I understand that Iris Natascha is a seedling of Iris Cantab x Cantab, attributed to Van Eeden, Cantab appeared in a bed of I reticulata var cyanea in the garden of E.A. Bowles near Myddelton house near London. so far as I am aware only I reticulata is involved and I vartanii is not very similar to Natascha anyway. Leonid Bondarenco offers a sibling to I Natascha here http://www.litbulbgarden.com/catalogue4.php and I agree with his experiance that Natascha is hard to maintain where I live. There is a form of Iris reticulata found by Alan McMurtrie now being marketed as "White Caucases", and it is more robust. it is pale blue however- not white! I understand that the white form of I vartanii is extinct (probably due to over collecting), but I have a vague recollection of new forms being discovered in small numbers, a few years ago, in secret locations. Perter (UK) On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 11:27 PM, Jim McKenney <jamesamckenney@verizon.net>wrote: > Sean, this brings back memories. Fifty years ago the old Peter de Jager > company used to sell Iris vartanii 'Alba'. It was inexpensive, and I tried > it several times. It bloomed so early that it was useless as a garden plant. > For me, it was a very weak grower. > > Does anyone know if the reticulate iris cultivar 'Natascha' have Iris > vartanii in its background? > > Jim McKenney > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >