‘Victoria Falls’

One of the first iris that really made an impact on me, partly because it reblooms in autumn so well, is Schreiner’s ‘Victoria Falls’. Although the flowers have a slightly purple cast they are pretty blue and the white beard and white patch around it makes the flower look clean and crisp. It is a tall iris and also very vigorous so does well in ordinary garden situations. It was introduced in 1977 and has stood the test of time well. It won the Dykes Medal in 1984. It got to 66 in the poll of favourite iris.

‘Vanity‘

And here we have another important iris, this time from California’s Ben Hager, breeder of so many great iris. This tall iris has beautiful sugar pink blooms with a paler patch around the coral beard. A good fragrance just adds to the beauty of this classic iris which was awarded the Dykes Medal in 1982, eight years after its introduction. It reached no 23 in the poll of favourite iris.

‘Vapor‘

Joseph Ghio raised this ruffled beauty in 2001.

‘Venetian Glass’

‘Venetian Glass was raised by Keith Keppel and introduced in 2003. The large flowers are heavily ruffled and white suffused with milky blue and pink.

‘Vitafire‘

I am sure that my photo is being optimistic (I don’t fiddle with colours) but this seems a lot redder than it ought to be for a red iris from 1968. Introduced by Schreiners it is rather short at 86cm and the flowers are rather primitive but it makes a good clump and is showy. It is also fragrant and it seems to be a stayer, still popular today.

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