The American Iris Society Announces the 2024 Caparne-Welch Medal Winner

 'WEE DRAGONS'

The Caparne-Welch Medal is restricted to miniature dwarf bearded (MDB) irises. It is named in honor of William John Caparne (1855-1940) and Walter Welch (1887-1980). Caparne worked extensively breeding various dwarf iris species and was the first iris hybridizer to concentrate on smaller irises. Most of the dwarf iris cultivars grown in gardens in the first quarter of the 20th century were products of Caparne's hybridizing efforts. Walter Welch was the founder of the Dwarf Iris Society. After moving to Middlebury, Indiana, he met Paul Cook and began hybridizing irises. He shared Cook's enthusiasm for dwarf irises and set out to develop new forms for the garden.

Previous awards winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.

Miniature Dwarf Bearded Iris 'Wee Dragons'
photo by Jeanette Graham

'Wee Dragons' (Lynda Miller, R. 2016). Seedling# 6311A. MDB, 4.5"-5" (11-13 cm). Early midseason bloom. Standards deep red-purple; style arms butter yellow, rib red-violet; falls velvety dark burgundy; beards yellow-orange in throat, light blue middle and end. 'Mosaic' X 'Snips'. Mid-America 2017.

The World of Irises blog will be posting classification medal winners as soon as the hybridizers are notified. The entire list of winners, including Award of Merit and Honorable Mention, will be published on the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia, and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.