Showing posts with label beardless irises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beardless irises. Show all posts

Monday, February 5, 2024

IRISES: The Bulletin of the AIS - Winter 2024 Edition

 By Andi Rivarola

A warm welcome to those who are seeing IRISES, the Bulletin of The American Iris Society for the first time. If you are a member of The American Iris Society I hope you enjoy this new issue.

The Fall 2023 issue of the AIS Bulletin is already available online, accessible via the Emembers section of the AIS website. The print copy has been mailed via the U.S. Post Office. On the cover, 2023 AIS Photo Contest First Place Winner - Irises in the Landscape "Iris sanguinea Clump Beside Scottish Burn," by Bernard Pryor.

Note: to access this area of the website, you must have a current AIS Emembership. (AIS Emembership is separate from the normal AIS membership.) Please see the Electronic Membership Information are of the AIS website for more details.



On page 2 you will find the results for the 2023 AIS Tall Bearded Iris Simposium. It then continues on pages 11 - 14. 

A great introductory article about directors of AIS on Welcome new and returning directors!, on pages 15 through 17.

Introducing New Emeritus Judges on page 18.

The 2023 AIS Honorary Awards Hybridizer Medal Recipient on page 19. Congratulations Lowell Baumunk.

A wonderful presentation of What's New in the Iris Encyclopedia, on pages 20 - 21.

The 2023 AIS Exhibition Report, on pages 22 - 30. 

Introducing The American Iris Society 2024 Photo Contest, on page 31. 

A very interesting article called, Photography and the Digital World Part 1, on pages 32 - 35.

A continuation of the prior article on photography, on About Photography and Using Handheld Devices, on pages 36 - 39.

Request for Beardless Guest Irises for the 2026 AIS Convention NJ-NY, on page 40.

And, the Request for Bearded Guest Irises for the 2026 AIS Convention NJ-NY, on page 41. 

The Mt. Diablo Iris Society's 2023 Virtual Iris Show on pages 42 through 47.

There's so much more on this issue. Don't miss it!

/./././

Support the Work of The American Iris Society by Becoming a Member:

Not a member of the American Iris Society? Please see our website for information about becoming one: http://irises.org/
Happy Gardening!

  • The Annual Full Membership receives both benefits described above.
  • Participate in AIS’s bi-monthly Webinar Series featuring AIS experts from around the U.S.
  • Get to know about our lesser known irises, such as species, spuria, Japanese, Louisiana, Siberian and other beardless irises.
  • Participate in the Annual convention. The next convention will be in Portland, OR in 2024.  
  • Support AIS's Mission of education, conservation, research, preserving historical archives, and outreach projects.
  • Did you know that The American Iris Society is the registration authority for all rhizomatous irises worldwide?  
  • The Iris Encyclopedia is available 24-7, 365 days a year, and filled with a wealth of iris knowledge. Stop by for a visit!


Monday, November 27, 2023

A Growing Iris Resource on YouTube: Part VI

 by Heather Haley

In this post, I'll continue sharing an update for a growing iris resource on YouTube. The American Iris Society (AIS) uses its YouTube Channel to help organize and disseminate knowledge of the genus Iris, while fostering its preservation, enjoyment, and continued development. Many of the videos available are from the AIS Webinar Series, and their upload was planned for the benefit of all persons interested in irises.

In "A Growing Iris Resource On YouTube: Part I," I shared the origin of the AIS Webinar Series in 2020 as well as descriptions of recorded presentations that brought iris enthusiasts together during the pandemic. As the Webinar Series continued, I shared in Parts IIIII, and IV
The following describes the remaining webinars that AIS volunteers prepared, delivered, recorded, and posted to our YouTube Channel during 2023.

Webinar #31  - “ Judging Bearded Irises as Garden Plants” with Stephanie Markham

Stephanie Markham is an AIS Master Judge and serves as the judges training chairperson for the region she lives in (AIS Region 1).  In this webinar, you can learn about holistic methods that judges use to evaluate bearded irises in the garden for AIS awards.



Alan McMurtrie is a hybridizer of bulbous irises, notably Iris reticulata hybrids. His groundbreaking work has earned him several awards, including the AIS Hybridizer Award in 2019. In this webinar learn about the amazing world of reticulatas; the first iris to bloom after snow disappears.


Webinar #33 - “Historic Iris of Japan” with Chad Harris

Chad Harris has been growing and hybridizing Japanese irises for 40 years, and has introduced more than 30  Japanese irises and 10 species cultivars or species hybrid cultivars. He is an AIS Master Judge, winner of the AIS Hybridizer Award in 2022, and the co-chair of the AIS National Convention in June 2024.  In this webinar, learn about Chad's nine-year effort to research and preserve a collection of historic Japanese irises.

Webinar #34  - “Knowing and Growing Siberian Irises” with Bob Hollingworth

Bob Hollingworth has been growing and hybridizing Siberian irises for more than 40 years. He received the AIS Hybridizer's Award in 1997, and his work includes 11 winners of the Morgan-Wood Medal and creation of the only Siberian iris to win the American Dykes Medal, 'Swans in Flight.' In this webinar, Bob expands on a previous judges training and discusses what it takes to grow Siberian irises and recent hybridizing activities that help us catch a glimpse into the future.


Webinar #35  - “The Exciting Irises of the Middle East” with Dr. Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir

Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir has been the scientific editor of the “Flora of Israel and adjacent areas” website and is the scientific director of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. He is an expert on the Mediterranean and West Asian floras, as well as on geophytes, plant conservation, and sustainable horticulture. In this webinar, learn about the native irises of Israel and the Middle East, with inclusions from Jordan and Syria.

Webinar #36  - “A Romp Through the Iris Family” with Bob Pries

Bob Pries, in his own words, is a “frustrated botanist who gave up academia to make a living.” Beyond that, however, Bob has used his botanical knowledge and his interest in the Iridaceae to create one of the greatest resources available in the horticultural world, the AIS Iris Encyclopedia (a.k.a. the "iris wiki"), which includes the Ben R. Hager-Sidney P. DuBose Memorial Online Iris Library. In this webinar, learn about cultivation, evolution, and biodiversity within the iris family: Iridaceae.

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Preparing Beardless Iris Beds at Dry Creek Garden

by Jeff Bennett


Overview of iris plantings at Dry Creek Garden 
Image (C) 2023 Maxar Technologies | Google Earth

Dry Creek Garden is located in Union City, California and is part of the East Bay Regional Park District. Iris plantings were established for the 2019 American Iris Society National Convention and are maintained by park gardener Jeff Bennett.



In 2021, I decided I wanted to improve our Louisiana iris beds at Dry Creek Garden so that they would hold more moisture and require less physical watering. At the same time, I wanted to try my hand at growing Japanese irises. California is known as a great location for growing bearded irises and of course Pacific Coast native irises and their hybrids, but not so much for the beardless classes (including Louisiana, Siberian, Japanese, and Pseudata hybrids). In this blog post, I will walk you through processes I used to prepare beds in this extremely drought-affected area of the country.

Before preparing beds for new irises, be sure to orders are placed well ahead of planting time to have the greatest choice of varieties. I do this in January and February, when the growers and hybridizers usually update availability and open up their websites for ordering. The irises you order won’t be ship until September, so you have plenty of time to plan and prepare the beds. 

For the new Louisiana iris bed, I dug 10 to 12-inches deep and created a  trench 5 x 30 feet - with the occasional help of Mount Diablo Iris Society or local community volunteers and sometimes other park staff. (Sorry, to readers in every other country in the world. I never quite learned the metric system.) We mounded up all the clay-like, native soil in the pathway next to the bed so it could be returned to the trench later. 

Excavated trench with a mound of removed soil and concrete edging piled to right.
All photos by Jeff Bennett



Next, we lined this trench with weed block to prevent bindweed from coming through very easily. On top of the weed block, we added a layer of 6-mil plastic (is mil metric?). The plastic will prevent the water in the bed from soaking all the way through to China. Once the bed was lined with plastic, we started refilling it with soil in the adjacent mound. We added about four inches of straight compost and then top this with about four inches of the native clay, trying to mix this together as we went. This was followed with another two to three inches of compost and another two to three inches of soil, again mixing it up. Finally, we added a final layer of two to three inches of compost on top. To finish the edges, we used recycled cement from my home patio (which had been removed and hauled here the year before). The cement edging helped conceal plastic from view and gave the bed a finished appearance. Since this area had already housed bearded irises before, I returned the same drip lines onto the top of the bed. The half-inch drip lines have emitters every foot and we planted a Louisiana iris every three feet on each side of the bed using the emitters as a guide. 

Completed and planted Louisiana iris bed.

When I receive any iris orders, I always pot up rhizomes to give them a good start (see my post "Get That Order Planted" from last summer). The bed was completed in January 2022 and potted Louisianas were transplanted from their pots directly into the new bed then. Since they like water and we weren't getting ANY rain, I used a hose to give the bed its first flood soak to settle them in. Now it was their turn to do their work!

Louisiana irises thriving in new bed.

After planting the Louisianas into the new ground bedalphabetically by name of courseI turned my attention to getting the Japanese irises transplanted into their new water-holding containers. Unlike Louisiana irises, Japanese irises CANNOT dry out. Their roots must remain moist at all times. For them, I decided to use large metal water troughs, typically used for livestock. I got the watering troughs at a local hardware store, but they can also be purchased from farm supply stores. Livestock-watering troughs are galvanized metal and have no drain holes anywhere.

New livestock-watering troughs for Japanese irises.

I first put about three inches of wood chips on the bottom to make a water reservoir below the soil. I then bought a rhododendron soil mixture to provide the acidic pH Japanese irises prefer. I layered this soil with compost to the top of the tubs, about three inches each of rhododendron mix and compost, mixing these together while filling the troughs. Japanese irises like their roots to be wet but the rhizomes need to be above the water table to grow well. To create this effect, I measured down from the top of the tubs five inches and drilled ¼-inch holes in the metal to allow excess water from rain or irrigation to escape. I drilled eight holes in each container, two on each side of the oval-ended tubs. They were now ready to plant. I have nine tubs -  seven for Japanese, one for Pseudatas/Species-X, and the last one for Siberians. For a quicker visual effect, in each tub, I planted seven to eight varieties. Since the irises were growing in pots, I just transplanted them alphabetically to the tubs (rootball and all). It was now February 16, 2022.

Filling livestock troughs with layers of rhododendron soil and compost.


Newly planted beardless irises in livestock troughs.

Everything started growing immediately as it was the season to do so. By early April, the Louisianas were showing good growth and the first flower opened on April 27, less than 100 days after the plant was transplanted into the ground.


Louisiana iris 'Eyes Wide Open' (Heather Pryor, 2016) blooming approximately
100 days after transplanting into the new trenched bed.

The Japanese irises were looking great by early May and the first Japanese bloomed on May 19, just in time for our scheduled Japanese iris judges' training on May 20. 

Japanese iris 'Devi Banri' (Toyokazu Ichie 1989) blooming in May 2022 after being transplanted
into livestock troughs in February.

None of the Siberians bloomed during their first year in the tub, but they put on lots of increase and we are looking forward to them blooming this year. I reiterate that we are growing them the same way as the Japanese irises with wettish roots and rhizomes above a water reservoir. 

This year we created another bed like the Louisiana bed, for the Japanese irises. These will be planted very soon, now that the California storms have passed and we can dig in the soil again. I am adding peat moss to this bed for acidity along with all the compost. We're hoping to grow Japanese irises successfully in our specially-prepared ground beds in this otherwise Mediterranean climate (no natural summer rainfall)!

We had also begun preparing a Japanese iris bed in the same fashion in the heart of the garden down near the creek last fall. Just as we were about to add peat moss to this bed before planting, the atmospheric river of storms hit California starting on December 31, 2022. THANKFULLY, we had not planted the bed yet by transplanting the Japanese irises from their pots into the ground as this area ended up getting flooded and under three feet of water, devastating this part of the garden. Flooding deposited 20-24 inches of silt there and strong winds toppled six mature trees nearby. We are now cleaning up the garden from this storm. In about six months, we hope to re-open the damaged area to the public (~Fall 2023). The damage was bad! Thankfully, the iris area on the hill was not harmed by the flooding. HORRAY!

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Growing Irises Out East: A Visit to Draycott Gardens

 by Alleah and Heather Haley

Susan Miller (center) and Alleah Haley (right) during our visit to Draycott Gardens

Earlier this spring, we took a trip into northern Maryland with our dear friend Susan Miller, Vice President of the Eastern North Carolina Iris Society. This area is on the opposite end of American Iris Society Region 4 and was the site of their Spring 2022 Regional Meeting. During this meeting, attendees were invited to visit four host gardens, including Draycott Gardens - home to Siberian and Japanese iris enthusiast Carol Warner and her husband David Bollinger.

Alleah enjoying irises plantings behind Carol and David's home

Draycott Gardens has been in operation since 1991 and is located in Upperco, an unincorporated community in far northern Maryland (about 10 miles from the Pennsylvania line). Draycott means “peaceful retreat” or “secluded spot” and is the name of a village in central-southwest England, the ancestral home of the Warner family. Carol and David's 10-acre property was part of the farm Carol grew up on.

Although Carol’s mother grew irises, they were uninspiring. Thus, it was not a family connection that piqued Carol's enthusiasm for irises.  After building her house, Carol was gifted a box of irises from a lady she knew and she proceeded to start planting them along the driveway. Breaking up this soil required a pick axe, and Carol thought the irises wouldn't amount to anything. However, this isn't what happened.

The irises along the driveway grew well and came into bloom the following spring in a beautiful array of modern patterns and colors, including pink. PINK! Carol was hooked. Carol belonged to a garden club and her club went to visit the nearby Harp iris garden during bloom season. Owners Maynard and Retta Harp had founded the Francis Scott Key (FSK) Iris Society. They told Carol about the FSK rhizome sale and Carol went to buy irises. She had seen Siberian irises in the Harps’ garden and returned to buy some in the fall. They invited her to become a member of FSK; she did and the rest is history.

One of many flower beds integrating irises with beautiful companion plants 

 
Carol Warner (center) conducting a training session on Siberian irises for regional meeting attendees


Today, Draycott Gardens is home to both bearded and beardless irises--all planted among an impressive array of companion plants, carefully-selected shrubs, and mature trees. Striking were the peonies, rhododendrons, and a huge collection of flowering plants that these former California girls Heather and Alleah couldn’t identify. Carol prefers the beardless irises because they’re more carefree. In her climate, bearded irises have to be sprayed to control leaf spot, and mulching for weed control needs to be limited because of their tendency to rot. Carol’s garden faces the southeast, has sun all day, and has good drainage. With an average of 42 inches of rain and 19 inches of snow each year, she doesn’t have to irrigate.
 
Although Carol's husband David isn't as passionate as she is about gardening, he enthusiastically supports her efforts. David happily keeps grass down with his zero-turn mower, moves soil from one place to another with a small tractor, and uses his considerable computer skills to aid Carol in the various activities that come with owning a commercial iris garden.

More blooms to enjoy among irises growing for resale

During the regional meeting, we arrived at Draycott late, just in time for lunch. We parked in a large grassy area just off the driveway and were quickly waylaid on our gentle climb towards the house. Our trio was immediately enamored by the gorgeous landscaping that welcomed us and delighted by  multiple well-tended beds of bearded and beardless irises growing together in perfect harmony.

Heather was is quick to spot historic iris 'Loreley' (one of her personal favorites)

Alleah is quite fond of historic iris 'Skating Party'
 
A spectacular clump of 'Dividing Line' growing among peonies in bloom

'Little John' is a creation from Region 4 hybridizer Don Spoon


 
Once we made it to the backyard, we were greeting by even more expertly cultivated beds of bearded and beardless irises... as well as a fantastic cast iron gazebo tucked elegantly into the treeline between the home and business garden beds. 

Carol's delightful metal gazebo
 
Although our family has been growing bearded irises for many years, we are relative newbies to the world of beardless irises. The regional meeting was scheduled too early in the year to see Japanese irises in bloom, but the Siberian irises were out in droves. Carol's iris collection is extensive and varied, and we were thrilled by the assortment of older and newer introductions. Among the Siberians we oohed and aahed over were ‘Roaring Jelly’, 1999 winner of the highest award for Siberian irises, the Morgan-Wood Medal. Standards are lavender grey with red-purple veining; falls are greyish, heavily shaded red-purple with a white signal veined near-black. Marty Schafer and Jan Sacks of Massachusetts are also the hybridizers of ‘Ships are Sailing’ (1998, SIB), which won the Morgan-Wood Medal in 2007. With very large blue bitone flowers and veined yellow-gold signals, ‘Ships are Sailing’ is stunning and especially vigorous.
 
'Roaring Jelly'

'Ships Are Sailing'

We also got to admire Siberian irises like ‘Great Falls Love’ (Dean Cole 2007). This cultivar is a medium blue near self with white signal on the falls; very ruffled and curled. Although 'Great Falls Love' was indeed lovely, Dean Cole’s 2021 Siberian introduction ‘Beespeckled’ absolutely took the cake! This ruffled iris tosses up mottled rose-wine standards with lavender edges, stretches out turquoise-colored style arms; and shows off mottled blue-violet falls with golden yellow signals veined in dark purple. A real standout!

'Great Falls Of Love'

'Bespeckled'
 
Draycott Gardens does not list bearded irises on its website, but they do offer about 250 varieties of beardless irises for sale. Offerings include things Carol has hybridized and chosen to introduce, as well as the creations of Hiroshi Shimizu of Japan and Dean Cole of Gorham, Maine. Shimizu attended a Society for Japanese Irises convention in Carol’s garden several years ago, and they worked out an arrangement for him to ship seedlings (primarily pseudatas – a species cross between Japanese iris hybrids and Iris pseudacorus) to her for evaluation, registration, and introduction. 
 
We were so taken with our visit to Carol’s garden during the regional meeting that we accepted her invitation to return and capture more pictures of it before heading back to North Carolina. During our second arrival, Carol greeted us from her golf cart as she speeded along sprucing up the garden. Later that day she would be playing handbells at her church’s Sunday service, and return to host an “Open Garden” event for friends, church members, horticultural society guests, and folks enticed by garden announcements courtesy of the local radio station. 

Our Sunday visit allowed Susan to capture a delightful moment of Heather (left) and Alleah (right) 
 
A million thanks to Carol and David, for your hospitality, and for sharing the beauty of your farm and gardens with our family and so many others.  For anyone curious about "growing irises out East," a visit to Draycott Gardens is a MUST!

Monday, November 30, 2020

Hawkes Bay Iris Group Safari 26 October 2020

By Maggie Asplet

Around the 25th of October each year we celebrate Labour Day here in New Zealand.  This year the invite to join the celebration on this day and to view irises was so well received.  Why? Because COVID19 had caused so many cancellations that I was beginning to think "Iris things" were something of the past.

Wendy and I prepared a day before for our 3 hour drive to stay in Havelock North with Bev & Jim Haliburton. We had a reasonably early start the next morning crisscrossing the Hawkes Bay region (east coast, North Island of New Zealand) for the Hawkes Bay Iris Group Safari.

Our first garden visit was to the home of John and Lynn Lees, Taradale, where not only we enjoyed looking at the garden, but as everyone arrives, the catching up with each other begins.


In the shed was John's pride and joy

Lucy's Blue Silk and White Elephant

This is a town garden full of treasures

We then set of for a visit to a nursery and garden owned by Bruce and Karen Carswell, Twyford Irises, named after the road they live on.  This is a beautifully nursery with a picking garden in a lovely rural setting.

Nursery photos - as you enter the nursery a lovely picking garden is available

This was our first chance to stop and really have a catch up; it was morning tea, time for refreshments.  For any of you that have travelled to New Zealand, you will know that we love our cuppa time.

One wee dog helped himself to something to eat

With my cup in hand, I then wondered around the rest of the garden.  Just lovely and a real credit to Bruce and Karen.


We then had a 20 minute drive through countryside to the home of John and Heather Trim where they hold the Hawkes Bay Project Irises.  These are all irises that have been hybridized by people who have lived in the area.  It is a continuing project for this iris group.

In the middle we have Heather discussing with Huib Selderbeek some of the growing conditions of these irises

John and Heather both do a bit of hybridising themselves 

Back in our vehicles again, we head to Huib and Helen Selderbeek's home for more garden sharing and also lunch. The images will not show just how challenging this garden is with some areas steep, others dry, and with a delightful boggy patch at the bottom of the road.  It was a wonderful spot for our shared lunch.

Pond pictures

I have circled the pond area - just right of top centre.  This image also shows the many rocks and stones on the ground, and perhaps how steep in places.

Lunch time, and while we were sitting talking, one of our native birds, the Tui decided to join us.

A small selection of beautiful beardless irises - perhaps a story for another day

Lunch was over and it was time to head back towards civilization.  Our next stop was to the home of Brenton and Fiona Le Prou.  Located on a town section and with a little thinking outside the square, in this case inside the pot, was an amazing selection of miniature and small bearded irises.  Unfortunately, bloom season for these irises had passed, but there were still other irises to be seen.

Here is how Brendon manages to grow so many of the small irises and also two of his beautiful birds that live on the other side of the netting

Not a TB person, Brendon still managed to find a couple of them in flower during our visit.  As you can see, it was such a beautiful day to be out and about.

Our next stop was to the home of Brian Townsend.  It is another small garden, but still with some wonderful treasurers.  

Brian won the Begg Shield at our Convention last year.

Brian, with his best shoes on is pointing at an iris that we spend considerable time trying to remember the name of.  Not sure that we agreed in the end.
A beautifully keep lawn and garden bed at Brian's

It was then time to get back in our cars and head to our next garden.  This is at the home of Joy Kennerley and again a small town garden. From the moment you stop outside the drive, you just get the feeling there will be loads to see.

The image in the middle is Nobody's Child

As you can see, so many gorgeous plants and a very peaceful place to wander around

It was finally time to get into our cars just one more time; we had already seen 7 beautiful gardens, heard a lot of laughter and just enjoyed some wonderful time together.

One final garden to see was at the home of Jim and Bev Haliburton. It is were we did our final wander around and questioned just when we would all catch up again.

Unnamed - Iris pallida and I swertti 

Beautiful blossom trees with tall bearded irises growing underneath

You can't have an iris safari day without afternoon tea.  This was a rather special occasion - this year was to be the Society's 70th birthday celebration, but not knowing what was happening around lockdown, a decision was made to cancel 2020 convention.

So, not to be forgotten the Hawkes Bay Group decided afternoon tea would honour this milestone.
A cake and a beautifully handcrafted card were presented to everyone.

John Trim had the honour of blowing out the candle

It was a fabulous day out, very busy with 8 gardens in total, and a fair few miles travelled.  It was so good to have been able to catch up with other iris people and to share the passion in such difficult times.

Thank you so much Hawkes Bay Iris Group and all your members for such a wonderful day out.