[sibrob] Beardless Iris for 2011 Convnetion

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STILL THREE YEARS TO GO BUT THE EXCITEMENT IS BUILDING

The 2011 AIS National Convention is still three years away.  Already over 200 beardless irises have been planted at the four Convention Gardens in Victoria. While this number is well over the 150 we were told to expect, the most exciting part is that some of the most successful hybridizers have sent plants to be grown out for the Convention.

Out of the total 206 plants there are 63 species crosses, three Pacific Coasts (PCs), three Louisianas, six Setosas and the remainder are Siberians. Hybridizers sending Guest Iris included two Canadians, seven from the United States and one from England.

Many of the Siberians are recent introductions like ‘Sugar Rush’ and ‘Yankee Ingenuity’ hybridized by Marty Schafer and Jan Sacks in Massachusetts and ‘See Ya Later’ and ‘Swans In Flight’ by Robert Hollingworth from Michigan. Other wonderful Siberians are ‘Haleakala’ and ‘Kilauea’ hybridized by Marky Smith and ‘Majestic Overtures’ by Terry Aitken, both from Washington. Terry also sent the only Pacific Coast seedling. Jim Copeland of Michigan sent two of his Siberian introductions, ‘Hooked Again’ and ‘Yellowtail’ while Jan Hewitt of England sent two of hers ‘Peter Hewitt’ and ‘Stephen Wilcox’. Twenty-three Siberian varieties are numbered seedlings including four hybridized by John Coble and Bob Bauer of Michigan. It will be wonderful to see these seedlings perform over the next three years.

We are fortunate to have a large selection of named and seedling species and species crosses hybridized by Tony Huber of Quebec.  Chuck Chapman from Ontario sent two of his seedling Setosas along with a Pseudacorus and a Siberian. Jill Copeland from Michigan sent a nice collection of her species crosses plus the only Louisiana.

We owe so much to the staff of the four Host gardens who have worked so hard to make this possible.

Planting the irises was fun. The beds are mulched with compost and the waiting begins! With the bearded irises being the next major planting, the beds are ready for the expected 2000 plus plants with the ‘Request for Bearded Guest Iris’ set for publication in the April 2009 AIS Bulletin.

Ted B, President,  BC Iris Society