AR: Abq. Aril Soc. Show

I was in Albuquerque this past weekend for the annual Albuquerque Aril 
Society show.  The show had fewer entries than usual because of the early 
season.  There were no aril species or hybrids.  Arilbreds were well 
represented, but not in the usual quantity or quality.  Best Specimen went to 
Sharon McAllister's RED EARTH, which was entered by Pete McGrath.  The best 
AB+ was PERSIAN PADISHAH.  BHUTAN GLORY, entered by Cindy Rivera was Best 
Median of the show.  There were only five seedlings entered.  They were all 
Pete McGrath's arilbreds, and all, in my opinion, were worthy of EC's.  The 
Best Seedling award went to a yellow amoena with a large dark signal and fine 
stalk and bud count.  Its distinctive feature is that the yellow on the falls 
blends into a pure white area around the edge.  I had the privilege of 
judging on a team with Luella Danielson and Tom Tadfor Little.  Every time I 
work with such knowledgeable  judges, I know I become a better judge myself.


Saturday afternoon I was pleased to be able to visit four excellent gardens.  
First stop was Cindy Rivera's.  Cindy has a very interesting and eclectic 
collection of plants.  She grows any and all types of iris as well as cacti 
and other regional specialties and heirloom tomatoes.  Her place has an 
"organic" feel to it, divided into small areas with distinct habitats.  
Delightful!

Scott and Reita Jordan's garden was the next stop.  Their big backyard is 
dominated by iris with big areas of both tb's and ab's.  As usual, the plants 
were in fine shape and well displayed

The whole crew that had been at Jordan's, Rob Stetson, Hooker Nichols, Scott 
Jordan and myself, continued on to the gardens of Irene Shockey and then Pete 
McGrath.  The Shockey garden is wonderful to behold.  It is full of beautiful 
specimen plants and is designed artistically.  Irene has roses, peonies, a 
huge white wisteria, and excellent trees, including a Paul Scarlett hawthorn 
in full bloom.  But the irises are the prime attraction.  Irene has done a 
stalwart job of sorting out the hybridizing records of her late husband, 
Howard, and she has lined out the best arilbred, aril and tall bearded 
seedlings to evaluate for possible introduction.   Some of those seedlings 
are spectacular and I hope that someday all will have a chance to grow some 
of them.

Pete McGrath has a brand new house and garden on the lower slope of the 
Sandia Mountains overlooking the city.  The house and the view are 
spectacular.  Pete showed his landscaping plans, and there is no doubt that 
it is going to be beautiful.  The iris gardens went in fast, but the results 
have been very good.  I was particularly impressed by the aril beds.  The 
bloom had passed, but it could seen that the plants were in excellent 
condition and had bloomed very well.  Pete has an extensive hybridizing 
program with the arils and arilbreds.  Some of the arilbred seedlings were 
still blooming; he has some winners.  He has drawn heavily on the Shockey 
lines in his ab breeding program.

On Sunday morning there was a garden judging session on tb's at a beautiful 
garden in the South Valley.  The training was presented by Hooker Nichols, 
who did a fine teaching job while keeping the participants interested and 
entertained.  The bloom was peak and the morning was beautiful.  I'm already 
looking forward to my next visit to Albuquerque at Aril Show time.

Lowell Baumunk
Colorado

------------------------------------------------------------------------
High rates giving you headaches? The 0% APR Introductory Rate from 
Capital One. 9.9% Fixed thereafter!
http://click.egroups.com/1/3010/0/_/486170/_/957904020/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index