Denver Memorial Day Tour
- Subject: Denver Memorial Day Tour
- From: L*@aol.com
- Date: Mon, 4 Mar 96 07:51:36 MST
A VISIT WITH NOTED HYBRIDIZER TOM MAGEE TO HIGHLIGHT MEMORIAL DAY
IRIS TOUR
Tom Magee, whose spectacular tall bearded plicata, Acoma, is among
the frontrunners for the Wister Cup honoring the best iris in its class,
will open his garden to the regional iris tour on Memorial Day, Monday May
27. The Memorial Day Tour, which hopefully will coincide with the height of
our Tall Bearded Iris blooming season, will be a caravan-type tour with the
gardens open sequentially throughout the day and transportation arranged on
your own.
The Magee garden in Littleton is beautifully designed and cared for.
Tom's full-blown hybridizing project exists in harmony with beds containing
mixed perennials and shrubs. He has just completed a display area featuring
all of his introductions, some of the best known of which are Colorado
Sunshine, Palazzo and, of course, Acoma. While we are at Tom's garden, he
will conduct a seminar on how he selects seedlings for introduction, using
his own seedlings as examples. One hour of AIS Judge's Training credit will
be offered for Tom's seminar, but everyone is invited. It promises to be a
fascinating session, not just for other hybridizers, but for everyone with
an interest in learning more about the process of introducing a new iris.
And of course we will be seeing some gorgeous seedlings-- maybe some future
award winners!
Tom Magee's garden will be the tour's first stop, at 9 A.M. Time
is provided for garden browsing before Tom's presentation, which will last
from 9:30 until 10:30. The Magee garden is located at 6631 S. Hill Way.
>From Ridge Road in Littleton, turn south on Hill Street to Hill Way. Turn
left to 6631.
At about 11 A.M., the tour will resume further south at Lowell
Baumunk and Barbara Lewis' garden. Lowell and Barbara grow a huge
selection of the latest varieties of tall bearded iris in a large garden
adjoining old-growth prairie next to the Highline Canal. Their irises won
silver medals (for most blue ribbons) in both the Denver and Colorado Springs
iris shows in 1995. Lowell and Barbara's garden features an extensive
rock garden area and a large collection of peonies which should be
blooming on Memorial Day. Lowell hopes AIS judges will take a look at
his hundreds of seedlings. To get to the garden, drive south on Santa Fe
Drive (U.S. 85) 4 miles from where Santa Fe crosses C-470 to Titan Road
(a stoplight). Drive 3 miles west on Titan to Wildlife Way. Turn
right on Wildlife and keep to the right. Wildlife becomes Sunshine Dr.
Look for 10918 on the mailbox.
The afternoon segment of the tour will begin at one o'clock at
Rob Stetson's garden, 2501 S. Cherokee St. Heading back into town, turn
right from Santa Fe on Dartmouth. Turn left on Cherokee and go six blocks
to 2501. Everyone will want to see Rob's seedlings. In 1995 his first
crop of seedlings swept "Best Seedling" honors at the Denver and Colorado
Springs iris shows. The creations he displayed at the shows were
remarkable for their outstanding branching. Most of the arilbreds from Rob's
large collection should also still be blooming on Memorial Day.
From the Stetson garden, the tour will make its way at 2 o'clock to
the garden of Lois and Orvid Olson at 4875 E. Louisiana Avenue, four blocks
east of Colorado Boulevard. The "Best Specimen" of last year's Denver
iris show, Big Buck, was entered by the Olson's from their garden, so
tour participants can expect to see a collection of healthy, well-grown
plants.
The Memorial Day Tour will be an excellent opportunity for
everyone to expand their iris horizons. If you haven't previously
participated in Iris Society activities, this is a great place to start.
If you are an experienced irisarian, the tour provides an easy way to
check out new irises and local seedlings. All the participating gardeners
would enjoy having lots of visitors. Circle May 27 on your calendars!
