Re: Historic Iris Preservation Soc.
Nell Lancaster wrote:
>
> Donald: Glad you asked about HIPS (the Historic Iris Preservation Society). I
> think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and wish there were a daylily
> equivalent!
>
> HIPS members get the spring and fall issues of 'Roots', an excellent
> newsletter. There's a sale of historic varieties each season, and a symposium
> (by eras: pre-1900, 1900-1910s, 1920s, etc.). The society also designates HIPS
> display gardens, a list of which is published in the newsletter. The
> newsletter also regularly contains a list of commercial sources for older iris.
>
> Also, there are the 'locator' services: There is a person who will find
> commercial sources for cultivars if they exist. If they don't, the HIPS Data
> Bank, which is a listing of cultivars with all the places they're
> grown/available from, comes into play: members can submit two or three
> cultivars sought to the Data Bank collector, who will steer the seekers to
> someone growing them for possible sale or swap. The Data Bank list of
> cultivars itself is published each year: varieties for which sources exist
> (either commercial or growing in gardens), with notation when there is only one
> known source. Members are encouraged to submit the list of historics they're
> growing to the Data Bank each year.
>
> A committee of people who know their older irises is also available to help
> identify unknowns for members.
>
> Other publications: Although they're available to all AIS members, the
> reprintings of the 1939 and 1949 checklists were the results of HIPS lobbying,
> I believe. HIPS itself sells back issues of 'Roots' (beginning fall of '88),
> and 'Chronicles' on the work and cultivars of different hybridizers, as well as
> some reprinted early catalogs. The auction at the HIPS meeting at the national
> convention is another source for very rare and wonderful old iris documents.
>
> And there are half a dozen excellent slide shows, organized by era, hybridizer,
> award winners, etc.
>
> And finally: our very own convention is on the horizon, hosted by Region 2
> (possibly next year but more probably the season after? I'm not sure. We're
> stoked, whenever it is!).
>
> Membership info is on Scott's new AIS web page; I'd put it here but gotta go
> plant irises.
>
> Nell Lancaster, Lexington, VA 75500.2521@compuserve.com USDA zone 6b
Nell,
We just joined HIPS, and know we'll love it. My question is, how do I
get a copy of the Data Bank? I understand it's published spring and fall
-- does it come automatically, or do we have to order it? And is there a
charge?
Barb Johnson
ljohnson@cland.net
