'Contest'

 

If you or your club have been obtaining new members, it is time to let Bob Pries know.  He will be announcing the individual and the club that have obtained the most new members in the last year at the Portland Convention.  The deadline for submitting your results is May 15th.

Please email them directly to him at robertpries@embarqmail.com rather than the PR and Marketing Committee email listed on the AIS website.  And if you have sent them to the latter address, please resend them to him at the embarqmail address.  There may have been some difficulties with the general PR address.

Thank you to everyone for your efforts!

'Poster Girl'

 

Andi Rivarola has been at it again - creating beautiful posters for AIS and Sections.  And they're also available for you to use. 

One is for the $25 Voucher Program for new members and those who upgrade their membership.  You can see the details of the program here (PDF revised in April 2015).  The nurseries participating and links and details can be found in this PDF.

The other is a limited time offer for new members of the Spuria Iris Society of a free rhizome for joining.  The offer expires October 1st or when supplies are gone.  See the details and the poster here.

'News Brief'

 

We all read great news about irises in the Irises Bulletin, all the newsletters from Sections, Regions, and Clubs, the World of Irises blog, and every month in News & Notes.  However the public does not read the same things we do.  So I consider it newsworthy when I see articles about irises and iris lovers in other publications.  Here is a roundup of recent discoveries.

"Iris are garden's bread and butter," is a quote from an interview with Dede Erceg of the Prescott Area Iris Society (PAIS).  The interview can be found here in the Chino Valley Review.  (Note:  If the link does not work (they have moved things around on me a couple of times!), search for iris in their search box.)  PAIS has been very active in creating iris gardens and publicizing irises; I suspect this is part of that.

A passion for iris is the title of an article about Hopland resident Diana Ford and her 2,000 plus irises in the Ukiah Daily Journal.  In addition to all the types of irises she grows, she discusses her hybridization adventures.  Read the article here.  She is a member of the Santa Rosa Iris Society among others.

The British newspaper The Telegraph has Chelsea 2015: Cedric Morris irises return describing Sara Cook's quest for lost Morris irises.  This will be the first time in 60 years they have been seen at the Chelsea Garden Show.  See the article here and follow the links in it to learn more about her search for Morris irises.  The Iris Encyclopedia entry for Cedric Morris is another source to learn about his introductions.

Finally, a historic article from the New York Times in 2006, The Hunt Continues for the Holy Grail: A Red Iris.  It can be found online here. 

'Any Time'

 

Recording the bloom time for irises (and other plants) is useful both for planning your garden and for knowing when irises are likely to be in bloom at particular locations.  On the Iris Encyclopedia you can record your observations under particular cultivars to help with this.  See phenology in the Iris Wiki for suggested details.

As far as I know, the participation with this approach has been meager.  So here's an alternative, hopefully easier, way to participate.  We are gathering bloom time observations for the year in one place.  You can see and add to what we have for 2015 here.  Look under Iowa and Nebraska to see some different ways of reporting your observations.

Thank you to Region 21 for initiating these observations.  You can see fuller descriptions of these bloom times on their website. 

Do you have observations to add?  You can add comments to that page or put your observations on the page.  Or send them directly to wrmesser@gmail.com and I will add them for you.

The AIS blog World of Irises always has great topics!  And they have continued this tradition.  Here are a few more for you to see.

Start with  a tutorial on creating and using collages of irises.  Susanne Holland Spicker followed up her earlier Blue Iris Garden posting to tell how she creates and uses collages for planning, mapping, and showing her irises.

Pacific Coast Irises have been a popular topic recently.  Kathleen Sayce describes waiting for the first PCI to bloom and then her first blooms.  Mike Starrhill visited Leonine Iris Gardens which required four posts (1, 2, 3, 4) to describe the PCIs and another for the bearded.

Louisiana Irises have also been the the subject of multiple authors.  Joe Musacchia has part 1 of Understanding Louisiana Irises, I. giganticaerulea in this case.  And Patrick O'Connor discusses the open and flaring form.

Follow along and learn about all kinds of irises.  Including species, the subject of the latest posting.  Tom Waters topic is Species Irises: Back to Nature.  No matter what types of irises you enjoy, you will find it in the World of Irises.

 

A historic iris I acquired from Presby two years ago when they had their Etsy sale of historics.  These were my first blooms for 'Gracchus', so bloom time this year May 9th in central Iowa.  It is listed as a mid bloom season iris (originally TB; but, now would be considered MTB).  You can learn much more about it in this posting.  I was surprised to find in searching the Iris Encyclopedia that only two cultivars list it as a parent.

Two versions for you:  the standard version is here and a harder version is available.