The coral-pink blooms of Iris ‘Beverly Sills’ are impeccably formed on strong, vigorous plants that produce a heavy crop of flowers each spring. Hybridized in 1979, it won the prestigious Dykes Award for the outstanding tall bearded iris in 1985 and is still one of the most sought after pink irises of all time. Grow in full sun in moderately fertile soil, and plant with the top part of the rhizome above the soil level. (Rhizomes planted too deep produce leaves but no flowers.) Pink and yellow tall bearded iris were very rare until plant breeders were able to double the chromosome numbers from 2 sets (diploid) to 4 sets (tetraploid). Pinks are produced when 3 out of the 4 sets of chromosomes contain a specific recessive gene, while yellows are produced if all 4 sets of chromosomes contain the same recessive gene.