose sdb's Chubby Cheeks and Bluebeard's Ghost.

Here are some that come to mind as good performers in my garden- ones that grow and bloom well consistantly:
Brussels--a good darktop
Cherry Glen--early bloomer with great scent
Going My Way--over a decade of reliable bloom
Moonlit Sea--love it, historic
Valentines Day--best pink, lots of stalks
Man About Town--novelty, color changer, can't stop looking at it
Rosalie Figg-- bloomed for months last fall
Stellar Lights--bright color
Mesmerizer--white space age

I have a very tiny yard, but have managed to squeeze in 120+ varieties by slowly colonizing the parking strips on my block. I too tried to concentrate on a few, but then iris fever set in...

I couldn't do without two monster growers that start the spring so beautifully each year-- and look so good together:
Navy Blues (Dunn, 1994) rich deep color
Grape Expectations (Maryott, 1998) intense burgundy + blue

Others I could not do without
Snowbrook (Keppel, 1986) exactly like its name, clean, crisp
Paul Black (T. Johnson, 2003) clear and intense
Lanai (Ghio, 1998) subtle peach and yellow
Yaquina Blue (Schreiner, 1992) a cloud of blue
Golden Panther (Tasco, 2000) warm: the Calif state iris!

But I agree with gmason, this is a tough call. You'd want some yellows, and some blacks, and some bi-tones, and, and, and --and first thing you know you've got a hundred.

Good question.
I'm going to review my list and post later.
Meanwhile I thought this old post about discards was interesting.

What Iris Do You Plan To Discard After This Season?
Posted by jomarc z6 IL (jomarc@intrnet.net) on Mon, May 12, 03 at 22:47
So which ones are we planning to pitch, and why? The comments we read in this thread may
help to convince us that we are making the right decision. And if it is the wrong decision
maybe someone will convince us that we are making a big mistake.

Two that I am seriously contemplating pitching (really giving away) are

1. Jesse's Song ..... because it falls, falls, falls.
   (I think "Conjuration" is just a bit tidier for the spot she is occupying).

2. Clarence .... because a rebloomer is of little benefit
   if it isn't that attractive to begin with.

Posted by: Mikexxx Zone 5b OH (My Page) on Mon, May 12, 03 at 23:22
Hot Chocolate; grows and increases fine blooms short, leaves the size of a SDB

Muse: just has to go

Elegant Impressions; need room like others yellow better

Cracken: too many purple and white plictas

Chocolate Swirl: don't like many browns

Baltic Star: tired of it

Stepping Out: tired of it

Laced Jabot: too old

Mystique; Tired of it

Boogieman: too many purple and white plictas

Orange Popsicle: too many oranges

The only one that does not grow good is Hot Chocolate. In order to get a new one I have to
get rid of an old one. The main reason I never trade any more. Plus I have a source for free
iris with a huge number to pick from.

Posted by: jain n ca 9 sunset 9 (My Page) on Mon, May 12, 03 at 23:47
i am dumping these because i don't like the colors.

gibson girl
prairie plum
rock star
calico queen
i've got rhythm
lady jean
jumping
return to elegance
lots of lost name dark shades

Posted by: AnneOW z8 CA (My Page) on Tue, May 13, 03 at 1:05
I'm chucking some miss-labeled irises, and mystique, voltage, prarie plum (I think it is
mislabeled), and about 100 unlabeled purple TB's out in the field.

Posted by: wyleesee z4 WI (My Page) on Tue, May 13, 03 at 8:17
and maybe JOHN.

Posted by: garden_of_mu Z8 PNW (My Page) on Tue, May 13, 03 at 13:10
I'd getting rid of Chief Hematite & Epicenter because I am tired of them never blooming or
growing well. Maybe they like a different climate better.

Loads of historics I just have far too many extras of taking up space. Especially i. pallida and
'lg periwnkle'. I'll really be reducing my yellows - how many does one small garden need?
And I am sick to death of purple and white plicatas - I would kill for some other color of
plicata besides purple and white!

Posted by: wmoores MS 7/8 (My Page) on Tue, May 13, 03 at 18:35
Tons of seedlings will get tossed plus a lot of named varieties. Some I am considering tossing
are
Yaquina Blue - bloomed once in four or five years
Sea Power - never bloomed in three years
Jesse's Song - overgrows
Gypsy Romance - one stalk in a 2 year clump of 30 fans
Suky - same as above
Contemporary Art - puny
Blue Suede Shoes - no pizazz
Great Gatsby - blah

Posted by: Nettiesgarden z4 MN (My Page) on Wed, May 14, 03 at 11:36
World without End- I am on my third replacement plant from Cooleys and they are going to
kill me if I ask for another one. It just hates my climate. Also Pheasant Feathers is on
probabtion this year. Last year it had stems the consistancy of limp lettuce-couldn't even
stake it because the stem 3 inches above the stake bent over too. Sheesh!

Posted by: Irislady (My Page) on Thu, May 15, 03 at 8:15
Here's some of the latest newer ones that disappoint:
Apollo One, small flowers, yukky colors.
Autumn Accent, there are more billowy golds out there.
Paradise Saved, I love the old favorite coral/peach Alice Goodman the best.
Living Legacy, odd coloration, I think shouldn't have made the cut.
His Dawn of change, there are way better whites out there, like Queen of Angels, Mesmerizer.

Posted by: kprp 7a (My Page) on Sat, May 17, 03 at 22:03
Edith Wolford is outta here. Planted in 2000, it put up one tiny bloom in 2001 and I haven't
seen a bloom since.

Island Dancer didn't bloom this year and was unimpressive with minimal bloom in two
previous years.

Apollodorous (sp?) didn't bloom at all this year. Surprising, because last year it did bloom.
But I don't like the colors so it will go.

It's kind of gratifying to know that others have to make these decisions, too. You guys would not believe my space limitations. Just a couple of really small beds that I have to use most creatively.

Keeps:
Golden Panther! Super in every way.

Tom Johnson: gorgeous, great grower, early bloomer, nice fragrance

Epicenter: blooms early and well for me--super stalks, gorgeous blooms (much prettier than its children Drama Queen and Dark Drama, IMO)

Venetian Glass: exceptionally pretty and super grower here

Sea Power: took a while to get established, but once it did it's grown into a clump with lots of great stalks.

Aurelie: very eye catching, super strong, tall stalks with great color--one of the best attention getters I have.

Tour de France: really growing well here--very nice color punch

Matt McNames: the prettiest dark iris I've ever seen, and it appears (in its third year) to be a solid grower

World Premier: not the quickest grower yet, but it will get a couple more years to prove itself just because it is so very pretty.

Designer's Art: a Queen's Circle child--this one provides very pleasing pastel color and has proven to be a superb grower.

What I've parted with:
Clarence: like the other poster, it's rebloomed once, but it isn't really that pretty to me. I let her go.
Before the Storm: had one good year--put up pretty flimsy stalks (though the one good year, the flowers were quite pretty)
Ruffled Copper Sunset: pretty flowers but flimsy stalks and slow increaser.
Swingtown: usually put up one stalk--so crowded the flowers always blew over (too bad: quite colorful)
Cloud Fire: barely grew at all.

To go... probably --

I know I'm in the minority but Victoria Falls has never bloomed once in five years. Increases like mad, but no flowers. Quite frustrating.

Probably Tangled Web: weak grower

Can't Touch This: has barely grown in three years---the pics are so pretty

Likely Bel Esprit: has grown like gangbusters, but not that pretty a color combination to me.

Mike in SC, Zone 8

Thank you for all your responses. I thought I heard a great deal of candor in all of them. Your responses are giving me perspective I needed. I particularly noted the success of one person on a given cultivar might not at all match another's experience with it. There are probably more variables than I was taking into account like zone differences that might make all the difference in the world. One thing I wasn't taking into account is how unsatisfying it might be if a cultivar doesn't thrive but gives a hit or miss showing. This tells me I better watch and see what this Spring brings before I make ordering decisions. This Winter has been a hard one. I have so many to see bloom for the first time----if they will(???)
Thank you again..... you have been more helpful than you know.

Irisawe

My small garden does not have great trees as a backdrop so pastels look best. .
A friend's huge garden with massive trees accomodates strong colors.
My favorite treasured older cultivars are:

Blue-ish pastels --- so pretty with the foliage
Altruist - blend of white and pastel "blue"
Navajo Jewel - thought I'd died and gone to heaven; closest to true blue (pastel)
Oregon Skies - similar to above

Ecru - Sepia - tan ??? Space Ager
Thornbird - this one photographs more yellow than ecru. Weird colors and difficult to combine but so worth it.

Lavender --- surprisingly few favs. maybe because I prefer a light beard
Bubbling Over - mid lav. and color combines perfectly with Rancho Rose & Tulip Festival; reliable bloomer plus it stays under 36 inches here. Not an eyecatcher.
Mary Frances - lovely orchid blue

Melon Rose blends --- happy feeling iris
Role Model - gorgeous in a large group
Tropical Fruit - yum

Pink --- I'm prejudiced toward this color
Alice Goodman - a perfect pink, form and color
Chanteuse - adore the fall drape on this oldie plus it's pastel pink color
Lace Artistry - scrumptous warm pink

Plicatas --- can give interest to mixed beds
Rancho Rose - this cooler rose color just looks so da__ good in my pastel garden
Windwalker - soft lavender S.; F. have some interesting darker hafts beside lightly speckled inner white area which is surrounded by the standard color; neat fall drape; love it even tho it only won HM

Red
Lady Friend - unique garnet; tailored form; haven't found the right spot but it's too good to give up.

SDB --- don't do well in our milder winter area
Pippi Longstockings --- I want this one badly. Lemon yellow with a burgandy thumbprint on the F.

White over apricot-copper blend --- one of my favorite combos
Fondation Van Gogh - haven't bought yet but love its white standards with pinkish ribs and apricot falls softly edged white
Sonja's Selah - BB, unreal shades of pinky copper and apricot in the falls, gorgeous

Odds and Ends
Gypsy Woman - pastel lemon over white falls edged with the exact amount of violet-pink to make it perfectly balanced.

IF I could only keep 10? What a horrible thought... but if I had to recommend 10 beautiful and easy ones (at least for me) to someone who absolutely had room for no others it would be:
Flights of Fancy
Berry Sherbert
Roman Song (forgot this one on my other favorites list)
Beverly Sills
Mary Frances
Blue Shimmer
Gold Galore
Lullaby of Spring
Erleen Richeson
Creative Stitchery
Immortality
Bristol Gem

These grow like gangbusters for me here, are very reliable bloomers and seem to tolerate my heavy clay and ever-changing weather. These and a few NOID historic-types are the ones I always share with newcomers to irises because they give the confidence to try "pickier" varieties. (Plus because they do grow so fast for me I almost always have some of them to share).

I have 3.5 acres, but only about half an acre is sunny enough to grow irises well since our property is so wooded, but I have trouble getting rid of any of mine. Now that I've started my own hybridizing program I know I'll have to be tougher about culling. I tend to move the ones that don't do well to other areas where I think they'll do better. Sometimes that works; sometimes it's a waste of time and garden space. I have moved a lot of my historics to less desireable locations to make room for my newer favorites, and planted some brown-shaded plics like Cayenne Capers out in a clearing in the woods where they fend for themselves. (No one here was intereted in them). A tobacco brown self (historic, I think) has been the only one I've been able to bring myself to compost... and it popped back up and blooomed in the compost pile! Shae

Queen's Circle
Song of Norway
Sudden Impact
Sea Power
Moon Over Madness
Ultimate (sdb)
Wintry Sky
Designer Label
Fancy Notion (love the fragrance)
Nora Eileen or Aristocracy

I know that's eleven but the last two, I just couldn't make my mind up.

Billy

Worthy topic
I too, have had disappointment with Edith Wolford. I don't know how it won the Dykes. Anyway, my 10
Dusky Challenger
Queen's Circle
Starwoman
Vanity
Yakina Blue
Immortality
Jesse's Song
Thornbird
Dynamite (need a red)
Protocol (need a Yellow)

I am aiming for between ten and twenty large clumps. I want mostly rebloomers.

Here are the keepers out of the 52 I have tried:

1. Total Recall pale yellow re
2. Lady Friend garnet rose long bloom period
3. Frequent Flyer white re
4. Persian Berry orchid
5. Looky Loo burgundy, white, yellow
6. New Leaf violet-red luminata reblooms for me
7. Cajun Rhythm orange and white
8. Beverly Sills pink
9. Classic Look purple-blue plicata- clean
10. Recurring Dream mid-violet blue huge flower re

I have a few that are going into the second round:
11. Plum Pretty Whiskers violet
12. Rip City until I find a better red
13. Queen's Circle white
14. Victoria Falls mid blue re

And a few that are going bye-bye:
1. Starship Enterprise has never bloomed in four years
2. Impressionist ditto
3. English Charm Beautiful, but too subtle for my loud garden
4. Alice Goodman Like Beverly Sills better
5. New Perspective AAAAHHHH! Too scary
6. Mariposa Autumn I just don't like it. It's a bloom machine, but something doesn't work for me.

Interesting topic.

I have found that iris like daylilies are a bit of an obsession for me. I've got too many in too small an area.

However, what I did find was that while I drool over several (to be read as "too many") cultivars of both iris and daylilies via websites and catalogues+, their performance in my garden is ultimately what makes me decide what is staying and what is going. Last year 90% of my daylilies bloomed. Some that I had not seen bloom before others that had. Some got shovel pruned and given to a couple of friends at work. Others were given a reprieve to see how they look this year.

Also, there have been several times when I've been gifted both daylilies and iris that while I never would have picked, I have found an appreciation for. "Little Sighs" iris would be a perfect example. I compact SDB that has increased well and is a great companion for another iris that blooms just after it "Ulalena". I'm going to move them to the front of the border as the foliage stays pretty clean too.

I find that a garden is ever changing based on a multitude of things. last year I brought in some orange daylilies as I felt the bed needed a POP of color. They may not stay as I'm not in the orange mood anymore. Several of the daylilies just aren't performing as I thought they would so we'll see how they do this year and they may go too!

So all that said, I guess it comes down to what you really like (colors, shapes, sizes) and what experience you have with them.

What would I have to have?

1. Monmartre ...first to bloom, still blooming, beautiful bloom.
2. Paul Black -just love it
3. Happenstance - Gorgeous pink...great bloomer
4. Gypsy Romance - love the color: great bloomer
5. Sultry Mood
6. Supreme Sultan
7. Jurassic Park - Wonderful Bloomer
8. Sheer Ecstasy - Favorite Color
9. Skating Party
10. Here Comes The Night

But if you think I coul stop here...never, ever, ever

kay

Message to Shae (sorry everyone else, but I couldn't figure out a way to contact Shae privately)

As Cultivar Preservation Chair of the Historic Iris Preservation Society (HIPS), I hate to see historic iris end up in the compost pile. I'd be glad to take that tobacco brown self off your hands - you can email me by clicking on my user name.

The "holy grail" for rare historic iris is Tobacco Road - an important progenitor of many brown iris which is thought to be extinct. It's a tobacco brown self :-)

Jean

You cannot go wrong with an iris that has won a Dyke's Medal.

I love iris. And one of the ones in my yard that I cannot do without is "Everything Plus". The name says it all, and it won the Dyke's Medal several years ago. When I showed off my iris to my mom several years ago. That was the one that she pointed to as her favorite too.

It's great for landscaping. Has tons of blooms. And it has never required staking....which for me is a huge bonus.

Others that I like:
Vanity (real pink....and a Dyke's winner)
Kentucky Derby (my favorite yellow)
Skating Party (my favorite white)
Dusky Challenger (A Dyke's winning purple)
Mary Frances (pastel purple/lavender type....Dyke's winner)

I have a huge blossomed medium to deep lilac-blue that I totally love and do not know the name of it. But I recall having ordered "Shipshape" one time.....and from the pictures that I view on the 'net' this might be what it is. Whatever it is, I can't live without it....so I do all that I can to preserve it.

Well , last winter here in Denmark has shown, that what I want to grow and what I'm 'allowed' to grow are two different matters. All the new and fancy ones were wiped out and I was left again with the old ones. So from what survives and blooms on regular basis I 'have' to choose: Stepping out, Supreme Sultan, Sultry Mood, Spinning Wheel, Superstition, Latin Lover, Edith Wolford, White Owl, Best Bet, Olympic Challenge, Song of Norway, Echo de France. These are irises that bloom each year.

I,m gong to go about this a little differently . We have had record breaking rainfall and basically only a few weeks of summer every year for the last few years. I cann,t name ten iris that has bloomed everyone of those years . The ones that have are Superstition, Best bet, Winterfest, and Dangerous Mood. Not a good record considering I have spent nearly $1000 on iris in the last 6 years. Mostly my fault since I have almost no full sun locations and amended a rock hard clay soil with aged compost. I resolved that this year by stealing part of the horses pasture, planting on a heavier slope and tilling in lots of sand into the clay soil. We,ll see what the next two years bring for blooms. But I do now know those iris I listed are pretty darn bomb proof bloomers. At least for me.

Wow- you're a trooper, Madeyna. Superstition and Best Bet seem to be great irises. They are both beautiful as well.

Have you tried historic irises? Mine are much tougher than the new intros. They can take more water and they live through long summers here with NO water. They reproduce well in all kinds of soils. I have to say, though, that mine won't bloom in shade.
Renee

I put in a small stand of unnamed historics last year no blooms but they all seem healthy enough.

I wonder if the OP really needs to hear from someone who is in a zone like hers/his? Or at least I would take more seriously the posters who were at least in zone six or so. Anyway, for me my best bloomers are Superstition, Sheer Bliss, Spiced Custard, and Ask Alma, which is an intermediate. Also I have some unnamed ones that are historic maybe that do really well. But I don't have a lot of experience with a lot of kinds. Some have taken a year or two to get going, but then they do okay. That would be Edith Wolford and Oasis Cathy and Princess of Paradise. OC was supposed to be Total Recall, but was sent in error, and it took two years to bloom so I could finally figure out I had the wrong plant. It also blooms later, and tends to get dried out in my xeri bed where I have them, so I tend to look for early bloomers. Tom Johnson, Panama Hattie, and Country Moon have never bloomed. Maybe if they weren't in a xeri bed they would do better. I tend to look for ones that come from growers and hybridizers who are in a zone more like mine.

Interesting list - I have opposite experiences than some who posted

Gypsy Romance
Batik
Blue Suede Shoes
Dover Beach
Superstition
Samurai Warrior
Mesmerizer
Lenora Pearl
Afternoon Delight