Iris color
Paul T. (Sat, 02 Feb 2013 22:53:25 PST)

At 08:28 AM 3/02/2013, you wrote:

Howdy Karl,

If I can offer an alternative..... assuming we're
talking bearde irises...... the chances of all
the seedlings being exactly the same yellow if it
was seedlings is almost impossible. There would
be variation. For them all to standardise to a
single colour by seedlings would take a LOT of
years, like decades I would assume?

To me the simplest answer if she hasn't divided
them up is that the yellow is the strongest
grower and has outcompeted the others, so it is
the only one that flowers now. The others may
still be there, but starved enough by the
competition that they no longer flower?

If she has been dividing them then she has
probably been saving the biggest and healthiest
rhizomes for replanting, which have all been the
yellow variety, so she has slowly weeded out the
other colours over time. Either of these options
I think is far more likely than seedlings ending
up replacing all the originals, unless there are
an awful lot of years involved between the
colours and now the yellow dominating?

What do others think?

Cheers.

Paul T.
Canberra, Australia - USDA Zone Equivalent approx. 8/9
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C.
Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.

Growing an eclectic collection of plants from all
over the world including Aroids, Crocus,
Cyclamen, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Galanthus,
Terrestrial Orchids, Irises, Liliums, Trilliums
(to name but a few) and just about anything else that doesn't move!!