One of the most satisfying and exciting aspects of being an historic iris enthusiast is the area of Iris Identification. If you love older iris you will know that many that have grown in our grandparents’ gardens were pass-alongs and they did not come equipped with a name. And then there are those that can be found wherever civilization has left them behind and moved on: abandoned homesites, old farms and of course, cemeteries. These no-ID irises are known as NOIDs.
HIPS is pleased to present you with the most thorough set of tools on the Internet to help you search for the identity of your iris with no names.
In this section of the website you will find lots of DIY information; articles written by noteworthy iris historians, AIS color charts, PBF information, iris composites, descriptions and depictions of what to look for in an iris, all designed to help your search. Our HIPS website Identification section joins our successful Facebook group ‘HIPS Iris ID Help‘, where in two years we have grown to 8500 members whose common interest is iris with no names. Visit the Iris Identification Aids section of our Library for lots of great help.
Use our ever growing gallery of named Iris to search and provide suggestions as to what your NOID might possibly be. Use the ‘Compare’ function to view selected gallery iris side by side. Join discussion on our own HIPS Forum for Iris ID where you can post your own iris and converse with other HIPS members about them.
Its not easy to find the identity of a NOID. The AIS lists tens of thousands of iris which have neither photos nor are known to be still growing in a garden. Added to these are thousands of other unnamed and unregistered irises. Many NOIDS will never recover their AIS registered names. Keep in mind that the only way to positively identify an iris is to acquire a rhizome of the suggested named variety and grow alongside your NOID to observe all the differences and similarities.
Also remember that an iris is just as beautiful with or without its name. We encourage you to enjoy and love your NOIDs; treasure them for themselves even if a name can never be found.
We hope you will send us your feedback, tell us what you like, dislike and want to see more of. A gallery of your NOIDS will be added in the near future. Let us know if you would like us to post yours by contacting [email protected].