2012 Payne Medal Winner 'Coho'

By Andi Rivarola

We are happy to announce the winner of the 2012 Payne Medal: 'Coho,' hybridized by Chad Harris of Washington.

A complete list of winners in other categories can be found on the AIS website.

Here's a full description of this beautiful iris via the Iris Wiki:

'Coho' (Chad Harris, R. 2004) Sdlg. 96JG2. Japanese Iris (3F.), 38" (97 cm), VE Standards are pink (RHS 75C), medium size, prostrate; style arms off-white, edged pink (75B), style crests pink; Falls are dark pink (75A), blue cast around signal evenly blending to soft pink (75D) at F. edge, signal yellow (6B) in sunburst pattern, semi-flaring. 'Joy Peters' X 'Hatsu Kagami'. Aitken 2005. HM 2008.

(Photo by Chad Harris)

From the Society for Japanese Irises (SJI):
The Payne Medal (named for W. Arlie Payne) is the highest award given by The American Iris Society that a Japanese iris can receive in its class. Payne Medal winners are then eligible to win the Dykes Medal, which is the highest award an iris can receive from The American Iris Society. Prior to 1992 the highest award a Japanese Iris could receive was the Payne Award. This award has now been elevated to a medal status.

The Payne Medal

The highest award given by the American Iris Society strictly to Japanese Irises.

History from Clarence Mahan: 

"This medal is restricted to Japanese irises (JI). It is named in honor of W. Arlie Payne.

W. Arlie Payne was born on a farm near Terre Haute, Indiana. He graduated from Central Normal Collage in Danville, Indiana, and studied pattern making. Payne worked as a lumberjack, photographer, real estate agent, and pattern maker until he established a landscaping business on sixteen acres of land south of Terre Haute. He was at first especially interested in peonies, but in the late 1920's, he "discovered" Japanese irises. He started hybridizing Japanese in irises in 1932. Over the next three and a half decades, he raised many thousands of seedlings."

More on the Payne Medal, such as its history and past medal winners, can be found on the Iris Wiki.

For more information on AIS Awards, please visit our website.