Genuine Gemstones

Pale amethyst standards are finely veined darker; style arms are white pearl; falls garnet with a plush purple center, and rimmed with gold.

A 3/4-bred from Ballalaika Music X Sunrise in Glory. For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB+.

Ghost Dancer

Bold Sentry X Whither Thou Goest. By day, a rather conventional flower: wisteria standards and smoky amethyst falls with a burgundy-black beard and signal spot. As dusk gathers, however, it takes on a luminous "ghostly" quality and beckons across the garden like a restless spirit. The name honors the "Ghost Dance" legend of the Sioux. The pattern seems to be recessive, so I expect it to recur if two of these are crossed, but the first test seedlings did not survive and later ones haven't yet bloomed.

Glamour Puss

Found along "The Primrose Path", a primrose yellow self delicately blushed with burgundy and sporting a burgundy beard.

A fully fertile halfbred, from Desert Princess X Rose of Sharon. With the right partner, this could provide a breakthrough to pink.

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB.

Granny's Granite Pot

A novelty quarterbred, which combines the variegated pattern of the TBs with intricate stippling and dotting of the arilbreds. The true color is much bluer than in the photo, much like that of old-fashioned granite cookwear. From an unknown White Ground Plicata X Whither Thou Goest.

For Show aficionados, the ASI code is OGB-.

Grizzled Old Warrior

An arrogant black cat raised with a Great Pyrenees and St. Bernard as his own, personal bodyguards readily earned the nickname "grizzled old warrior".  This iris was named for him because its dense beard is black in the shade and shines reddish-black in the sun, just like his fur.  Near-white standards have blue-violet veining that's most intense around the edges, but light enough  in the middle to let most of the ground color show through. Yellowed-ivory ground of the falls is covered by a dense network of red-violet dotting and veining.   Of course only those who have met the cat would make the connection, so I chose a black-bearded candidate with heaving veining, like the network of lines on the weathered face of an old Indian warrior. 

A fully fertile halfbred from Boaz X Jean Ralls.

Herb McKusick

Its lustrous violet is unusually sunfast, fading just enough as the flower ages to make its intricate signal more prominent.

A fully fertile halfbred, from two C.G. White Award winner: Bangledesh and Martha Mia.

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB.

Hidden Talents

Pale lavender standards fade to creamy white as the flower expands. Buff falls are blushed with pinkish violet on opening, which disappears as the flower ages. Not the most impressive sibling from the cross, but by far the best breeder. From Esther, The Queen X Shiek.

For Show aficionados, the ASI code is OGB.

Impudent Elf

IMPUDENT ELF (McAllister, 1993) OGB

Gene's Little Secret X Rose of Sharon. In an attempt to characterize its personality, one local wit dubbed this one "Little Pffft!" But I thought that "Impudent Elf" would be a much more euphonious, yet still accurate, moniker – and much more likely to win the Registrar's approval. It has a large red-violet spot that almost covers the inner half of its honeysuckle yellow falls, providing a contrast to the soft pinkish-lilac standards that is almost garish. Limited fertility. Has set pods to others of its line, but none of its offspring have been impressive.

Inscrutable

A blue-violet bitone that has an intense smoky overlay when it opens, that fades as the flower expands and ages to reveal a large violet-black signal. A tetraploid 3/4-bred from Persian Pansy X Koko Knoll. For Show aficionados, the ASI code is OGB+.

Invasion Force

INVASION FORCE (McAllister, 1992) OGB

Hidden Talents X Gene's Little Secret. Silvery-blue standards. Soft yellow falls, flushed burgundy with burgundy line extending from tip of yellow beard. Limitedly fertile when used with its half-sibs. Eight months after being lined out in the seedling bed, a little less than one year after germination, the original rhizome had put out 18 increases and had to be transplanted to a roomier location. The flower is nice, of course (pale silvery-blue standards and soft yellow falls blushed with burgundy) or it would have been tossed instead of introduced – but I chose a name to describe its unusually vigorous growth habits.