blue has no standard ... IMHO ...

its one color at dawn .. another at noon .. and the best color is usually at dusk.. when the sky gets pink ... as pink.. on the color wheel is opposite.. they intensify each other ...

then they are another blue on a cloudy day.. partly cloudy.. etc ...

i knew this long ago.. but never really came to appreciate it .. until the digital camera .. and taking multiple pix ...

then there is bringing one in the house.. and comparing fluorescent versus regular light etc ...

but i gotta tell you.. when it all boils down.. there are few blue flowers.. of any kind.. that are truly blue... i have been ripped off so many times... by catalog pix.. that i cant even begin to count ...

anyway.. the ONLY way to get.. what you really want.. is to shop blues in person.. in flowering season ... IMHO ...

ken

There are iris that appear blue to my eye, but like Ken says, kinda depends on light, time of day, etc. Lots of iris are listed as blue that seem much more purple to me. In the flower world it seems there is a large leeway in color. To me, red is the color of my red crayon, but in iris, it is purple, but leaning to the redder tones of purple rather than the bluer shade, if you understand what I mean :) I saw where they were listing an iris as having a red beard just a few days ago, well, it was orange-a very bright orange, but definitely orange. You can't count on the seller's photos either, they sometimes give the photos deeper, richer colors than they are in real life.
Sorry to go on, you got me started on one of my big complaints :)

Never trust the photos. And printer's inks on tags turn funny colors, so they are not good guides either. One way to get an idea of the color of the iris is to google it and to look at all of the photos to get an idea of how it looks in different light.

You can ask here for people to recommend the bluest blue and white iris. I don't perceive any iris as "true" blue in the way that a blue delphinium is blue, but there are cool blues in irises, which is why they are so indispensable in the garden.

'Cascadian Rhythm' appears to be blue and white to my eyes.
'Stairway to Heaven' appears to be lavendar and creamy white to me.

Keep in mind that it is really hard to photograph those blue-lavendar irises accurately.

Check Parisien, Ruban Blue and Rebeca Perret. Some iris listed as white and blue have actually very light blue standards(Sierra Grande).

The irises I have are arms wide open, stairway to heaven and codicil. I got them specifically because they were shown and described as blue and white. That's not to say they aren't attractive just not what I was expecting. I grow roses mostly so I know blue is subject but this was the first time growing iris specifically for the color.

Thank you.

Hi Cherrykist:
These are flowers blooming for me yesterday. The one in the left background is Baja Blue in its second day. It is definitely blue. The flower in front is Let's Romp; both the colors on the falls are different shades of purple to me. LOTS of catalogs list purples as blue--it's crazy! However, I would agree that asking folks which bloomed blue for them would be helpful. I'll try to get a photo of Baja Blue when it first opens, too, so that you can see: it's a rich marine blue. Also, Stairway to Heaven (if that is what you really have) does have blue falls (for me it did, at least).

Garden Shot:

Mike in SC

Cherrykist,

The closest real blue I have Sky and Sun:

most of the time it is truly blue, but I have seen it with a hint of purple under the right conditions.

kay

Love Sky and Sun!
Renee

Isn't Sky and Sun supposed to have yellow beards? The picture above looks very close to Princess Caroline do Monaco instead.

I think soil conditions are a factor too in colors especially blue as is weather.
I seem to see a darker and bluer blue when the weather is cool.I have had many "real" blues though dark as well as light and some not so blue as they seem but lavender
As far as picking an iris from a catalog or photo forget it TOTALLY unless you have seen it in person first.
I too have been disapointed many times over the years.
Not only can color be off but form and size can be a lot different in a photo.
Some can look so pretty and in person can be downright ugly or puny
The Botanical Garden is a good place to choose the ones to buy or garden tours are really fantastic.

notice the pix above.. were NOT taken in sun.. in fact.. rather cloudy ...

and the bottom one.. the sky is darker.. and the blue is bluer.. as compared to the one above..

ken

Well, Sun and Sky cam from Shreiners with their label...I have a couple of others that look pretty blue, but not as blue as the photo:

Just a Walmart special:

And No count Blues is the blue in this group...it is purple really as are most of them:

kay

Today I saw the bluest blue iris I've ever seen. Pretty sure that it's "Sierra Grande". (At least I remember ordering it...and it looks close to the picture in the catalog). Anyway, it's gorgeous. I attribute the blue to the cool day and the iris being out of the direct sunlight at the time. In my experience the temperature and the sunlight factor in at any given point during the day. From my experience "cool and shade" give the effect of blue. "warmer temps and direct sunshine" seem to tilt the color more to the lavender-purple.

I'm no expert, but this has been my observation over the years.