RAZZLE DAZZLE ME (P. Black '25)
TB Late-very late 31” (78.5cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
Can one possibly get more color on an iris? Probably, but this one makes a good run at it. Mid gold standards and styles top wide falls having mid red-purple centers with light grape finely sanded veins. Warm white hafts on each side of beards are heavily sanded and lined dark brown blended to dark black-brown edges. Moderate brassy khaki bands decorate the edges. Its pod parent Hotsy Totsy is an interesting parent for me. Two branches plus spur carry 7 buds.
Sdlg. BB17O: Hotsy Totsy X Bright Within

MEGASTAR (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 35” (89cm) No fragrance.
This was my favorite seedling out of all of the BB year seedlings. I returned repeatedly to have another look. There is such an overwhelming amount of color and patterning that one viewing isn’t enough to take it in. It is another Crocodile Smile child, which shows its importance as a parent. Warm white standards have a wide light violet plicata outer band and a wide light khaki tan sanded and lined plicata band. Style arms are contrasting dark gold. White falls have wide dark violet to dark plum lined and sanded plicata bands. Rich brown beards are the perfect accent. Three branches produce 8-9 buds.
Sdlg. BB105P: Crocodile Smile X Z62C: (All Too Exciting x U53X, Rise Like A Phoenix sib)

JUST FOR JACKIE (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 33” (84cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
Jackie is one of my best friends. She has always been a big help by leaving pink post-it notes on seedlings she thinks I should keep. We’ve had many good laughs together. She also insists on helping me plant my iris seeds each fall. Of course I wouldn’t hurt her feelings by saying no. She makes it all fun. She likes brown irises, so for her here is a white and dark red-brown plicata. Note the pronounced lines in the falls. Strong stalks have three branches and 8-9 buds. This is one of many exceptional seedlings coming from Crocodile Smile.
Sdlg. BB106C: Crocodile Smile X Z100D, Background Noise sib

WITCHES STITCHES (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 32” (81.5cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
Glinda the Good Witch put her magic to work and created this enchanted plicata that has only a stitched band around the falls. Usually there is another color, sanding, or plicata marks. Standards are white with light violet-blue stitched plicata bands, but with lighter violet-blue shading in between. Falls are white with wide dark violet stitched plicata bands. Widely spaced greenish texture veins traverse the center. Stalks have three branches and 9-11 buds.
Sdlg. BB113B: Y79A: (V6B: (Ink Patterns x S91A, Raindrops Keep Falling sib) x W215K, Meditation Garden pollen parent sib) X Bespoke

PEACH BERRY JUMBLE (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 33” (84cm) No fragrance.
The time of broken colored irises with poor form, stalks, buds, and growth is past. Now is the time to put this colorful beauty in your garden. Standards have mid to dark mulberry segments and streaks, and mid to light peach segments and streaks. Falls have a mid peach ground, white around the beards, and mid to dark mulberry segments, streaks, sanding, and dotting. WOW! What a wild and crazy flower. Vigorous growth produces show stalks with three branches and 8-9 buds.
Sdlg. BB117N: Y87A: (V24C, Cockeyed Optimist sib x W144C: (T46C: (Claim To Fame x Advantage) x T52CR: (N134AAR: (Island Coral x K113A: (Throb x I4B: (Blazing Sunrise x C17D, Vibrant sib))) x Advantage))) X Y115B, Breaking Free sib

BLUEPRINT FOR SPRING (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 36” (91.5cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
What makes this light blue bitone with falls veined darker mid-blue special? I think it is the best attempt so far to put a pink beard on a blue iris. It has been a challenge for many hybridizers. Its other special feature is the clumps filled with bloom stalks creating an overpowering display of color in the garden. To say it is floriferous is an understatement, and yet, there is plenty of increase left.
Sdlg. BB157O: Y168A: (V159M, Pleasure's All Mine sib x W113A: (S157I, Reflections Of Love sib x Multnomah Falls)) X Z114B: (V159Q, Pleasure’s All Mine sib x V159O, Pleasure’s All Mine sib)

VARIATION ON A THEME (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 33” (84cm) Slight musky fragrance.
This theme includes several medians and I. aphylla in the parentage. I’m excited when I can add more diversity in a cross. As I like to say, “More is more.” The blending, shades, and patterning of blue bring to mind the ever-changing skies. Standards are mid-dark blue blending to mid-light blue toward edges. Inky dark blue falls blend to wide light blue bands. Two-toned beards are a fun accent. Moderately sized flowers are carried on three branches having 9-10 buds.
Sdlg. BB161E: Y170C, Stardust Evening sib X Z145H: (V385B: (First Lady Of Spring x Silver Ice) x V168A: (Coral Splendor x Simply Coral))

GLOWING MAGIC (P. Black '25)
TB Early-midseason 29” (73.5cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
This luscious glaciata is a blended medley of mid pink to peach with mid apricot hafts and bands. Glaciatas are prone to virus. So far this lovely creation has remained virus free. Strong growth produces stalks with 3 branches and 7-8 buds. An excellent parent for all types of plicatas. One of my favorite irises, with an added bonus of medians in its background.
Sdlg. CC67E: Y152B, Fantasmagorical sib X Fantasmagorical

GETTING SOME SUN (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 30” (76cm) Slight musky fragrance.
Moderately sized flowers and shorter stalks help keep this sunny creation upright when the weather turns cloudy and rainy. Mid-dark yellow standards are echoed in the color of the hafts, band and texture veins of the white falls. Big mid marigold beards demand you come closer. Two widely spaced branches carry 7 buds.
Sdlg. CC124H: Z137A: (W152B: (T80A: (Fantasy In Pink x Q6A: (Dearie x Drifting Bubbles)) x Multnomah Falls) x Shivaree) X Z115A: (V160B: (S158A, Like A Breeze pod parent x Enough Is Enough) x Celebration)

HEART SO TRUE (P. Black '25)
TB Late-very late 31” (78.5cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
If you want a BIG robust pink iris for your garden, here it is. Large flowers have mid pink standards. White falls have light pink washed hafts, band, center stripe, and widely spaced texture veins. Zingy pink beards enliven this more subtle creation. Super strong stalks have three branches plus spur and 7-8 buds.
Sdlg. Z124C: Time Out X Pink Poodle

ACCENT ON COLOR (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 33” (84cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
Flowers are a riot of colors and patterning from near red to maroon to indigo, in various overlays and blendings. All of this is further accented with large marigold beards. Well branched stalks have 3 branches plus spur and 9-10 buds. Unique!
Sdlg. Z127E: W60A: (Go For Broke x S116A: (Name Game x P228A: (Palace Symphony x Blyth N197-2: (Devil's Own x Fiery Temper)))) X Watercolor Print

ARE YOU KIDDING ME (Thomas Johnson ’26
) TB Early-midseason 38” (97cm)
Slight sweet fragrance The name was inspired by our young iris enthusiastic friend Dylan Just. If you have ever seen his lively inspiring iris videos you will certainly recognize the phrase “are you kidding me” as his signature punchline. It is a very fitting name and very descriptive of the way I myself felt the year it first bloomed. Coming from the line of unique iris that have been coined the “pansy face” pattern. I love everything about this iris. From its lavender standards with maroon bases, to its wide and ruffled falls with deep maroon central overlay. The beards are blended a mysterious old gold to purple. Strong growth and gorgeous show stems just solidify the deal. Sdlg TN180A: Feel The Beat X Autumn Tease sib.

BALLROOM GOWN (Thomas Johnson ’26) TB Early-Midseason 39” (99cm) Sweet fragrance It is difficult to find the words to describe this one, the picture kind of says it all. Incredible form and with heavy substance, this stately luminata is characterized with a very wide rim on the standards. Intensely ruffled falls have a huge showy central luminata patch. At 39 inches it is very tall for this pattern which has tended to be on the shorter side. Show stems that can carry up to three branches and spurs even on the branches provide lots of buds for an extended bloom season. We have used this one heavily in our hybridizing program, putting it right at the top of our favorites list. Sdlg TN21XX: Affair to Remember X Gone Viral

BLIZZARD WARNING (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB early-midseason 37” (94cm)
Slight fragrance When we are faced the daunting task of naming iris each year we often put a picture up on the screen and say out loud the first thing that comes to our mind. I instantaneously said “Blizzard Warning”, it just has the wintery blizzard sort of look. White standards sit atop white falls that are washed in bluish purple with white ray lines and light lavender edge. A very pretty color and pattern that certainly gets a lot of notice in the field. Sdlg TN223C: This Is Crazy sib X Just Between Us sib

CAN JUST IMAGINE (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Early-midseason 40” (102cm)
Sweet fragrance Lavender blue standards; falls are lavender blue with a deeper violet blue brindled wash. Beards are burnt orange with lavender tips. Can Just Imagine is very tall and stately with beautiful show stems. It is a “fancy” which in hybridizing talk means it is about one generation away from being a luminata. A unique and striking feature is beautiful lavender spathes and stems. It is very hard to photograph but is very noticeable in the garden. We have used this one quite a lot in hybridizing. A very pretty quality iris and the product of two great parents. Sdlg. TN90ZZ: Beautician X Gone Viral

COMPLETE OPPOSITE (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Early-midseason 38” (97cm)
Slight fragrance What can we say about this one? Contrast certainly comes to mind! Deep blue purple standards sit atop cinnamon brown falls. Tall stems with lightly ruffled flowers have carrying power out the kazoo! Holy cow does this one make a statement, it is the iris that garden visitors most often tell me about, it seems to imprint! Certainly unique and won’t be mistaken for anything else! Stems and branching are good, the flowers are not as wide and ruffled as I usually like, but certainly adequate. Sdlg. TN13A: Mood Ring by unknown seedling

COMEDY CENTRAL (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Early-midseason 37” (94cm)
Sweet fragrance Standards are the faintest of oyster blue with violet and pink washed centers. Falls are a rich mauve with a deep reddish purple washed central fall spot. Beards are burnt orange. We just love the colors of this iris and it is illustrated so well in a dramatic pattern. Nice stems with plenty of buds. Sdlg. TO238A: For The Ages X Suspicious Minds

COSMETOLOGIST (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Early-midseason 35” (88cm)
Sweet fragrance This is a plicata pattern that has a lot going on. Standards have a very light lavender ground with lavender dotting showing in the center and then becoming a medium lemon band. Falls are a light lavender white ground with a deep burgundy haft bar and a faint lilac lavender dotted edge. Even the beard is complex with a white ground and orange and burgundy hair tips, changing from the end as it moves towards the heart of the flowers. Coming from a line of plicatas that are not from traditional plicata breeding lines but from bicolor lines where recessive plicatas have appeared. Very nice form, buds and stems. Sdlg. TO237D: For The Ages X Open Flame plicata sib.

DANCE FESTIVAL (Thomas Johnson ’26) TB Early-midseason-late 38” (97cm) Slight fragrance Lines, lines and more lines, I have been working with this pattern for a number of years and we have gotten some very interesting things. If I was to choose one word to describe this it would be floriferous! It completely covers itself in tall well branched and budded stems and blooms for a long time. It is not the first to start blooming but about mid way through the early season it starts and goes and goes. The picture kind of speaks for itself. Checkout the website for additional pictures of it including clump shots. Sdlg. TN171ZZ. Open Heart X Leave Me Breathless

DISCO PARTY (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Early-midseason 38” (97cm)
Slight fragrance This beauty certainly reminds me of a wild disco party. Clean medium lemon-yellow standards are the perfect match for the wildly patterned falls. Falls can best be described as having a large canary yellow sunburst center. Then as we move down the petal there is a lavender to maroon wash that is then encircled with a lemon band. Nice tall well branched stems carry the well-formed flowers with pride screaming look at me! Sdlg. TM141B: Color Wheel X unknown