The May 2020 issue of Better Homes & Gardens features our own Kris Jurik for her peonies. Many of you will remember that some of the peonies were in bloom along with the irises in the 2017 AIS Convention.
You can see the article on the Better Homes and Garden website.
Thank you to Carolyn Lingenfelter for calling this article to our attention.
The pandemic has caused many cancellations and changes in Region 21 and the American Iris Society:
Other AIS changes will be posted, as they occur, on the Cancellations page, the AIS website News & Events page, and in the AIS electronic newsletter, News & Notes.
Check the Region 21 website for ongoing announcements and updates.
Wayne Messer
AIS Region 21 RVP
wrmesser@gmail.com
UPDATE -In an abundance of caution and at the advice of our public health officials we will be cancelling the March meeting scheduled for tomorrow March 14th due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MARCH 2020 MEETING – Our next meeting will be Saturday, March 14, 2020 11a.m. at our normal meeting location, in a meeting room, just to the left when you enter the library at 28th & Q.
We will begin with a Potluck lunch, followed by our own past National American Iris Society President Gary White talking on Iris of New Zealand.
Learn more about the Greater Omaha Iris Society and irises on our website.
Time is fast approaching for the Region 21 Fall meeting. The Fall meeting, educational sessions, keynote speaker, and auction will be held in Omaha and all events will take place August 16th – 17th at the conference hotel, the Hampton Inn, Omaha AkSarBen Area.
The featured keynote speaker for this year’s event will be renowned hybridizer Paul Black. Educational sessions will be eligible for three hours of judges training c.e. credit for those in need of additional credit hours. Additionally the Regional Rhizome auction will be held on Saturday, August 17th.
A block of rooms has been reserved for attendees at the conference hotel for $114/night. This block of rooms will be held until August 1st after which room pricing will revert to the prevailing rate. Details and a registration form can be found here.
Questions may be addressed to meeting coordinators Linda Wilkie (402-493-3808 or lrwilkie@gmail.com) and Gary White (402-890-3689 or in2iris@yahoo.com).
Update 8/12/19: The final schedule is available here.
Other Regions of The American Iris Society also have fall meetings that members of Region 21 can attend. This is another way to learn more about irises, obtain more judges training, and meet other irisarians. Region 18 (Kansas and Missouri) is particularly convenient for many members of Region 21 to visit.
This year the Region 18 Fall Meeting is in St. Joseph, Missouri at the Remington Nature Center on October 5th and 6th. Bonnie Nichols, president of the Novelty Iris Society, is the speaker. She is also presenting 2 hours of judges training on Novelty Iris. More details on the schedule are here and the registration form (PDF) is available.
You can find details on all the 2018 Regional Fall Meetings in this table. Hope to see you at some of them!
‘Ray Jones’
This year’s first rebloom report comes from Kris Jurik. She sent this photo of ‘Ray Jones’ blooming in her garden on September 13, 2018. A SDB by Donald Spoon (2011); you can learn more (and see more photos) from its Iris Encyclopedia entry. Thank you Kris!
At the same time, Kris has bloomstalks developed on ‘Again And Again’ (Innerest, 1999).
Do you have irises reblooming in your garden? Please let me know so we can get them on the Region 21 website and submit the observations to the Reblooming Iris Society. And if you have reblooms in other gardens to report, public or private, please include them. Contact: wrmesser@gmail.com Thank you for your help!
Another great chance to see old friends and meet new ones. This year we are meeting in Ames, Iowa Friday evening and Saturday, August 10-11. Mike Lockatell is our featured speaker and judges training presenter with Cool Season Reblooming Irises. The registration form (PDF) has the details.
After the meeting, you will be able to explore the Reiman Gardens grounds and butterfly wing. The current exhibition is the 13 kinetic sculptures “Wind, Waves, & Light Sculpture Exhibit” by George Sherwood.
Hope to see you there!
LIS Facebook cover photo – a seedling from Indian Creek Iris.
Upcoming and past events of the Lincoln Iris Society, and other iris news, can be found on their Facebook page. Thank you David Toth for creating this.
You can also find out more about the Lincoln Iris Society in their newsletter. See the Rainbow Messenger on the Region 21 newsletters page.
The American Iris Society has begun requiring digital images with your submission of iris registrations. To help you, Neil Houghton, the Image Coordinator, has put together a process and a quick guide to make it easier for you. You .can find all the details in Submitting Digital Images with Registrations (PDF).
Neil would be glad to answer any questions, email images@irises.org .
The Can-West Iris Society is having their 2018 iris show June 3, 2018 in Winnipeg in the Bourkevale Community Center. Details can be found in the Can-West Spring 2018 newsletter. The show schedule is also available on their website.
Preceding the show is judges training on Saturday, June 2nd. Sandy Ives will give a session on Siberian irises and Maureen Mark will be doing garden training. Again, see the newsletter for details.
My apologies for not getting this in our previous listing of Region 21 iris shows. I was aware of the show and B. J. Jackson, the show chair, had sent me the information. I totally blanked.
AIS Region 21 