I, too, have never paid much attention to AIS because of the apparent
focus on bearded hybrids, but after a bit of reading up, the whole
system seems pretty strange. Correct me if I'm wrong, but:
There are 15 classifications that receive medals, plus the Dykes
medal. Of these, eight are restricted to beardeds and another two
allow beardeds, so fully 2/3 of the categories can be won by beardeds.
Three medals are awarded in the TB category, so of the 18 medals
awarded annually, 3/4 can and do go to beardeds.
The highest award, the Dykes, though open to all classes, is in
practice awarded only to beardeds and almost exclusively to Tall
Beardeds, which is downright insulting to everyone else, unless I'm
missing something here.
Certain arilbred hybrids could potentially be entered as TB, AB or
SPEC-X, and stand a chance to win the Dykes, while hybrids in entire
other subgenera can only be entered in SPEC-X and will never win Dykes.
The SPEC-X classification is the only one open to anyone hybridizing
Chinensis, Ensatae, Foetidissimae, Laevigatae (except JI),
Longipetalae, Nepalensis, Prismaticae, Ruthenicae, Syriacae,
Tenuifoliae, Tripetalae, Unguiculares, Vernae, cresteds, reticulatas,
xiphiums, junos, Belamcanda, Pardanthopsis, wide crosses and whatever
else I've missed. Yet 'Dolce', which for all intents and purposes
appears to be a TB, wins. I understand the overwhelming focus of AIS
on beardeds as an artifact of the history of iris hybridizing, but it
would seem that the organization has little interest in changing this.
My take on SPEC-X, as the classes stand now, would be to voluntarily
restrict it to wide crosses (except between two bearded groups) and
beardless hybrids that don't fit an existing classification. Wild-type
bearded hybrids, as unlikely as they appear to be to win existing
bearded classes, at least qualify for them. Entering beardeds into the
only category many beardless can enter, being judged by an
organization that prefers beardeds, unfairly reduces the already
limited chances of a new and different hybrid winning.
Sean Z
Michigan
