Members of Region 21 should already have received the Winter 2013 edition of News from the Region our newsletter. In case you missed it, or are have not yet joined the American Iris Society (to become part of Region 21), here it is. You can see it on the left (click on the pictures to see larger versions) or download it here.
The Can-West Iris Society 6th Annual Iris Show will be Sunday, June 9th, 1 – 4 p.m. at the Bourkevale Community Centre, 100 Ferry Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Free admission!
The Can-West Iris Society has two exciting presentations April 21st. Join them for these presentations by the Canadian Iris Hybridizer Chuck Chapman beginning at 1 p.m. Members and non-members invited!
Click on the picture to enlarge it.
The Iris Societies in Region 21 produce a number of newsletters to keep members and iris enthusiasts informed. You will be able to find some of these on our Newsletter page.
The first one comes from the Lincoln Iris Society with their Rainbow Messenger newsletter. You can find their upcoming meetings and plans in their February 2013 edition. Note: The February meeting is Monday, February 25 with County Extension and It’s Services and Soil Preparation for Irises by Sarah Browning.
To see the newsletter, go to our Newsletter page and follow the February 2013 link (it’s the only one on the page now) to download or open the PDF of the newsletter.
For those of you in the Eastern part of Region 21, Region 9 (Illinois) has scheduled their Spring Membership Meeting for Saturday April 6, 2013. Our own Kelly Norris is presenting “Borderline Crazy”- Sorting Our Intermediate and Border Bearded Irises. See the complete schedule at the Region 9 website for this meeting in Rochester, Illinois.
From the Can-West Iris Society website: The 2013 show date is set for Sunday, June 9th at Bourkevale Community Centre, 100 Ferry Road, Winnipeg MB. Stay tuned for further information!
Sass Memorial Medal 1998
The Fall Regional Meeting is scheduled for August 9th and 10th, 2013. It will be in Omaha, Nebraska hosted by the Greater Omaha Iris Society. Further details to follow.
One way irisarians in Region 21 can communicate with each other is the region21-iris discussion group at Yahoo! This has been bringing iris lovers together since 2001!
From their description:
“Region21-iris is a discussion group for those growing iris in AIS Region 21 (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa). We will share information on all aspects of iris culture, as well as news and events about local iris societies in the region. Both experts and novices are encouraged to participate in our friendly conversation.”
To read the messages and contribute your own, you need to join the group. Just click on the Join This Group! button and follow the instructions. I believe this means creating a free Yahoo! account if you do not have one.
This is the not limited to members of the American Iris Society. If you are not a member of AIS or Region 21, you are still very welcome to join in the conversation. Of course, we welcome you to join AIS and, if you live in N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Nebraska or Iowa, and now NWT, Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, automatically become a member of AIS Region 21.
Hope to hear from you at region21-iris!
This year’s Spring Regional Meeting is scheduled for May 17th and 18th, 2013. It will be in Sioux City, Iowa hosted by the Siouxland Iris Society. Further details to follow.
The Iris Encyclopedia is a great source for learning more about specific irises you already have or know you are interested in. It currently has, as of December 26, 52,663 cultivars and 36,348 images. This represents 75% of the registered iris cultivars.
You can also use the Iris Encyclopedia to find irises of interest you don’t yet know about!
One approach is to look at the award winning irises. The Iris Encyclopedia has an Awards page that lists the various Medals and Cups that irises can win. Most of the major American Medals on this page already direct you to pages with pictures of the irises that have won that Medal. For example, the American Dykes Medal shows all the winners from its inception in 1927 to the present. The Awards page also has links to winners, and runners up, by year. The Awards 2011 page shows or lists these for the most recent year.
You can also find unusual irises by looking at the Novelty Iris page. These are irises that have properties differing from the mainstream, or did when they were first introduced. These are those currently with pages:
A reminder – all of the Iris Encyclopedia is a work in progress. For some of these pages, the iris names are not yet linked. You can help by registering so you can add such links. Also, your observations on specific irises performance can help improve the Iris Encyclopedia.
AIS Region 21 