Re: SPEC-X

 

Dennis: the purpose of Garden Judging Iris is to make a reccommendation to the gardening world that this is an iris worth growing. Show judging does not judge the iris but judges the exhibit that the person showing has created. In escence it judges how well grown and displayed the Iris is. In theory judging is all about getting the average gardener interested. Our highest award winners should be something that we tout to the general public as a special plant for their gardens.One of our biggest problems in the Iris Society is appealing to gardeners and not just Iris collectors. Of course the Society must provide interest for both. The SPEC-X category is probably quite elitist. It appeals to a small segment of the irisarians. Intellectually it is interesting to some of us that not just really rare combinations of species can be a part of this but also the better known species that started the bearded classes. The awards system evolved backwards from what would have been a logical progression. All irises can be separated into species and hybrids. All the current classes with the exception of Japanese are refinements of the SPEC-X class. If we limited the SPEC-X class to just interspecific crosses then the further development that precedes a refined class would be on its own until there were so many similar hybrids that a new class was created. It is sad that judges have not been able to recognize this class as a mix of prototypes of new classes. We seem to have a hard time dealing with innovation and find it more comfortable to set our limits narrowly.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis Kramb" <dkramb@badbear.com>
To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 11:53:37 AM
Subject: Re: [iris-species] SPEC-X

 

nope.  i'm not a judge.  i'm just a gardener.  i've never understood (nor cared enough to learn) the rules of classifying bearded irises.  so such dilemmas just seem silly to me.  (if it is 1 inch too short or if the flower is too large, or whatever)

and if indeed the rules are so strict that they hinder development of wonderful seedlings like the one you described, then i have even less interest in those rules than before!

sorry... it's far from an intelligent or helpful answer.  but all i can do is reiterate my viewpoint that as a gardener, to me, i would not be able to see a big difference between your hybrid and another SDB or IB.  and so i struggle to accept it as a SPEC-X.

i suppose that's what happens when non-show people like me are utilizing show terminology.  so i guess i've learned a lesson from today's conversation.  that if i don't care enough to learn about bearded classifications, then maybe i shouldn't be so opinionated about the SPEC-X category either (even though it's totally my favorite).  i humbly apologize.  :-)

Dennis in Cincinnati



On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 10:26 AM, Chuck Chapman <i*@aim.com> wrote:

I have a seedling, that is a cross of an SDB  x  aphylla.
As SDB it is often too tall, as IB is often too short
Any suggestions as to how to classify it, if not Spec-X

Chuck Chapman

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