Iris Ratings scheme

On Tue, 26 Mar 1996, Chad Schroter wrote:

>         In thinking about the discussion on how to handle the large number of 
> introductions and whether to consider some licensing scheme (to me a bad idea), 
> I immediately thought of the rating system currently used for Rhododendrons. In 
> this scheme a number rating (1 lowest to 5 highest) is applied to two aspects of
> a cultivar, one for flower and the other for foliage. For Irises the number 
> 
>         In use this would have two purposes, one to help gardeners such as 
> myself choose between the many varieties available, and secondly as a measure of
> worthiness for introduction and once introduced for consideration when choosing 
> among new intro.'s , allowing those interested to concentrate on the most 
> outstanding of the new intro.'s.

Chris Hollinshead writes:

I think that a ratings scheme for iris would be a great idea. I believe 
that roses also have a numerical ratings system? Perhaps we could 
undertake a little study of the other existing horticultural ratings 
systems that already exist and adapt them to iris. I particularly like 
the idea of a two number system for different aspects of the plant. (a 
rating number for the bloom and a rating number for the foliage.) Perhaps 
a third overall rating number could be added in order to further complete 
the picture. That is, the third number could be a subjective impression of 
the plant based on overall beauty, attractiveness, originality of color, 
form, or other special attributes particular to that iris. Perhaps this 
third rating should be something other than a number,like a letter 
corresponding to a legend code.
examples: 
M=must have! 
S=super nice!
C=common,boring
O=original,unique
etc., etc..
Anyway, its a good idea that should bear further study and follow-up action.
The only pitfall I see at this time is who is going to apply the ratings? 
The hybridizer, the AIS, the judges?
Perhaps the answer lies in using the already devised iris judging point 
structure. Thus as iris are judged by various judges in various locations 
the point ratings could be reported to a central ratings collection and 
averaged for each variety. A yearly report could be issued giving the 
yearly average for each iris. 
Lets hear from the rest of you on this idea...  

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Chris Hollinshead e-mail: bu336@torfree.net
Mississauga, Ontario Canada
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