What color would you say these are?

[oneeye]

Blue or Purple?

 

[Twigs]

I’d say the first one, your Dixie Iris looks blue with the yellow and a touch of soft purple on the center pedals.
Your Bearded is more on the spectrum of being purple to me.

 

[Meadowlark]

Blue to me...and very nice.

 

[posiepurrs]

In the florist world (I was a florist for 20 years) they would be blue.

 

[Logan]

First one is blue the second is purple

 

[Sheal]

I think they are both blue. This is purple.

 

[oneeye]

Thanks that's that what I thought too.

 

[Logan]

I still think the same, first one is blue second purple.

 

[Marck]

Both the quality of lighting and contrast with adjacent colours can greatly affect our perception of colour. When in doubt , compare the colour with an actual physical colour chart or colour wheel.

Having said that, I will say that the majority of tones in the first Iris would be accurately described as blue-violet, while those of the second iris would be considered violet. The term 'Purple' is generally considered a synonym of for red-violet.

In horticulture, the term 'blue' is vastly overused to describe floral colour, the majority of which are actually to some degree violet. However, there are many 'true' blue flowers too, and even a rare few that can be accurately described as blue-green, turquoise, or teal.

 

[davidinsydney]

I would describe the first one as Indigo.

 

[Marck]

Indigo is sometimes recognized as a distinct band on the spectrum, between blue and violet. It usually now considered as a synonym of blue-violet.