AIS convention update

From: Ellen Gallagher <ellen_122@yahoo.com>


Hi Folks!
This is coming from Bill Smoot & Ellen Gallagher from
the AIS Convention in Oklahoma City. OK.  Today was
our first day of tours.  So far we've only seen ONE
Siberian Iris in bloom!  We've seen lots of markers
with no plants.  Evidently, Siberians do not like
Oklahoma.  The cultivar we saw was a Tomas Tamberg
seedling.  
We did get to attend an excellent judging training
program on Siberian Irises given by Carol Warner.  To
use a Kathy Guest quote "This was a TDF -" To Die For
Program."
Yesterday at the Siberian section meeting, Bob
Hollingworth gave an excellent program on his
hybridizing program.  He also gave us some "peeks" of
what's coming down the line.
At the Siberian BOD Meeting several items were
discussed.  One upcoming item was the Convention NEXT
YEAR in Iowa.  Plans are progressing along smoothly,
but one downside will be lots of time on  tour  buses
because the gardens are spread apart.  We also
discussed the Display Gardens.  So far only 18 people
have signed up to be on the Display Garden list.  Now
we know that many more of you on the SIB Robin should
be included on this list.  I (Bill) will repost the
form for Display Gardens on the SIB Robin again  next
week.  We also have had NO response from public
gardens.  It was suggested that I (Bill) contact
people near some of these public gardens and get an
update.  One problem we've seen concerning public
display gardens in the past has been that the
cultivars have been mislabeled, or not labeled at all.
 I ask that any SIB Robin members who live near a
public display garden that has Siberian Irises to give
me an update on the garden so that we can update our
list.
Today on the garden tour we had a small glimpse of the
tornado effects.  The convention hotel was not
affected and we've felt kind of isolated from all the
devastation, except for reports we seen on TV and
heard .  AIS did make a unprecedented move by voting
to give $500.00 to the relief effort.  This fund was
also supplemented by those attending the banquet last
nite. We've seen the tornado effects in the gardens
today with damage from high winds, rain, and hail.
We guesstimate that we have about a dozen of SIB Robin
members here at the convention.  Some of us will get
together tomorrow nite at the "Geek Dinner". This is
one convention we'll both long remember.  We'll try
and give another report after we see more gardens and
continue our hunt for Siberians in Oklahoma City.

Warm regards,

Bill Smoot & Ellen Gallagher
 
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