Description
(Iris stolonifera Barr’s form)
I have provided the synonym above but I have to say I have never seen this called Barr’s form, only ever George Barr. It is an older clone, cultivated from a time when there were only one or two stolonifera colour forms known.
Still going strong after around 100 years or so in horticulture, this is a superb form with standards of indigo thinly veined in a darker shade of the same. The standards are edged with a thick band of warm caramel and the juncture between the two colours is quite sharp and well-defined.
The falls are, at the base, the same shade of pale indigo which is found on the standards with a caramel edge at their base slowly mutating to violet veining which in turn become stronger and more prominent. The veins eventually fuse and become a single confluent area of deep violet with just a hint of something else in the mix and a lovely, almost velvety appearance. The crest of the falls bears a navy-blue beard. The colour is both intense and gorgeous. I have seen only a very few pictures of this on the internet and I do not believe it to be correctly illustrated in the most prominent of these, taken in the USA.
Offered originally by the firm of Van Tubergen in the mid 20th century and named for George Barr, one of the horticultural Barrs (of Barr and sons) and later of Wallace and Barr, nurserymen. Our present stock is directly traceable to the stock which was part of the V. T. inventory when it was sold off in the 1990s. It has been with just one grower, and ourselves, since then. As a postscript, it appears that Iris stolonifera George Barr is in fact a nursery hybrid between I. stolonifera and I. hoogiana and seedlings raised from it, have yielded plants which are to all intents, pure I. hoogiana.
Added to our lists in October 2021
