AFTERNOON IN RIO

Light and glistening havana brown infused golden yellow beside gold beards. Dykes French Medal in 1931.

Graceful flowers with icy white standards and pale lavender violet falls, deeper on the edges. Bright golden beards. Petals amply ruffled and laced strong and vigourous growth, many buds (8 to 10) on a triple-branched stalk.

If you liked "Badlands" and "Black Suited", you will no-doubt also be attracted to their slightly lighter-coloured but taller offspring, with its violet-leaning-towards-black standards of glistening satin. Plentifully branched stalks gracefully carry 9 or so superbly shaped ruffled flowers... A "full house", wouldn't you say?

We hesitated for a long time whether to introduce this iris, but lots of iris lovers urged us that we should... So here is an amoena with mid-grey rather than white standards. The golden yellow beards light up the grey of the nearly horizontal falls. Certainly an unusual colour, but original, and would have its place in many a garden. 5 to 6 buds.

Not totally white, but rather between white and blue: very light wisteria blue standards and white falls tinted pale blue around the blue beards, which are tipped with yellow. Wide, sturdy flowers with strongly ruffled edges -in fact an ideal shape. Healthy foliage, vigorous plant which multiplies rapidly, strong stems carrying 6 to 8 buds on average.

A combination of deep rich tones. Mid-purple standards and velvety purplish black falls, whose edges are the same colour as the standards. Beards likewise purplish black and therefore discreet. Very large wavy flowers (16.5 cm x 10 cm).