Irises do not change color - not on a permanent basis, anyway. It is possible that herbicide drift can cause temporary changes in iris pigmentation (do you use RoundUp or have a nearby neighbor who does?). If that is what happened to your irises, they will probably return to normal color next year, assuming they are not subjected to herbicide again. I don't believe there are any nutritional factors that can completely change an iris's color pigment, though growing conditions can certainly influence color saturation. It wouldn't hurt to have your soil analyzed for any possible nutrient deficiencies. The amount of available sunlight and ambient temperature can also influence color intensity to some degree, though not to the point of turning one color into an entirely different one i.e. purple irises turning white. There are, however, other possible explanations for these apparent flower color changes: Irises often do not bloom every year. It is possible that your dark colored irises neglected to bloom this year, while lighter ones (perhaps left by a previous owner) within the same planting area did bloom. If you dug your original irises from a bed where only purple irises were blooming, perhaps you assumed that you dug only purple irises. However, there may have been a number of other colors of irises in the original bed that weren't blooming at the time you dug but that did bloom later in your own garden. If you dug and replanted a bed within the last several years, it's possible a tiny piece or pieces of a previous iris planting remained in the bed and has now matured to blooming size. An animal or child may have uprooted a rhizome from elsewhere and dropped it into your garden without your knowledge, or a neighbor may have tossed unwanted rhizomes over the fence into your yard where they took root. It happens. Certain cultivars are far more vigorous growers than others, and in closely planted beds, the more vigorous growers will almost inevitably choke out the less aggressive irises over time. Your original irises may have been bee-pollinated within the last few years. The seeds from those crosses may have ripened, dropped, and germinated among the original plants, and now you have a bunch of new seedlings blooming within your original clumps. Iris seed does not grow true to the parent plant and may well have produced some new colors in your iris bed. On extremely rare occasions an iris may "sport", meaning the iris may produce an offset that differs noticeably in appearance from the original plant. HONORABILE is one well-known example of a cultivar that has produced several sports in its long history. The sport offsets, however, do not change the color or appearance of the original plant. The only way to get all of this sorted out is to place a tag around each bloomstalk to identify its color, then dig and divide all of the rhizomes 6-8 weeks after bloom, replanting each color separately about 2' apart so they won't crowd each other too soon. Remove any seed pods that may form before they have a chance to ripen to avoid a repeat of this problem in your garden.

I have had excellent experiences with appliance dealers. One in NYC is something of a guru, he owns and runs a family business and he really, really knows his product and market. His advise was excellent. But that is rare. Where I live now we have a pretty good retailer though he's an hour away. I've only dealt with them over the phone and had very good service. But I knew what I wanted. They just did the ordering and walked me through the checklist of what was needed to install. I received so much bad/wrong/inaccurate information when I was shopping for a new fridge a few months ago I would never take the word of anyone at an appliance store for the most part. Today's customer, because of the internet and thank goodness for it, can do the research, ask the questions and fine down the choices to the point where you do targeted shopping. What I mean is that you go and look first at what you think will work for you, make notes, take photos for your reference afterwards. Then look at other things and talk to the sales people about price and options. Even with the good sales guy on my recent purchase, he was only knowledgeable about certain product lines. He had been to the Wolf/SZ factory for a "tour" and touted that fridge -- one of my 2 finalists -- because he knew it well. That was fine with me and I appreciated his input. But it didn't provide me with exactly what I required and my own inquires produced information he didn't have -- or even want to have. So I don't think the enemy is us. I don't think there is an enemy. I think there are foundational changes that have switched the responsibility from sellers to buyers. Don't know about you folks but the amount of research, checking, deliberation and shopping that goes into an average purchase these days can be overwhelming. It doesn't especially bother me because I've always done research and reporting of one type or another. But even with skills, it gets overwhelming. Or worse boring. I had to buy 3 surge protectors this week after another one of our crazy power events. My eyes were glazed over. And what arrived in the main was still surprising. You just want to go buy a stove or a fridge not take a graduate course in engineering. Unfortunately, that's not the way it's going. So forget about the old days. They are so gone. Today, it's research, a little luck, an ability to gauge quality and value and the ability to match expectations and budgets to the market. And it's not pretty.

To echo others, yeah. This is just stretching for light. It's not uncommon to think our succulents are getting more light than they actually are. I was recently reading a story in a succulent book where the author was working with someone who was sure the window was enough light because it had worked in the past for her succulent. She hadnt factored in that over the years the shrubs she had planted outside got tall enough to create some shade over the window! Lol Also, our eyes adjust and we often think things look brighter than they actually are. Unless your bathroom is really really sunny, it wont be enough light for this desert plant. Not sure you can give it too much light, reasonably speaking. Too intense, yes but you'd notice burn damage or stress coloring. It's not reversible. The stalk the leaves grow from cant really shrink and the leaves sprout from specfic nodules on the stalk. However! If you give it enough light it will start to grow more compact at the top again. Then you can cut it after awhile. Just lop the top off. In fact, i see a place there already just under the new growth that you will probably be able to use later. Then let the end callous over and let the stalk sprout some roots. Then plant it in gritty well draining soil in a SMALL pot and water carefully and sparingly. For now, you'll just have a succulent tree. :D

Thanks, everybody :-) My cat's name is Muesli. We got her as a rescue kitten from a local rescue shelter and she's a very spoilt princess! She's 7yrs old now. (She's also the feline star in my cozy mystery series - well, the fictional version of her anyway!) Lisa - I must tell you, Lady of Shalott can be a bit "strident" when the blooms first open, which clashes a bit in my garden (which is mostly pink, purple & white - probably like yours! ;-) ) - so I like her better once she fades a bit. The blooms do fade to a very beautiful colour - a soft pinky-orange (more orange than Abraham Darby, who is quite pink for me so far) - and the flowers do have a perfect shape, I think. In every other respect, she seems a fantastic rose - constantly blooming (top to bottom) with upright blooms and bushy, even growth (except for the few octopus arms), no disease and doesn't mind heat and blooms don't fry. If it wasn't for that very lurid orange colour when her blooms first open... I'm planning to move her come winter (at the moment she's planted next to Princess Alexandra of Kent in a very narrow bed and aside from the colour clash, they're both growing bigger than I expected!) She keeps throwing out these LOOOOOOONG octopus arms but unlike the ones on Pat Austin which are stiff & angular and look really odd, hers are very graceful & really flexible. I'm sure I could have cut them down and forced laterals but I like leaving the roses to their natural state a bit - I think it gives them "personality" ;-). Plus, I think she'd make a great climber with those long, bendy arms so I'm going to move her to the opposite side of the garden in winter and train her on the wall there next year. ~ HY