Re: SPEC-X

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Actually AIS judges are expected to grow most of the irises they vote for. Or at the very least see them growing in gardens they frequent over a two year period. Judge are also asked not to vote for classifications they do not grow and or cultivars they have not grown or seen in person for more than two years. There are some judges that do not understand their duties and vote for everything they can. But if you look at the number of judges and the number of votes casts, the quantity of votes indicates that most judges follow these rules.

There has been a great deal of discussion as to whether to have two types of judges, ones that can judge shows and one who garden judge. of course some could be both. There is a shortage of qualified judges for shows. Some concern has been expressed that this could dilute the quality of judges doing shows. a few years ago there was an attempt to change the title of Master judge to Senior judge since presently the only requirement to be a master is to have judged for 15 years. There was a huge cry and that did not go over.

To improve the quality of judges I have been thinking of another possibility. The Master Gardener program has been extraordinarily successful. The pride of being a MASTER gardener seems to be the driving force. This is achieved with a reasonably high standard of training and required donated work. I believe each section could learn from this and do something that was done years ago by the Dwarf Iris Society. They used to certify judges as competent to judge their group. I think this could work today as a honorary title that an existing judge could receive, being certified in one or more groups because they have worked on growing plants in that group and studied books on the subject..