Jorun, your lovely photos have prompted me to dig out some of my own. I hope Miriam, Oron, Ori or Hans will put me right if my identification strays from the straight and narrow!
First is Iris haynei again, the plant we saw at the Rothschild gardens; quite widely spread in the near east.
Second and third photos are of its close relative Iris atrofusca, as we found it flowering in the Negev desert.
Fourth is the plant we saw at the Rothschild gardens labelled there as I. giladensis (presumably for Iris gileadensis). This is reckoned by The Plant List to be a synonym of either I. atrofusca or I. atropurpurea, but Miriam says it is a dark form of I. haynei from the mountains of west Jordan.
Fifth is Iris atropurpurea, a late plant that we were lucky to find still in flower among the coastal dunes south of Tel Aviv.
Sixth is Iris petrana, the near-black form called by some Iris hieruchamensis, which we found in near-desert not far from Yeroham.
Seventh is a more typical form of Iris petrana, grown at the Rothschild gardens from material collected between Yeroham and the Dead Sea.
Number 8 is another view of that luscious creature Iris mariae (syn. I. helenae), cultivated at the Rothschild gardens.
Number 9 is the stunning Iris bismarckiana again, also in the Rothschild conservation collection.
All these are oncocyclus irises – the kings and queens of the iris family, driving many iris enthusiasts in northern Europe to despair as they are so intolerant of damp and demand such a reliably hot dry summer. Mediterranean conditions suit them much better, but even there sharp drainage is essential.
The final iris Oron led us to on that MGS Israel trip was completely different. This last yellow-flowered iris is Iris grant-duffii, extremely rare and heavily protected by conservation legislation, with virtually no close relatives. It was growing in a seasonal bog, which would probably dry out in summer, and was accompanied by Anemone coronaria in profusion.