Greetings all,
I've been acquiring various bearded and aril species to begin hybridizing with. Naturally, my thoughts are running ahead to some future time when I may have seedlings to be considered for registration and distribution.
When I was last involved in the iris world, the SPEC and SPEC-X classes and there respective awards were just getting going. Now that they have been around for sometime, I wonder if a consensus has developed around when it is appropriate to register a hybrid as SPEC-X, as opposed to another established class that it also meets the requirements for.
My understanding is that this is entirely at the registrant's discretion, but I would still like to hear everyone's thoughts. As a species enthusiast, how do your expectations differ if an iris is registered as SPEC-X rather than, say, MTB, AB, etc. Do you have in mind some notion of "distance from species" in distinguishing SPEC-X from other classes? If you are a judge, do you view award-worthiness differently for SPEC-X cultivars than for those registered in the established classes?
Although I am working with bearded and aril irises, the same questions arise with respected to the beardless classes as well.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Tom
