PIECE BY PIECE (T. Johnson ’21)
TB Mid 36” (91cm)
White ground standards are almost completely sanded and dotted gold, lighter in the center. Falls are white with deep red violet hafts and rim at distal end of petal. The border on the sides of the fall is heavily dotted medium lavender. Yellow beards with light lavender tips add to the interest. This is a very interesting and different color combination for a plicata. Very lovely and cheery. A good strong grower with nice stems and buds and classic form. Fantastic! Sadly, for hybridizers the cross tag had faded and I could not read it, so it is unknown parentage.
Sdlg TK172A: unknown parentage.

TURN BACK TIME (T. Johnson ’22)
TB Midseason 40” (102cm)
Sweet fragrance. Standards have a cream ground that is almost completely overlaid with gold and a crystalline white petal edge. Falls are white with a lilac blue plicata band and dotted bar on either side of the beard. I simply love this iris. The color combination is so unique and carries the wow factor when in flower. Tall well branched stalks beckon to you from across the garden.
Sdlg TK101A: (Petticoat Shuffle x (sib to Hysteria x Danger Money)) X Beautician

EXPANDING UNIVERSE (Paul Black '22)
TB Midseason-Late 35” (89cm)
Slight sweet fragrance. This cross is another that yielded many quality seedlings from which choices had to be made as to what goes and what stays. Big broad and heavily ruffled flowers are presented on strong show stalks. Standards have wide purple black plicata bands and only centers show their white ground. Styles are near black. Super wide falls are warm white shaded buff over hafts. Dark purple plicata bands encircle the falls and unusual waxy black chevrons surround rich dark black-brown beards. Strong show stalks have 3 branches and spur to show of 10-12 buds. A must have.
Sdlg. Z74H: Goat Rodeo sib

EVENING STROLL (T. Johnson ’23)
TB Midseason 37” (94cm)
Sweet fragrance. White ground standards are heavily overlaid deep blue purple with a deep plum to near black band. Falls are white with an inner band of deep blue purple dots and a more solid outer band of deep plum. The beard is an unusual blend with the hairs being blue purple at the base then white and finally yellow at the tips creating quite a complex treat. Evening Stroll has finally broken the link between shorter stature and lower bud count in the deep purple-black plicata lines. Seven to nine buds on tall well branched stalks are the norm. Sdlg. TJ145A: One That I Want X High Desert.

CELEBRITY DREAM (T. Johnson ’24)
TB Midseason-late 36” (91cm)
Light fragrance. Standards have a white ground that is washed pink, with a deeper pink stitched band. Falls are pristine white with a wide raspberry to purple dotted band across the haft and precise dotted fall edge. Burnt orange beards are tipped purple and then white. A stunning iris! Very good growth and excellent form. The flowers are heavily ruffled and carried on well branched stems with lots of buds. Sdlg. TM25ZZ: What A View X Raspberry Pie

SPECIAL AGENT MAN (Black ’24)
TB Midseason-late 35” (89cm)
Sweet fragrance. Another ‘Crocodile Smile’ child. It has an interesting combination of cool colored standards and warm falls. Falls show a slightly different expression of the plicata pattern. Also notice the interesting dotted plicata pattern on the back of the falls, characteristic of many ‘Crocodile Smile’ offspring. Near solid gray plum standards sit atop butter yellow ground falls with a nearly solid overlay of dark plum and marigold beards. Sdlg. BB108A: Black Y56B: (Hot Off The Press x All Too Exciting) X Crocodile Smile

CALYPSO JOE (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 33” (84cm) No fragrance.
Imagine loads of sun, sandy beaches, and music with a Latin beat when Calypso Joe appears in his flamboyant attire. The light butter ground of the standards is widely banded dark wine with random plicata marks over their centers. Bright mid yellow falls have dark wine hafts extending beyond the root beer beard and ending in an irregular dart. The plicata markings are wide in upper 1/3 then becoming narrow. Robust growth produces strong stalks with 3 branches and 9-10 buds. Quite a showstopper.
Sdlg. CC68A: Fantasmagorical X Z70H, Capture A Little Sun sib

HIGH ON LIFE (P. Black '25)
TB Midseason-late 33” (84cm) Pronounced sweet fragrance.
Not only does High On Life have gorgeous flowers, but its hallmark is the super strong show branched stalks. Dark lilac standards blend to light silvery lilac margins with neat mauve pink styles peering out. White ground falls are washed light pink overlaid with mid pink texture veins. Coral beards jazz things up. Three to four branches plus spur have 9-11 buds.
Sdlg. BB143N: Gay Romance X Z52D: (V110B: (Fred And Ginger x Go For Broke) x V159I, Pleasure's All Mine sib)

COSMETOLOGIST (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Early-midseason 35” (89cm) 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 base and hair tips that change from burgundy to orange as it moves towards the heart of the flower. Cosmetologist comes from a line of plicatas that are not from traditional plicata breeding; they descend from recessive plicatas that appeared in bicolor breeding lines. Very nice form, bud count, and stems. Sdlg. TO237D: For The Ages X Open Flame plicata sibling

DEEP APPRECIATION (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Early-midseason 38” (96.5cm) Slight musky fragrance.
Deep black cherry to black standards show a slight bit of yellow ground in the center. Falls have a white ground with a lemon-yellow wash that is dotted deep black cherry, with a dark bar around the beard and line below the beard. The fall then has a wide black cherry band. It differs from its sister ‘Love In The Dark’ in that Deep Appreciation is near black, whereas the former is a very deep oxblood red. Very stunning! Sdlg. TM149QQ: Love In The Dark sibling

SCATTERSHOT DOTS (Paul Black 26)
TB Midseason-late 30” (76cm) Pronounced sweet fragrance.
Here’s another in the limited realm of the strange broken color plicatas. Each flower is patterned differently. Typically marked standards have a light buttercream ground with a dark charcoal-purple wide rib, heavily plicata-sanded center, and wide band. White falls have light yellow variably-sized hafts, irregular broken color segments of wine to purple dotting and sanding, and a narrow dark wine plicata band. Sdlg. EE25A: Black AA84W, Make Up Your Mind X Wild About You

UNDERSTATEMENT (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Midseason-late 40” (101.5cm) Slight sweet fragrance.
Solid pink standards have a gold edge. Falls are complex for sure. The ground color is a medium lavender with a creamy white area below the beard. The ground is then overlaid with a deep violet wash that clears and becomes a soft lavender pink band with a violet wire rim. Really a unique and stunning color confection. Tall and stately stems with lots of buds make it take center stage for the second half of the bloom season. Sdlg. TN223ZZ: sibling to Most Unusual and Blizzard Warning

WATCH THAT SCENE (Thomas Johnson ’26)
TB Midseason-late 36” (91cm) Light fragrance.
Deep golden yellow standards rise above yellow ground falls overlaid with a deep mahogany red haft and striped edge. The yellow ground on the fall extends out between the mahogany to create a rayed effect. There is a large lavender area below the orange beard. Quite a busy and dramatic flower. Sdlg. TO211B: Living It Up X Just Curious