'Guest Appearance'

 

Region 14 will be hosting the  2019 AIS Convention during April 2019.  There will be 6 gardens on the tour but only 3 will be receiving beardless and they are accepting up to 3 plants per cultivar.  They are accepting Siberians, Louisianas, Spurias, and Pacific Coast Natives and other beardless that bloom with bearded. (Japanese irises do not bloom until too late for the Convention).

Send your beardless guest irises to Guest Iris Chair Riley Probst 2701 Fine Ave. Modesto, CA. 95355.  They will be accepted from August through October 2016.  Questions regarding guest irises contact Guest Iris Chair Riley Probst rprobst02@earthlink.net.  Email shirleyjtrio@gmail.com with questions regarding the convention.

Details of the request will be in the Iris Bulletin Summer 2016.  You can learn more about the Convention gardens in the Region 14 Winter 2015 newsletter on pages 14-15. 

 

The book Bliss Irises Family and Flowers; The Journey to a National Collection will be published this summer.  Anne Milner presents her family history intertwined with the history of Bliss irises, which are now part of the British Plant Heritage family of National Collections of plants worth preserving.  With stunning photographs, line drawings, and watercolors throughout, the second part of Bliss Irises focuses on the flowers themselves and details the range of irises registered by Anne Milner's ancestor, Arthur Bliss.

By special arrangement of HIPS with the author, pre-orders will be accepted through August 25, 2016 (US shipping only).  Anne will autograph each pre-ordered book.  The $32 price includes shipping to your home.  Details and ordering can be done here on the HIPS website or you can print and mail this form.

Learn more about the book and Bliss Irises on Anne's website .  This is also where you can contact Anne for non-US orders.

	'Presentation'

How do you find topics for your club meetings and presentations?  AIS has a number of topics already available as digital presentations to make your job easier.  Popular topics such as Genus Iris - Bearded Beardless, It's Show Time, and Irises in the Garden are available as CDs or via email.

See the complete list of CDs on this order form (PDF).  You can learn more about the program and other details, such as a digital projector available for rent, here.

They are also preparing new topics, Storybook Gardens will be coming soon as a digital program. 

What would you like to have available?  You can send your suggestions to Janet Smith at gbyp456@gmail.com. Topics, formats, your experiences, and other feedback would be very helpful!

	'House Guest'

 

Region 6 is requesting guest irises for both its 2018 and 2019 Spring Conventions. 

Details for the bearded and beardless irises requested by the Tri-County Iris Society for 2018 can be found on page 9 of this newsletter (PDF).  They are accepting guest irises from August 23 to September 6th.  If you would like to send them earlier, email Lori Lanford at lelanford@yahoo.com.

The Northeastern Indiana Iris Society is hosting the 2019 Region 6 Spring Meeting and Garden Tour.  Their bearded and non-bearded guest request can be found here.  Lana Wolfe is accepting the irises from August 22 to September 8th.

A general question for growers and hybridizers, where do you look for guest iris requests?  The Irises Bulletin carries notices and we include them in News & Notes.  However, I'm not familiar with a general site carrying all requests.  So,  we have created a page on the Iris Wiki where you can add your requests.  Please add your request with as many details as you would like or links to the details.  If you need help, please let us know.

	'East Meets West'

 

One of those things that sneaks up on me.  Next weekend is the first of the Fall Regional Meetings, led off by the Region 21 and Region 9 meetings. 

To help you find them, we have created another page on the Iris Encyclopedia and are filling it in.  This year we are trying a new format (the previous tables were not easy to update).  Hopefully this will allow you to add your meetings.  And we will still be glad to include them for you.  Just email wrmesser@gmail.com.  You can find the meetings here.

One other meeting in the Fall is the Board of Directors meeting. This year it is November 4 - 5 in Sedona, Arizona.  All members are welcome and encouraged to attend.  You can find more information about the Fall Board Meetings on the AIS Conventions page.

	'Search'

 

Looking at the Dallas Morning News article "North Texas is a surprising hotbed for growers of this ephemeral flower" and following a link to the Iris Society of Dallas reminded me.  The latter tells people how to search the Iris Wiki: check the boxes for Search All Webs and for Topic Title before searching for your iris name.  They mention that these settings must be set every time you start searching as they cannot be saved.

While true, here is a trick you can use to avoid having to set them each time and save you time and clicks.  You can create a link that has the choices already set.  Just save it wherever you save links and then use that each time.  This is the link you need for Searching Titles in All Webs.  We have added this as a choice, along with a couple of other choices, to the page you reach by choosing Search Iris Database on the Main Page of the Iris Encyclopedia (so you do not actually have to save the link unless you want to).

This is an example of how we can incorporate new choices in the Iris Wiki.  And you can do it also.  Do you have some shortcuts or tips to share?  Add them and let us know so we can publicize them.  And if there is something you think could be easier, but, do not know how to do it; ask us about that as well.  Someone may know how to do that or be able to create a way. 

	'Seminole Sunrise' - 2015 Debaillon Medal

 

 

I'm always really surprised when checking an iris from my garden on the Iris Encyclopedia to find it does not already have a photo!  Maybe some of these irises are rarer than I thought.

Case in point, this month's jigsaw iris: 'Gentle Bluebeard' by Barbara Marsh (1992), a Region 21 hybridizer from Lincoln, Nebraska , did not have a photo.  So in addition to using this SDB's photo for a jigsaw, I've added it to the Iris Wiki.  You can play the standard difficulty puzzle or the harder difficulty puzzle.

What irises do you have that need photos in the Iris Encyclopedia?  You can add your photos or we'll be glad to help.