From the 1967 Schreiner's Iris Lover's Catalog: Many garden lovers are inclined to discount the importance of deep violet as a flower color. Yet every time they encounter a clump of deep violet pansies, petunias, or iris, they are amazed afresh at the unique richness and unexpected loveliness of this color. It is, in fact, the rarest of hues. Nightside, our cover iris, strikes the very basso profundo of deeply resonant color beauty. This true self has magnificent sheen, the nap of heavy, silky velvet. We have had unusual success in breeding for blacks. We have never put out a deeper, or larger, or more luxurious near-black iris than Nightside. A generous clump of it will enthrall you. Fine branching - unusual in dark iris.