With the AIS 2015 Convention in Portland, we are not having a Region 21 Spring meeting. We hope many will be able to take advantage of the Portland Convention to enjoy irises and fellow irisarians. Immediately following it is the Siberian/Species 2015 convention.
For those of us not attending, you can sample some of the gardens that will be visited with these videos. And everyone can start thinking about 2017 when we will be hosting the AIS 2017 Convention in Des Moines!
Thank you to Gary White for letting us know how blooming 2015 is happening in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Here’s what I have in bloom in my Lincoln garden in southeast Nebraska so far this spring (after the small bulbous reticulatas):
My bearded bloom started on April 15 with Red Heart (SDB) and Baby Baron (SDB)
The next day, April 16, I had my first MDB – Libation, in bloom.
The next few days there were numerous irises coming into bloom, including 3 more MDBs – Grey Pearls, Minikin, and Zipper.
Rose Mist is an H.P. Sass iris from 1931 and was listed as a DB in the 1939 checklist. DB irises (for Dwarf Bearded) included all irises up to and including 17 inches in height. Rose Mist today would be included in the SDB class, but there was only one class back then for all dwarf irises under 18 inches in height. The Iris Encyclopedia lists Rose Mist as an MDB based on the DB designation in effect in 1939. Rose Mist started blooming on April 19.
We have 31 other SDBs in bloom now. Those include (in sequence of bloom): Just A Croc, Cup Cake, Cherry Garden, Wow, Knotty Pine, What Again, Ooh La La, People Pleaser, Minikin, Jilleroo, Pink Fawn, Sweet N Neat, Smell The Roses, Seventy Seven, Jewel of Jakarta, Plum Perfect.
Then yesterday, the following 8 came into bloom: Doe Z Doe, Wedgewood Blue, Being Busy, Blue Denim, Do Si Do, Blue Mascara, and Ice and Indigo.
Today (April 23) the following SDBs opened the first time this year: Irish Chant, Petite Polka, Rosalie Loving, Acey Deucy, Limpid Pools, Born Free, Abba Alias Abba, and Neutron.
And the most amazing iris to bloom this early is an unnamed Siberian iris I have had about 4 years. It started blooming about 5 days ago and is an almost electric blue, with numerous open flowers today. None of the other Siberians are even showing buds yet. It was extremely early last year as well, so its in its genetics, I think. I will have to look into saving some pollen and making crosses to obtain very early blooming Siberians.
Several of the irises are historic (introduced prior to 1986), and 15 of those listed above were introductions from Allan Ensminger, a Lincoln hybridizer.
Another entry for the 2015 bloom schedule. This time thanks to Linda Wilkie for what’s been blooming in Omaha:
Iris danfordiae; March 20th
Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’; March 23rd
‘Constant Companion’ IB; April13th first bearded bloom in our garden
‘Wow’ SDB; April 16th
‘Sun Doll’ SDB April 18th
Can you help us identify what is blooming when and where this year? You can see all the entries we have so far by clicking on either the tag bloom time or the category bloom time at the bottom of any of the individual entries.
Note the iris links go to the Iris Encyclopedia entries for the respective irises.
‘Ruby Locket’ – First 2015 Bloom
It’s that time of year when we start expecting to see, or maybe already have seen. the first irises. Which can be very variable depending on the weather and maybe other influences. With that in mind, we thought it could be helpful to have information on when irises are blooming in the Region in more or less real time. Then 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? Hopefully all of these will be addressed.
As a start, here is our first bloom of 2015 on April 15th. It is ‘Ruby Locket’, a SDB listed as midseason bloom. It has consistently been our first bloomer, probably partly due to a semi-protected location on the south side of the house. Location: Central Iowa, south of Ames. Previous years: April 2, 2012; May 11, 2013; May 5, 2014.
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.
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.
“Based on popular demand, we have added a second bus to the Optional Gorge Tour on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. An all day tour with stops at the nationally famous Multnomah Falls, Bonneville Dam fish hatchery (trout ponds, sturgeon pond and the fish ladders-salmon migration), lunch at Riverside Restaurant, Hood River (Columbia River boat traffic and wind surfers), then south through the fruit orchards of Hood River valley with the final stop being at the Historic Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. Cost: $50.00 per person (includes lunch and bus transportation). Remaining seats on the bus will be on a first come – first serve basis. For tour registration contact Judy Nunn, Convention Registrar, email: Nunnjk@gmail.com or by phone: 503-390-3816.
John Ludi
Chair, 2015 Portland Iris Conventions
‘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.
The AIS Iris Encyclopedia (also known as the Iris Wiki because you can edit it) has a Newsletter Resources page for all newsletter editors. This has pointers to a number of American Iris Society resources and others you may find useful.
Thanks to Kathleen Sonntag, the Irises Bulletin editor, one of these resources is the style guide used for Irises. It is available as either a PDF or Word (docx) document by following the links below. Eventually we hope to have it as a page on the Iris Wiki so everyone can update it.
Request for Guest Beardless Irises
2017 AIS Convention
Des Moines, Iowa
Region 21 will host The American Iris Society National Convention May 22-26, 2017. Convention attendees will tour at least four Des Moines area gardens, including two public gardens. Hybridizers of beardless varieties are invited to send rhizomes of recent introductions and seedlings under consideration for introduction. Please observe the following guidelines when sending guest irises as only officially submitted guest irises will appear in the convention booklet.
Up to two rhizomes of each variety will be accepted from August 25 through September 8, 2014.
Please ship plants to:
Kelly Norris/AIS 2017
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
909 Robert D. Ray Drive
Des Moines, IA 50309
knorris@dmbotanicalgarden.com
The name of the variety or seedling number should be clearly marked on each rhizome. In addition, the following information should accompany each variety on a separate packing list:
· Hybridizer’s name and address
· Name or seedling number of the variety
· Type of iris (Siberian, Species, Spec-X, etc.)
· Height, color, distinguishing features
· Year of introduction (if applicable)
The packing list should include the contributors email address to receive an electronic receipt. Contributors who do not provide an email will receive a confirmation via USPS.
If a guest seedling is later named, it will be the responsibility of the hybridizer to notify the Guest Iris Chair of change. Updates should include name and corresponding seedling number. Please send updates or direct inquiries about guest irises to:
Linda Wilkie
Guest Iris Database Coordinator
lwilkie@unmc.edu
Shortly before the convention, contributors will be asked for instructions regarding disposition of the plants. Failure to reply by April 1, 2017 will be interpreted as permission to destroy all seedlings, and distributed named varieties, one to each host garden and the rest as determined by the Convention Committee. No rhizomes will be offered for sale on the internet or other means which compete with sales by the contributors. Guest iris returned will be sent freight paid, except for foreign addresses.
The Convention Committee and the owners of the host gardens will strictly adhere to the Code of Ethics as printed in the AIS Convention Handbook. The Convention Committee and host gardens will not be responsible for losses beyond their control.
Use this link for a PDF version of this request: 2017 Request For Guest Beardless Iris.
AIS Region 21 