L. pumila and C. walkeriana are both used a lot in compact cattleya breeding for the home grower. Both are small, both have the capacity of blooming more than once a year, neither are finicky about temperatures (but probably go towards the warm end), pumila is not a light hog, and the higher light requirement of species walkeriana becomes recessive when used in hybridizing.* From pictures I see of Mini Purple, it blooms directly off of new, not fully mature growth, no sheath. So the problem is probably not anything obscure or mysterious. The most common problem with healthy plants not blooming is insufficient light. * Alan Koch, Cattleyas for the Home Grower. HTH, John :>)

Hi Texas10gal, a few questions to help narrow it down: Do you want rebloomers, really fancy ruffles, or just tall? And do you like the black purples, the bluer shades, or the redder shades? Do you like the purple and white plicatas? When you order online they send you just the rhizomes, and they don't come until July/August. That means you have to wait a season for flowers. Just so you know. A favorite purple around this forum is Dusky Challenger, 39". It was the winner of many awards. Another popular purply-blue is Paul Black. It's very bright. So is Superstition, which is more violet-red. Pagan Dance and Violet Turner are gorgeous reblooming irises. My favorite is a plicata I believe is called Classic Look: It shows up so well in the garden, and it is tall. Renee

Rosecandy, welcome. I assume you are asking about the Tall Beardeds which are over 27 inches. Schriener's site I believe gives heights of SDB, MTB, IB, etc. 1. Tall beardeds are equal in disease resistance pretty much. What are called cemetary iris are very old varieties and they are the toughest, withstanding neglect. Beardeds don't like babying. They like sun and deep watering when the top 4 inches of soil is dry. Sprinkler systems are not good. 2. Heights listed are from the ground to the top of the terminal flower (first bloom on top). Height is an average of 2 years performance. There can be a difference due to weather, nuitrition, etc. I've only seen down in the foliage bloom occur in rebloomers' rebloom. 3. Definately drought friendly. They do not like moist soil. Sun and drainage! 4. An iris stalk typically has 6 buds. If that cultivar opens 3 flowers at once and they last 5 days & on the 5th day the other 3 open and last 5 days, you have 10 days of bloom for that stalk. Other cultivars may open 1 bud at a time so you may have a couple extra days of open bloom. If temps. are warm (80's - 90's) a bloom will only last 3 days. If you have a large clump, then some stalks will be slower than others to open so you will have a longer show of that cultivar. 2 weeks of bloom of a particular cultivar is common. 3 weeks is wonderful! The majority of tall beardeds are mid-season openers. Early ones begin about 3 weeks before the early mid-season ones open. So those early ones are winding down as the early mid-season ones begin. Peak bloom here occurs at Mother's Day. The early mids may still have bloom, the mid-mids are going great, and the late-mids are opening. As the late-mids are finishing, the lates open. There is overlap. Bearded iris bloom once in the spring unless it is a rebloomer (which will require additional water and food). 5. Beardeds with poor substance (thin petals) do not fare well in rain. They are few and far between. More common in historics in my experience. Lots of pictures of beardeds looking very perky covered with raindrops. A storm is another matter. 6. 'Around Midnight' (Schreiner'95) is considered the blackest by people on this forum. Be very leary of judging color by photos. 'Dusky Challenger' is not as black but has been the top notch purple for several years. 7. A self is all one color. I've read conflicting info on whether that includes the beard.

My iris dilemma, approx. 14 - 15 years ago, on a visit to Iris City, Primm Springs, TN, we bought an iris named "Skating Party." A vigorous iris with large, bright white blossoms, consistently measuring 7" or even 8" across. After 3 years competing (unfairly) with an aggressive Holly, it was transplanted to a 12' ideal garden plot, where it flourished. Divided when crowded, shared with friends and neighbors, ultimately the rhizomes moved to their current location, two small (4' x 5') plots. That was 4 years ago. Consistently blossoming vigorously, seasons '17, '18 and '19'. Last year, early/mid-May, we were gifted with a single rhizome/flowering stem from Iris City, named "Harvest of Memories." Bright yellow. Planted in one corner of our bed, approx. 2.5 to 3 feet from the opposite bed. This season, May 2020, only one bed has blossomed, that opposite the "Harvest of Memories" iris - and every one of the many blossoms is from pale yellow to bright yellow! Not a bright white in the lot. Thoughts (I did not divide the rhizomes in 2019) I will send pictures when I figure out how.