New Club Forming In Iowa

Posted on August 19, 2016 by wrmesser

Exciting news: formation of a new club in Central Iowa is getting closer! Thanks to Sue Witt, there will be an organizational meeting September 8th as shown in her notice below. Thank you Sue! Looking forward to the meeting.

Welcome to Heart of Iowa Iris Growers Affiliate

Hello, my name is Sue Witt and I recently attended Region 21 Fall meeting in Sioux City. I expressed interest in central Iowa having our own affiliate organization. We have many iris lovers in this area, who are knowledgeable, supportive individuals, with a desire to share information with the public and each other. With encouragement from attendees at the regional meeting, an awareness of previous efforts, and a belief we will be successful please join the newly established Heart of Iowa Iris Growers affiliate.

Our first meeting is September 8th, 7pm at our home-2649 Moonlight Dr, Des Moines, 50320. We live in Three Lakes development off of Army Post Rd between Indianola Ave and IA 65. My phone number is 702-498-6413.

I volunteered to be President, Pam and Wayne Messer volunteered to assume any office assigned (Pam Messer is Vice-President and Wayne is Treasurer). I will be asking Kristin Jurik to be secretary. AIS members are eligible to hold office and additional opportunities will exist. I am excited about our affiliate and anticipating a great meeting. There will be dessert!

‘Miss Region Twenty-One’

Posted on August 10, 2016 by wrmesser

This is a SDB by Allan Ensminger , of Region 21, that I recently noticed in the Iris Encyclopedia. This is the information about ‘Miss Region Twenty-One’. Unfortunately, there is no photo available for this iris. Does anyone have a photo we can add? Also, any other information, such as how the name was chosen, would be useful. Does anyone have this iris in their garden?

Region 21 Grower in the News

Posted on May 31, 2016 by wrmesser

An article about Mark and Jenny Cich’s iris garden recently appeared in The Ashland Gazette. This has been a great year to view, and order, irises in their garden. You can see the article here. Learn more about their gardens, Hello Gorgeous Gardens, on its Facebook page.

They were also one of the six tour gardens in the 2014 Spring Region 21 Tour that the Lincoln Iris Society hosted. The above photo is from that tour. That was another good year for seeing their garden.

Regions 21 Affiliates

Posted on December 21, 2015 by wrmesser

Region 21 has 6 Clubs located in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Manitoba. You can find your closest Club on this map. Or see these in a live Google Map at BatchGeo.

These are:

A = CAN-WEST IRIS SOCIETY
B = GREATER OMAHA IRIS SOCIETY
C = LINCOLN IRIS SOCIETY
D = MONUMENT VALLEY IRIS SOCIETY
E = SIOUX EMPIRE IRIS SOCIETY
F = SIOUXLAND IRIS SOCIETY

See the Who We Are page for links for some of these and the AIS Region 21 Affiliates page for contact information.

Happy 65th to Region 21

Posted on December 20, 2015 by wrmesser

‘Blue Rhythm’

This is Region 21’s 65th year; so before it’s over a quick look back. Region 21 was formed with Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota on January 1st, 1950. Iowa and Nebraska had been part of Region 18 which had been formed from Region 9 in 1947. Region 9 had been Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. When Region 18 was formed, only Illinois remained as Region 9. Then in 2010, Region 21 was expanded to include the provinces of NWT, Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The first Regional Vice-President was Mrs. Ralph E. Ricker, 1516 Ross St., Sioux City, Iowa, according to the list of RVPs in the Bulletin of the American Iris Society, January, 1950. 1950 was also the year the AIS Spring Convention was held in Sioux City, Iowa and the year that Agnes Whiting of Mapleton, Iowa won the Dykes Medal with ‘Blue Rhythm’.

Thank you to everyone who has made Region 21 great over the years and to all of you who are helping to continue the tradition.

‘Peach Royale’ by Meininger Featured in World Of Irises

Posted on July 23, 2015 by wrmesser

The AIS World of Irises blog has an entry by Renee Fraser Personal Favorites: Tall Bearded Iris ‘Peach Royale’. ‘Peach Royale’ is a TB by Region 21’s LeRoy Meininger registered in 1999. Renee has a number of photos showing it by itself and in her garden. You can also learn more about it and see additional photos in the Iris Encyclopedia here. Congratulations to LeRoy!

Novelty Iris Society Becomes AIS Section

Posted on July 7, 2015 by wrmesser

The Novelty Iris Society officially became a Section of the American Iris Society at the 2015 National Convention in Portland. You can learn more about its formation and how to join in this NIS announcement June 2015 (PDF).

Update Your Bookmarks

Posted on April 17, 2015 by wrmesser

You probably do not need this; because you are already here. However, it’s something to share with your friends: The Region 21 website has a new address. It is now aisregion21.org (with or without a www prefix). The AIS list of Regional Websites has been updated; but, there may be other sources still having the old address (which was dot com rather than dot org). You can help us by letting us know where they are or updating them yourselves.

Thank you for encouraging everyone to get the new address.

Youth Ackerman Essay Reminder – Deadline March 31st

Posted on March 6, 2015 by wrmesser

The Ackerman Youth Essay Contest deadline is approaching and I have been asked to remind the youth in our region to please enter. There are two $100 awards (to a junior youth winner and to a senior youth winner) given by the AIS Foundation. Region 21 usually has several youth enter, but so far this year, they have not received entries from Region 21. It looks like the contest is wide open, and I really think our youth have a very good chance to win one or both of those awards this year. The kids have about 3 weeks to get their entries in to Carol Warner ( draycott@qis.net ) before the end of the month. If there are AIS youth members in your clubs, in your household, or that you know about, please remind them to enter.

Just a reminder, the topic is: “If you were an iris, which one would you be and why?” and the deadline this year is March 31st.

Region 21 Members in the AIS Photo Contest

Posted on November 27, 2014 by wrmesser

‘Loreley’ by Eunice Cernohlavek

‘Silk Run’ in Duo by Stan Sass

Two of our Region’s members received Honorable Mentions for their AIS 2014 Photo Contest entries. These were Eunice Cernohlavek from the Lincoln Iris Society for “Loreley” in the Landscape Division and Stan Sass from the Greater Omaha Iris Society for “Silk Run in Duo” in the Close-Up Division.

Congratulations to both of them!

And thank you to Linda Wilkie for including this in the GOIS newsletter (34 Number 6) where I learned about it. You can see the newsletter on our Newsletter page.