Mine aren't out yet down south. I've planted "George" so will compare when mine are out

I have george too thats why I said it wasnt but thanks for offering. I'm surprised that yours arent out as Im in the 'cold North' of East Yorkshire.

Pauline?

I have Pauline too and it has more white on the falls. A friend suggested Hercules too. Oh isnt it annoying when you are mis sold varieties.

thanks for the suggestion MG.

Harmony? There are so many it is almost impossible to i.d. them :-(

Nope that ones a beautiful blue and thats another one Ive got. Sadly purples dont photograph that well. To add to the problem I have a deficiency in colour vision in the blue/purple end. OH described colours for me.

Thats the trouble once you start looking you find there are more and more to collect.

I also have this 'need' to know what it is. :o)

Iris reticulata purple gem?

nope I have that and it doesnt have the orange stripe. but thanks for the suggestion Avkq47.

Hello! Checked it out on google images and iris reticulata purple gem has the orange stripe?! May be helpful to you?

I have purple gem and it is less plum, a cleaner purple and it has a more yellowy, less orange, stripe. It also has a lot more white on the falls. The purple gem came from a rhs source so I am confident that its right. they were both out together and clearly very different. The purple gem is 'thinner' too. I will see if I can find the photo of them side by side.

thanks for the suggestion Avkq47.

This one is intruiging me ... try http://nature.jardin.free.fr/1111/iris_reticulata.html ... if you can read french!! But the picture may be helpful?

have a look at images for hercules and see what you think. this is the best match for shape and colour.

the french site was the image for 'species', rather than named varieties. ta :o)

Petal colour does not match your 'hercules' suggestion ... try this one ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/natureloving/3392033263/

It doesnt match the purple gem I got from an rhs source. there are so many misnamed when added to photos. I have seen so many that are clearly misnamed so I think I will have to leave it un-named.

thanks for all your effort.