Description
In the border regions of the NW of Iran there are colonies of typical purple Iris paradoxa spread over a vast terrain. This general area also a place where Iris paradoxa forma mirabilis is known to occur . If you do not know forma mirabilis, then it is a superbly beautiful form of Iris paradoxa with golden yellow falls which are covered an almost orange beard, the standards are generally considered to be white in classic forma mirabilis, though it is said that forms with pale yellow standards exist and Brian Mathew (The Iris, pg 56) mentions a form with blue standards.
This new clonal selection of mirabilis, Isabel’s Beauty, stems from a chance find made in Ardabil Province, Iran. It was originally a plant collected on the off-chance, out-of-flower, because it had differently coloured faded-flowers. In cultivation this has subsequently revealed itself as a most exceptional and fabulous yellow-flowered form, previously unknown to science. It has now increased to the point that the first few can be released. It is a real treasure and it is both newly named and offered here for the very first time anywhere. Not only is it a world exclusive but only a handful of people even know that this wondrous plant even exists. The pictures are accurate and the colours are true and I think that they really speak for themselves in terms both of colouring and beauty – I can add no more!
Cultivation is no more difficult than for “normal” paradoxa (which isn’t a difficult species) and in time we hope that this will become more widespread and comparatively cheaper, but for now it deserves care and propagation in the hands of enthusiasts.
Introduced to our lists (and to the world) April 2017
