Author Archives: wrmesser

Wanda Lunn in Iowa Gardener

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Part of Lunn Garden 2010

Region 21 member Wanda Lunn and her garden will be part of the July/August 2017 issue of Iowa Gardener.  You can see part of this article “New and old grow in harmony in Cedar Rapids, Iowa” online.  The complete article “Harmoniously Blending the New and Old” can be found as a garden profile on pages 58-63.

I should also mention that in April the Heart of Iowa Iris Growers had Wanda speak to us on historic irises and HIPS.  She was a great speaker, knowledgeable and very enthusiastic.  Thank you Wanda!

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Lincoln Iris Society Iris Show Results

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The Lincoln Iris Society held their annual iris show May 13th, 2017.  The results are in their June 2017 Rainbow Messenger which we have just added to the Region 21 Newsletters Page.  Here is a direct link to the June 2017 issue where you can find the show report beginning on page 4.

Congratulations to the Lincoln Iris Society and the Show Committee on their show and their record number of entries!  Thank you and congratulations to all the entrants!

Region 21 Hybridizers at the AIS Convention

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Region 21 was well represented by guest irises from its hybridizers at the recently concluded Convention “Rhythm of the Prairie”.  The hybridizers were:

Links are to each hybridizer’s page on the Iris Encyclopedia.

Their introductions competed for the President’s Cup voted by all registrants at the Convention.  The results, you may have seen these on Facebook and they will be in the Irises Bulletin, are:

All seedlings, Region 21 or not, compete for the Lloyd Zurbrig – Clarence Mahan Seedling Cup.  LeRoy Meininger’s seedling LM-14-03 was the 1st Runner-up for this cup.

Thank you to all our hybridizers for the guest irises and congratulations to all the winners!

Monument Valley Iris Society Iris Show – May 27-28, 2017

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The Monument Valley Iris Society is having its Iris Show May 27th and 28th this year.  The show is at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center a mile north Scottsbluff on Hwy. 71.  Find all the details in this Torrington Telegraph post.

In addition to seeing all the great irises, there will be an opportunity to order irises for late summer delivery.

Greater Omaha Iris Society Iris Show – May 20, 2017

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Saturday May 20, 2017 is our Iris Show at St. Andrews Episcopal Church.   Single entry iris and arrangements will be accepted from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM.  Judging at 10:45 AM.  Open to the public at Noon.  GOIS Board Meeting will be held later the same day.

New!  NEW!  At the last board meeting we decided to add a people’s choice Photography Exhibit.  photographs will be accepted during the entry time (9:00 – 10:30 AM).  There are no size restrictions but photos should be matted;  framed photographs will also be accepted.  All photos must have been taken by the exhibitor.  Classes will follow the AIS photo contest rules:

There must be irises in the photo and irises in the photos should be of the Genus Iris. Subject matter should follow the six AIS categories:

1.  Irises in a landscaped garden.

2. Irises in a field or home garden.

3. Events, tours, a person or people (at iris location).

4. Close up of an iris or irises.

5. Iris photos- art effects, macro of bloom segments.

6. Photos of pets, wildlife or garden art with the irises.

Winners will be selected by popular vote of the viewing public.

We will need volunteers throughout the day Saturday so please, please come and help.  If you’ve already volunteered for a time slot, thank you and if you have not please consider doing so.  The show is a favorite event for the public and a great source for new members.

Upcoming GOIS Events

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Linda Wilkie, GOIS President, sent this note which includes events that are of interest to other irisarians as well.

The season has begun and most of you are enjoying the pops of color of the standard dwarf iris in your gardens.

This Saturday we will be working in the Sass Memorial Garden at Mahoney Park to get it ready for the bloom season.  Those who can are encouraged to come and help at 9:30 AM Saturday, May 6th.  We want the gardens in tip top condition before the AIS convention May 23-27th in Des Moines.  We’ve heard from many conventioneers who are planning a side trip out to the garden so your help is needed all through May.  If you can take even one morning or afternoon to work out at the garden we would very much appreciate it.

This coming Monday, May 8th we will meet at 6:30 PM in Lincoln for our monthly meeting to tour the Magdalene Pfister Garden on the UNL East Campus.  I’ve pasted a picture below for you and here is a link to information about the garden:  http://www.unl.edu/bga/tours/east

Don’t forget the other iris events this month as well.

  • May 12-13 is Spring into Spring at Lauritzen Gardens.  Ron Crampton is chairing that event and we are still looking for some volunteers.
  • The Lincoln Iris Society is holding their show May 13th.  We’ll have information regarding times and categories at our Monday meeting.
  • May 20th is the GOIS Show.  Entries are accepted from 9-10:30 AM and open to the public from 12:30-4:00PM.  Show schedules will be available on Monday evening.  Please contact me if you need one emailed to you instead.

Looking forward to seeing you Saturday and Monday!

PowerPoint Presentations to Gardeners

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A number of Region 21 members speak about irises to various garden interest groups.  BJ Jackson spoke earlier this year at the Manitoba Horticultural  Association Annual Meeting.  Kris Jurik has been speaking to various Iowa Master Gardener groups.  And Wayne Messer presented at the Cass County (Iowa) Master Gardener Spring Seminar.  Both Gary White and Kelly Norris speak to a variety of gardening groups.

Would having PowerPoint slides from such presentations be useful to you or your club?  Maybe for presentations to your club or so you could speak to other groups.  As an example, this is a series of slides, mostly dealing with the 2016 Medal Winners, from a presentation by Wayne.  The link is to a PDF so you do not require PowerPoint or a similar program to see the slides.

Please let us know what you think.  You can leave comments below or email Wayne at wrmesser@gmail.com    Thank you.

 

First Blooms 2017

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Again this year the first blooms in our central Iowa garden belong to Iris reticulata, a bulbous iris.  There were 5 blooms open today (March 27th).  In 2016 the first bloom we saw was on March 31st.

The last two years we did a series reporting when and where particular irises began blooming because we thought it could be helpful to have information on when irises are blooming in the Region in more or less real time.  So that you, your friends and neighbors, and visitors will know when to see the irises.  When/where to see the early irises.  When is the peak bloom time in your garden this year?  When is the best time to see public displays in our Region this year?

We would like to continue it this year for the same reasons and to see if having more years of observations helps to better understand when irises will be blooming.  Do you have some bloom observations we can add to the list?  You can either leave them as a comment or email the webmaster wrmesser@gmail.com to have them added.  Thank you.

Spring Meetings in Neighboring Regions – 2017

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This year Region 21 is hosting the AIS 2017 Convention rather than having a spring meeting.   There are spring meetings in neighboring Regions to give you an additional iris  fix.  You can find all the spring meetings we are aware of on the Iris Encyclopedia here.

The Region 9 Spring Fling Meeting is Saturday April 8th in Pekin, Illinois.  Their website has the preliminary details.  Contact them to learn more.

The Region 18 Spring Meeting is May 19-20 in Columbia, Missouri.  Here are the details and a registration form (PDF) for you.

Enjoy these events and hope to see you in Des Moines for the Convention!