Tag Archives: Region 21

Region 21 Fall 2023 Regional Meeting – Sioux City, Iowa

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The Siouxland Iris Society is hosting the Region 21 Fall 2023 Meeting this year August 25-27. Howie Dash will be our Judges Training and after-dinner speaker. Howie is a hybridizer of Arilbred and Tall Bearded irises. He is the 2nd Vice-President of the American Iris Society and President of the Aril Society International. He was also the Co-Chair for the AIS 2022 National Convention in Las Cruces, New Mexico where his ‘Chihuahua Night’ iris won the President’s Cup (photo above).

The meeting hotel is the Stoney Creek Inn & Suites, 300 3rd Street, Sioux City, Iowa. We have a special rate for rooms during the meeting.

Complete information including room reservations and the registration form can be found here. Send your registrations to:

Region 21 Fall Regional
%Michael Becker 
509 3rd Ave SE
Le Mars, IA 51031-2407

Region 21 Virtual Fall 2021 Meeting

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Reminder – This year’s Region 21 Fall Meeting is virtual! Please join us Saturday, August 14, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time (9:00 a.m. Mountain Time) on Zoom for Judges Training by Bonnie Nichols on Novelty Irises. Bonnie is the AIS Judges Chair as well as president of the Novelty Iris Society. Note: This is a new Judges Training available for credit even if you have already participated in the JT Bonnie presented as two AIS Webinars last year.


Registration (free!) is required. Please send your name and email to Wayne Messer wrmesser@gmail.com so we can get a count and send you the details for attending.  


There will also be a Region 21 Board meeting at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (8:00 a.m. Mountain Time) and a Region 21 Business meeting following Bonnie’s presentation. Everyone is invited to attend and participate in both meetings. This year the business meeting includes the election of a first-year director. Please consider volunteering for this position.

Allan Ensminger Iris Photos Needed

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‘Batik’

Allan Ensminger of Lincoln, Nebraska, a Region 21 hybridizer, was known for his work on variegated, broken color irises. Among these was the 1992 Knowlton Medal winner ‘Batik’ and the IB ‘Hubbub’. In 2007 he won the Bennett C. Jones Award for Outstanding Median Hybridizing from the Median Iris Society. Other awards include the AIS Distinguished Service Medal in 1983 and the AIS Hybridizer Award in 1994.

You can see photos of his irises in the Iris Encyclopedia starting with this page. That is of many of them; there are a considerable number that do not have photos. To help remedy that, this is a page listing his irises that need photos.

Can you help provide photos? You can either add them to the appropriate page in the Iris Encyclopedia or contact me and I will be glad to add them. Wayne Messer wrmesser@gmail.com .

Thank you!

Region 21 Covid-19 Related Announcements

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The pandemic has caused many cancellations and changes in Region 21 and the American Iris Society:

  • The Region 21 Fall Meeting has been cancelled.  Thank you to everyone in the Sioux Empire Iris Society who has been working to prepare for this meeting.
  • Region 21 Fall Board Meeting – Plans are being made to meet via video conferencing this fall.
  • The Region 21 newsletter has been temporarily suspended.  Updates for Region 21 will be posted to the Region 21 website.
  • All Region 21 clubs have cancelled their iris shows.  Anyone wishing to can send pictures of their garden for inclusion in a Region 21 virtual garden tour to be posted on our website.
  • Because judges training opportunities are extremely limited, judges needing hours in 2020 have had their eligibility extended for one year.  Those that have satisfied requirements will be advanced. Judges will receive credit for any judges training already completed.
  • Kelly Norris has stepped down as Region 21 Judges Training Chair.  Until a new chair is named, all records and questions should be sent to me.
  • The AIS 2020 Convention, three mini-conventions, and all Regional Spring Meetings have been cancelled.
  • The Garden Awards voting for 2020 has also been cancelled due to limited opportunities to view the eligible irises in gardens.

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

Reminder: The Region 21 2018 Fall Meeting is August 10-11

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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!

Region 21 Iris Shows and 2018 Spring Meeting

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This year Region 21 has three iris shows and a Regional Spring Meeting for your enjoyment.    The shows are

May 19 Lincoln, Nebraska
May 26 Sioux City, Iowa – Siouxland Iris Society
June 2-3 Scottsbluff, Nebraska – details.

And in connection with the Lincoln show is our Spring Meeting.  An iris show, several judges training sessions, and visits to iris gardens.  See the full details in this invitation: 2018Region21SpringMeeting

Update May 15 – I missed one show.  The Can-West Iris Society 2018 Iris Show is June 3rd in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  See more in this Region 21 post.

Region 21 Fall 2018 Registration

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'Metro Blue' by Lockatell blooming October 10, 2016 in the Messer Garden

‘Metro Blue’ by Lockatell blooming October 10, 2016 in the Messer Garden

The Region 21 Fall Meeting this year again has a great lineup.  We are meeting August 10-11, 2018 in Ames, Iowa.  “One Blooming Iris After Another” has Mike Lockatell as our featured speaker with Cool Season Reblooming Irises.  The registration form (PDF) has more details.  Hope to see you there!

Region 21 Minutes Has Its Own Page

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The Region 21 website has several pages to help you find further information about Region 21 and its members.  Currently these pages are:

  • Judges Corner – Judges training, judges, and potential judges information
  • Minutes –  Just added!
  • Newsletters – Club newsletters and the Region 21 Bulletin.  Do you have other newsletters we should add?
  • Resources – Officers and other Region 21 resources including official documents, Library holdings, links
  • Upcoming Events – Both Region 21 events and AIS events
  • Who We Are – Region 21 and its parts

Minutes is the newest page and is just getting started.  It has the Fall 2015 minutes for your reading pleasure:)  Can you help us fill in the blank spots?  We would appreciate earlier minutes, especially 2010 through early 2015, and later minutes.  Thank you for your help!

Nebraska Hybridizers in World of Irises Post

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The American Iris Society the World of Irises blog has frequent posts covering iris topics and always including great iris photos.  Jean Richter recently wrote “Space Age Iris of the Early 21st Century” which included two Nebraska hybridizers.  LeRoy Meininger was represented by ‘Beneath My Wings’ (2005) HM 2007, AM 2011.  Leonard and Kathy Jedlicka’s ‘Isadora Belle’ (2009) is the other Nebraska space ager shown.  (Both of these cultivar links are to the Iris Encyclopedia entries.)  One of the things I learned by checking the cultivars’ entries is that Jedlicka’s iris pedigree included one of Meininger’s seedlings.

Thank you to all our Region’s hybridizers for their contributions.

Bonus Note: You can see the most recent 100 titles (with links and automatically updated) from the World of Irises here.