{Disarmed} RE: Re: Siberian Iris Society

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I do agree that the Siberian Society does need to get some activity going. At the A Hemerocallis Soc. I met a few SIS members that were only names to me. I had heard that IA had suffered loss of bloom but I didn't realize the 100 yr. ice storm had been so disastrous in the eastern part of IA. I know the siberians smother under ice and I guess that is what happened. We noticed in MI that they were not as tall as usual and that seems to be related to the heat in Mar.- Ap. followed by very cold after growth had started. Don't know what the answer is, we seem not to be able to beat Mother Nature. I visited the MN Landscape Arboretum where the 2009 Siberian & Specie Convention will be held.It is a lovely garden that continues to acquire and develop more land. Many perennials have special plantings with many varieties. Hostas, Irises, Perennials, Shrubs that are winter hardy to zone 3, so there will be lots besides the guest iris beds to visit. They have a nice library and had a nice exhibit on Linnaeus'  300th  Birthday celebration www.arboretumumn.edu for more information.  I wrote the Petal Pusher Garden up for the Region 6 Newsletter and was supposed to cover all the hybridizers from our region and there were 8 to find their plants and try to report on in a short visit with a large garden with the wind blowing very hard. I did manage a bit more than the AIS report. "As we arrived there was a row of Siberians growing well for Oklahoma which does not have the best climate for growing siberians. 'Active Duty', H. Stahly, '99, a deep wine with lighter style arms was strutting its stuff, along with 'Plum Frolic', Schafer-Sachs '01, shades of blue/dappling of red-violet, seedling # 99B1B27' Bob Hollingworth, a tetaploid medium blue-purple with a large white sunburst spot, and 'Ever Again' McEwen 91 was budded."

I think some of the answer for the AIS bulletin is for some of us to write articles about the siberians we have seen growing in local gardens and hope some of it will catch the attention of the editor and it is a guest editor, Kelly Norris, a youth garden winner who is currently going to Iowa State University and also serving on the Scientific Action Committee and he always responds to the items that come up for discussion.

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