So, Tom, I can see the 3 branches below that top cluster of terminal buds. That's "3-way branching"? X-branching = X branches below the terminal cluster of buds?
Yes, that's right. I had a seedling with 4 branches and 11 buds, but that was just on one of the stalks, and it only happened one year so far.
Marilyn I haven't seen one that the branching was too lang, but I suppose it could happen. I agree that it's always good to give them a few years to settle in and show what they can do. So many things can affect them but if every year they show a weakness, then you can pretty much determine that it's going to continue. Bloom count the first year a seedling blooms, at least in our short growing season, will often be low. I made the mistake of culling some first year blooms years ago, then learned that I should give the nice blooms a second year before I cull them for bloom count. Sometimes that will improve.
I forgot to mention stalk strength in my first comments. You want a stalk that is strong enough to hold the blooms upright under normal conditions. You also don't want an iris with ratty looking foliage. If every iris in the garden has bad foliage, then it's probably not the plants fault, but if all the rest are nice, and this one looks bad, then it's probably a plant issue.
