Re: Iris Show

At 05:26 PM 4/15/96 MDT, you wrote:

>
>I confess to the heresy of having some sympathy for nonjudged shows.
>Bill's points are well taken, of course, particularly regarding
>giving hybridizers the chance to have seedlings evaluated. Yet I have
>seen *so many* otherwise fine people become obsessive maniacs at the
>prospect of competition that I wonder if we really need as much intensity
>as judged shows produce. I think the first and foremost purpose of an
>iris show should be to share the beauty of the flowers you raise with
>others who otherwise wouldn't see them. If people can keep that purpose
>in mind during an official judged show, then the judging is an added
>bonus: it encourages deeper learning and appreciation. But in practice,
>it seems like the purpose of "sharing" is the first casualty of
>competition.
>
>I have seen iris societies split apart, people leave clubs (or be
>banished from clubs), and cultivate decade-long animosities over what
>happens at a show. These things don't seem to result from my current way
>of showing my irises: inviting people to my garden at bloom time.
>
>FWIW.
>
>[Where will this thread go---]
===============================================================
>
>Tom Tadfor Little         tlittle@lanl.gov  -or-  telp@Rt66.com
>technical writer/editor   Los Alamos National Laboratory
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>Telperion Productions     http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
>===============================================================

Since I am a general gardener with lots of plant interests, with Iris and
alpines at the top of the list, I tend to agree with you. I have had a great
time at shows that have artistic arrangements or at pot shows where the
focus is on public outreach and sharing.  One of my concerns is that the
level of perfection required at a highly competitive show encourages the
heavy use of garden chemicals.  The organic gardener who may have healthy,
but not perfect plants may be left out for even a few shotholes or slug
nibbles in the foliage. Some imperfections could be tolerated as a part of
nature, but perfectionism reigns. Above all I want a healthy garden and I do
use some chemicals occasionally, but even the tough Iris that I have had for
twenty years get some dings on them. 

As far as new intros go, the emphasis should be on testing for garden
worthiness over attributes that are sometimes subjective anyway. What does
well in the vase might not be so hot in the garden in the wind, sun, and
rain. Nothing disappoints me more than finding out that I am condemned to
stake a selection every year because a hybridizer was trying to produce the
tallest. There are many fine hybridizers who do consider garden worthiness
above all and many of the new intros are fabulous but the appeal of some of
the historic Iris is that they have stood a greater test of time.
Having said all that, I will admit that I am willing to baby AB's to the
point of growing them in a pot or bulb frame to protect them from our winter
rain!
Louise H. Parsons  <parsont@peak.org>
1915 SE Stone St.
Corvallis, OR 97333  USA
USDA zone 7 , Emerald NARGS, AIS, SIGNA, SPCNI, transplanted Oregrowian
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index