II. ARIL IRISES (AR). Named for the
fleshy aril on their seeds, there are two
very main types of aril irises common in
gardens. These are the oncocyclus and
regelia irises of the Near East. Although
they have beards, they are not classified
with the bearded irises because they are
so different. The regelias have beards on
the standards as well as the falls but they
are long and straggly. On the oncocy-clus
they are a wide „Fuzzy‟ patch. The
arils show dark signal spots below the
beards with much veining and speck-ling,
in an unbelievable range of colors,
often metallic. Their color range is
similar to the oriental carpets they may have inspired. The arils require
a hot, dry summer rest and suffer from rot when hot and wet. Their
unique beauty has driven many to find ways to meet their challenging
culture.
Hybrids have been produced from crossing
the arils with the more common bearded
irises. These are called “arilbreds” (AB), and
are usually very easy to grow and still dis-play
the spectacular features of the arils.
Most arilbreds are tall and have large
blooms. They usually bloom earlier than the
TBs, with the SDBs and the IBs.
There are also small arilbreds, pro-duced
from crossing arils or arilbreds
with dwarfs or medians. They are
variously called “arilbred-medians,”
“aril-medians” or “aril-meds.”
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Regelia, Iris stolonifera
Oncocyclus, Iris calcarea
Arilbred, „Silent Sentry‟