AIS: Oklahoma!
From: Irisborer@aol.com
Today was the first day of bus tours for the 1999 Oklahoma convention. For
those of you who don't know... once the business of the organization is
dispatched, the AIS convention turns to "flowers, folks and fun" in the form
of bus tours to see the latest and the greatest. This is when most people
wander into town, and this is when the true spirit of the event comes out.
This is one fine time, boys and girls.
Peter and I agreed to meet at 6.... and after throwing down a hearty
breakfast, we joined the Merry Pranksters for an assault on the Blue Bus.
Some of us had found each other here and there... and had decided that we are
one unit and would try to be on one bus. Some of these folks include me and
Peter, Jay Hudson, Jim Wilson, Carol Warner and Shirley Pope, Tom Abrego,
Hal Stahley and Dorothy and so on and so forth. We piled onto the bus at 7
and blasted off into the Oklahoma dawn.
Much to my surprise, OK is not a flat, brown state.... but rather a delight
of rolling hills and lots of green. The soil is dead red.... an amazing
color to this yankee who believes the natural color of soil is brown. It's
also very beautiful.
The first stop today was absolute Fantasyland for gardeners. The Fernandes
Garden is a confection of light and color... shade and sun.. fountains and
waterfalls - and Martha Stewart would get an inferiority complex for sure.
As you enter this extraordinary place, a splashing waterfall draws you to a
rock-lined pond, carefully planted.... which leads you to a stream that
burbles and bubbles and twists as it takes you to a cul-de-sac with a
wonderful slab of stone for settin' one's weary butt upon.... which, in turn,
takes you to a quiet glen of coleus and hostas and so on and so forth. This
is an incredible garden filled with plants, humor and impeccable layout.
There are artful benches at every turn.... collections of birdhouses..... a
shrine-like seating in a shadey area... an amazing, amazing place. And as
if the visuals were not enough to cause a girl to swoon.... careful plantings
of phlox and honeysuckle teased us with a waft of fragrance on the cool
morning air.
We'll be getting back to this garden, and I'm thrilled. Some damage was
evident from the weather, but a couple days of sunshine will make it right.
One thing about this garden.... a few tattered irises did not leave you in
the least disappointed.
Next up was the Watson Garden.... a wonderful retreat of raised beds and
rolling hills. This is where I first began my iris notes......because the
bloom really is wonderful.
SUSPICION (Keppel '99) intrigued me with the greyed centers in the standards.
A seedling of Evelyn Kegerise (92-1329-A) stood out and I hope to add it to
the Guest Estates.... a frothy pink, very lacy, with a coral beard.
I seem to be attracted by irises introduced by Gerald Richardson... and this
was no exception. EVELYN ROSE (BB) has pale peach/apricot standards and pale
lemon falls.
Hooker Nichols is shining today..... one seedling 97-14D is extraordinary.
My notes say "red falls with a white rim and lavender centers.... white
standards with a yellow infusion". Distinctive??? Yeppers!
UNCLE CHARLIE, (Spoon '99), was in a huuuuuuuge clump, and was resplendent in
icy blue.
Something I noticed very much today, is the color of leaf bases..... and the
star in that was DIME A DANCE.... with not only purple based fans.... but
also a flame of red in the center (Scout's honor!).
About this time, we became aware that the bus driver and captains didn't have
a real firm idea where we were going. In my mind, this is no problem.... but
some folks come unglued. We were taken to lunch at a Christian College.....
but first the bus explored every molecule of asphalt on the property.....
disregarding one-way signs and so on. But we finally did get there and were
treated to an incredible meal, before being loaded back upon the buses
(Abrego has some kind of cattle theory....)
At this point, we really did begin to wander aimlessly for a bit, trying to
get to the Beasley Garden (out where God lost his shoes, as my Mom would
say.....). And in our wanderings, we crisscrossed the path of destruction
left by this week's tornado.
I am slackjawed at the power of the storm, and the damage left behind. Huge
areas of countryside look like the aftermath of a nuclear attack. As you
approach the pathway, you begin to see debris of all kinds..... insulation
chunks stuck everywhere.... roof pieces, house pieces and shreads of this and
that litter the landscape.... till you get to the path itself. Now, we were
told this area was once wooded...... it is now absolutely featureless....
there are a few tragic trees still standing..... but with all their branches
removed, as well as the bark. The GRASS has been sucked out of the very
ground..... so that nothing is left but that red soil..... looking for all
the world like a festering wound. I don't have words to wrap around this
topic at all. Then there are the remains of houses..... tiny piles of
rubble. Here's a tractor flipped upside down..... there's a little metal wad
that could be almost anything. Truely amazing....
The Beasley Garden is out here.... and was untouched by the tornado. Here we
saw more irises looking just grand and my notes say the following....
"BOOGIE WOOGIE" (Hooker Nichols)... Lavender falls, splashed red, creamy
standards with a touch of yellow.
LITTLE JOHN by Don Spoon '96. Great bloomstalk.... peach standards infused
with violet, violet falls with a lighter center.
Seedling 970-8C, Hooker Nichols, another non-bloomer, but with a black fan
base extending 6" up the fan.
(part II in the morning..... time for this one to fold.)
Kathy
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