It is difficult not to love blue iris; whatever shade of  blue they always look amazing and so natural. In fact, true blues are not as common as we often think – there is often a hint of purple in them. The amoena pattern with light standards and darker falls always look soft and cloudlike and are among my favourites but, because I am so perverse, I  like reverse amoenas even more, with their darker standards and light falls. These are not that common and the colouring is fairly subtle so far but among my favourite iris is ‘Crowned Heads’ (1997, Keith Keppel) which is as good as it gets. ‘La Part des Anges’ is a French iris along the same lines from Cayeux, bred by Michelle Bersillon (2008) – an American now living in France, that is a subtle creature with standards slightly deeper than the falls but with a richly tinted midrib that creates some real depth to the blooms. They are large, ruffled and slightly fragrant and held on good, strong stems. It is a child of the beautiful ‘Fogbound’.

The plants are vigorous and have increased well in the garden.

Geoff’s rating

9/10

Garden rating

8/10