FLAME STITCH (Thomas Johnson ’22)
TB Midseason 36” (91cm)
Sweet fragrance. Brilliant golden yellow standards are edged with a unique rust veined pattern. Rich and plush mahogany red falls have a yellow central sunburst pattern with red lines radiating throughout. Strong growth with nice show stalks carrying 8 or more buds. Quite a dramatic looking iris in the field.
Sdlg TK184: ((Reckless Abandon) x Stole The Show) X ((( Blyth S292: Catwalk x (Chestnuts Roasting) x Blyth S278A: (Dragon Dance sib x Strawberry Spy))) x Reckless Abandon))

HONOR ROLL (Thomas Johnson ’22)
TB Midseason 36” (91cm)
Sweet fragrance. Honor Roll is the fourth sister in this cross to be introduced and it has been used heavily in my hybridizing program. Palest cream standards are veined and infused light lemon and deep gold at the base. Falls are a very deep plush burgundy with a wide light lavender band that blends into a light yellow edge. Heavily ruffled parts of the petal backs show and add to the effect with multiple layers of color. Nice stems with good branching and bud count make it a winner. A very beautiful iris and a favorite for sure. Check out all the pictures of Honor Roll as the flower ages through the days the yellow pigments become more creamy white. Gorgeous either way, we love this iris and we think you will too.
Sdlg TJ252YY: Sib to last year’s intros, Strike A Chord, Break My Heart and Read My Mind.

PULL ME CLOSE (Thomas Johnson ’22)
TB Midseason 36” (91cm)
Sweet fragrance. Standards are a rich shade of salmon pink extending out to become veining as it moves towards the icy blue border. Style arms peek through with the same rich salmon coloration. Falls are white with light salmon hafts and a blue blended band becoming deeper toward the edge. The form is wide and overlapping at the hafts with good ruffles. Easy growth and strong stems make this a real garden standout. A favorite of mine and of visitors to the garden. A very pretty combination.
Sdlg TK199C: sister to Just Wanting Attention and Festival of Lights.

SENDING LOVE (Thomas Johnson ’22)
TB Early-Midseason 36” (91cm)
Slight sweet fragrance. Cream standards with solid peach pink centers that radiate into peach veining towards the edges. Falls are flamingo pink with light yellow blending and tangerine beards. Very vigorous growth and an abundance of well budded stalks make for a long flowering period. Colorful and bright!!
Sdlg TI222A: sib to Walk Right Back.

I’M IN LOVE (Paul Black '22)
SDB Midseason-Late 15” (38cm)
Pronounced sweet fragrance. Yes, it was love a first sight and that hasn’t changed in its subsequent years of evaluation. It is at the top of my favorite SDBs. Bright, cheery and personable are good descriptors for it. White styles peer from inside bright yellow standards veined and toned slate violet in upper third. Bright yellow luminata patches give way to white shoulders blending to light lilac washed falls veined overall dark lilac. Two toned orange and marigold beards add fiery passion. Variable color and markings. Fabulous parent.
Sdlg. AA219A: Tourist Trap X Bazinga

IMPRESSIVE (Paul Black '22)
IB Midseason-Late 25” (63cm)
Pronounced spicy fragrance It is quite reminiscent of ‘Daughter of Stars’ but shares little in common ancestry. White veins trace through violet blue standards. Dark purple falls are brightened by white luminata patches and dart at the end of beards. Show stalks to be expected from the parentage have 2 branches plus spur and 7-9 buds. Clumps command your attention.
Sdlg. AA170A: Belle Fille X Black V385C: (First Lady of Spring x Silver Ice)

LATE NIGHT KISS (Paul Black '22)
IB Midseason-Late 22” (56cm)
Slight musky fragrance. Need a little dramatic passion? ‘Late Night Kiss’ generates loads. Just a bit of cream ground shows on these dark beetroot standards with interior being cream with dark beetroot plicata bands. White to cream falls have very dark beetroot plicata bands. Hafts have widely spaced black veins and dart at ends of black-brown beards. Compact heavily ruffled flowers show beautifully on stalks with 2 branches and spur.
Sdlg. Z167D: Black U194G, Peppito sib X Cat Tales

LUCKY ROLL (Paul Black '22)
AB (OGB-) Midseason-Late 22” (56cm)
Slight sweet fragrance. Its colors and markings are variable. Whether it makes it a broken color, I don’t know. Slate mauve and violet standards are flecked amber as are dark old gold styles. Mid caramel falls have red-brown flecks and mid black cherry signals veined red-black.
Sdlg. AA146D: Smokin’ Hot X Black Y260A: (Black V271A: (Orange Obsession x Black T219C, Meticulous pod parent) x Black V244A, Running Bare pollen parent))

WISE GUY (P. Black '22)
SDB Midseason-Late 12” (30cm)
Pronounced sweet fragrance. Wait for the punchline. There it is, the big searing orange beards. Pale yellow standards surround mid yellow styles. Light yellow falls have shaded darker yellow spots with darker widely spaced light brown veins and narrow tan-yellow band around them. Very pretty and unique.
Sdlg. Kisses X Lottery

ADRENALINE JUNKIE (Paul Black '22)
TB Early-Midseason 30” (76cm)
No fragrance. These early bright blooming clumps will get you pumped up for the coming bloom season. Peach pink standards blend to buttery peach margins. Mid peach falls blend darker toward edges and have widely spaced dark purple veins overall. Fat vivid orange beards keep your heart pounding. Myriads of show stalks have 3 branches and 7-8 buds.
Sdlg. Z43W: Will You Be Mine X V78A: (R76D: (Opening Number x M29DD: (Ransom Note x What’s My Line)) x R108B: (N121AA: (City of Gold x Snowed In) x One of a Kind))

BACKGROUND NOISE (Paul Black '22)
TB Late-Very Late 34” (86cm)
Pronounced sweet fragrance Two of this year’s introductions are from this cross that produced many delightful seedlings. ‘Me and My Shadow’ has proven to be a solid parent for quality later blooming hardy plicatas. Light blending to dark butterscotch standards have fine darker caramel veining. Styles are darker butterscotch with styles veined brown. Crisp white falls are decorated with wide dark burgundy plicata bands while near black irregular lines descend part way down their centers. Three well-spaced branches carry 7-8 buds. A vigorous and hardy plicata.
Sdlg. Z100I: Me and My Shadow X First Pick

CAST A TALL SHADOW (Paul Black 22)
TB Late-Very Late 36” (91cm)
No fragrance SHOW STALKS are borne in abundance on husky, hardy and disease resistant plants. It’s a win all round! Ruffled round and expansive flowers have mid violet blue standards. White half-moon fall centers are closely veined purple black transitioning to solid purple black lower half. Sturdy stalks have 4 branches plus spur and 10-12 buds. Gorgeous clumps filled with stalks. Husky disease resistant plants
Sdlg. Y10G: Haunted Heart X Clotho’s Web

CROCODILE SMILE (Paul Black '22)
TB Late-Very Late 35” (89cm)
Pronounced sweet fragrance If I could have only one of my plicatas to breed with, it would be this one. Its genetic diversity, including several instances of ‘Dolce’ plus SDBs, IBs, tet MTBs, BBs and TBs, has given rise to unique colors and patterns in addition to solid growth. White ground standards are washed pale mustard becoming darker toward edges then embellished with darker mustard fine veining overall and white edges. Yellow styles are held within strongly held standards. Expansive white ground falls are widely plicata banded dark olive gold with more olive random dotting and line down centers, over centers and haft. Unique olive gold beards complete this unusual creature. Three branches have 7-8 buds.
Sdlg. Y55A: Black U14A, Drag Race pod parent X Black W191A, Black Label pollen parent

GIRLS WANNA HAVE FUN (Paul Black '22)
TB Midseason-Very Late 35” (89cm)
Pronounced sweet fragrance. Combinations of the plicata pattern with other patterns have created a seemingly never ending universe of new and unique patterns and colors. One of those is a butterfly type design where a luminata patch would be. There will be many variations of these to come. This one has mid pink standards with subtle darker rose lines and outer edge. Velvety dark purple-black falls have white darted chevon haft patches overlaid with near black lines sandwiched between purple sanded veins in a modified butterfly pattern. Coral beards enhance its uniqueness. Clumps are gloriously filled with an abundance of stalks having 3 branches and 8-9 buds.
Sdlg. Z88W: Dearest X Black U53X, Rise Like a Phoenix sib

LATER ALLIGATOR (Paul Black '22)
TB Early-Midseason 34” (86cm)
Pronounced sweet fragrance. Be careful this intriguing character doesn’t sneak up on you. Swirling mid to light slate blue standards are flushed darker gray violet up midribs. Ruffled mustard yellow falls have paler centers and are veined darker gold. Show stalks with 3 branches and spur have 8-10 buds which is characteristic of both parents. Robust growth ensures this gator will be back year after year.
Sdlg. Y46A: Black U10, Luxuriant sib X Black W130A: (Black T19B, Lost World sib x Secret Agenda

STARRY STARRY NIGHT (P. Black '22)
TB Midseason-Very Late 36” (91cm)
Slight musky fragrance It is a night you’ll long remember. Classically formed, ruffled and lightly laced purple black flowers have standards with white sanded veins over their centers that show their plicata heritage. White fall hafts have closely spaced purple black lines and sanded veins transitioning to velvety purple black falls. Butterscotch beards turn to white climaxing in a white shooting star dart for a dramatic accent. It has a stunning presence even before opening. Bud reverses have chartreuse haft centers streaking into white center bands then white veins streaking into dark purple outer bands. It is an awesome look. Sturdy growth produces 4 well-spaced branches but only 7 buds. As if this wasn’t enough, it has been a mystery progenitor of many broken color plicatas. There is nothing in the parentage to suggest this trait. I’m still exploring its potential. In one cross, about a third of the seedlings looked like it, a third were standard plicata types and a third were broken color plicatas. There is much to be explored!
Sdlg. Y161A: Me and My Shadow X Black V159B, Pleasure’s All Mine sib

WATERS EDGE (P. Black '22)
TB Early-Midseason 32” (81cm)
Pronounced sweet fragrance. The base of mid violet-blue standards blend outward to icy white. Milk-glass white falls have narrow blended light blue bands and blue-gray texture veins. Tan-gold beards end in white. Three branches and 7-8 buds.
Sdlg. AA131E: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy X Black Y69A: Jungle Mist X Black W2A: (Beauty Becomes Her x Black U1B, Luxuriant sib)

HASHTAG (T. Johnson ’23)
SDB Early 12” (30.5cm)
Slight fragrance. Very light yellow-orange standards. Falls have a white ground that is completely lined with deep maroon red lines and veins. The hafts are touched yellow. Beards are white with tangerine hair tips. Very striking and the first lined SDB in this color that we know of. The parents of this one are the two iris named after our two little dogs. Sdlg. TM175A: Alaia X Tula.

BE THE LIGHT (T. Johnson ’23)
TB Midseason-late 36” (91.5cm)
This is a color combination I am a bit of a sucker for. Brilliant bright yellow standards that are exceptionally clean are held over light to medium lavender falls. The falls have deeper texture veins that run the length of the petals and the hafts are touched yellow. Strong stems on large classically formed flowers. The overall effect is a super clean bicolor that oozes class. Sdlg. TL7A: Barbara Rider X Hospitality.

CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU (T. Johnson ’23)
TB Early-midseason 35” (89cm)
Sweet fragrance. Light lemon-yellow standards with deep yellow centers becoming lemon veining towards the edge. Falls are a plush deep, velvety, maroon-black with a wide lavender-pink band. Good strong stems and gorgeous form. A spectacular beauty! Sdlg. TK81XX: Higher Love X (TG213ZZ x Twilight Rhapsody) x (TC375A x (Tango Express sib x Danger Money)).