The Top 10 Posts of 2019

As we start the new year, it is time to look back at the ten most viewed posts on The World of Irises in 2019. Did you see and read them all when they went live? Did you miss any? If you missed one or more, follow the link to the post.

In tenth place, we find Anna Cadd’s guest post about the important spuria iris Wadi Zem Zem.

In ninth place, the post of the 2019 Wister Medal winners was a popular.

'Autumn Explosion'--Image by K. Brewitt

Bryce Williamson’s post about Napa Country Iris Gardens occupies the number eight position. This is part of his series “On the Road Again” and he has continued the series this year with posts about his trips to Oregon and Washington.

Leslie and John Painter with Phil Williams, Spring 2018
Image by Bryce Williamson

The World of Irises always likes to bring our readers breaking news. For that reason, the results of the 2019 Florence iris competition can be found in position seven.

‘Chachar’ by Seidl Zdenek from the Czech Republic.

Bryce Williamson’s report on the 2019 American Iris Society Convention is in the sixth position. If you were unable to attend, this post gives you some idea of what you missed.

Horton Garden--image by Bryce Williamson

Moving into the top 5 posts for views during the year, position five is occupied by the report on The French Iris Society’s Franciris 2019. This post introduced not only the wining irises, but also brought to the attention of iris growers around the world the names of some new hybridizers.

'My Red Drums'--Image by Andi Rivarola

Number 4 for the year was Robert Hollingsworth’s post about what may be the single most important Siberian introduction/parent of all time—'White Swirl’.

'White Swirl'

Next in line for views was Dennis Berry’s guest post about building iris beds. The post not only included instructions, but wonderful images to walk the viewers through the process.

Image by Dennis Berry

As the suspense builds toward the most popular post of the year, second place was the results of the Dykes Medal voting by The American Iris Society Judges. This year produced a win for Mike Sutton, the first time a hybridizer from Idaho has won this award.

'Bottle Rocket' Image by Colleen Modra

And with trumpets and drum rolls, the post most viewed in 2019 was Tom ‘s Three Myths About Bearded Irises.

No, this iris will never "revert to purple"

As we start the new year of post, you can subscribe and receive automatic notification of posts by filling in the boxes at the top left.

Dykes Medal 2019

 The American Iris Society

Announces the

2019 Dykes Medal Winner

‘Bottle Rocket’

Mike Sutton 2009

First awarded in 1927, the Dykes Medal is the highest award of the AIS, awarded to no more than one iris per year. Irises are eligible as a Dykes Medal candidate for three years following the winning of a classification medal. Only AIS registered judges may vote.

'Bottle Rocket' -- image by Colleen Modra

The American Iris Society is pleased to announce the 2019 winner is Mike Sutton’s ‘Bottle Rocket'. While the iris was created in California, under the AIS rules this will become the first Dykes Medal winner for Idaho.

The Dykes Medal is named for William Rickatson Dykes, an English botanist, horticulturist, schoolmaster, plant breeder, author, and the foremost authority on irises at the turn of the Twenty Century. He became the world's leading authority on iris. His insatiable curiosity led him to obtain a wide knowledge of many other plants, but his chief interest was in the lily, iris, and amaryllis natural orders. He also did much work with tulips, and his knowledge of them was comparable to his knowledge of iris. W.R. Dykes was also a prolific author. In 1909 he began to plan and work on his monograph, The Genus Iris. He worked on this project for 5 years.

On December 1, 1925, W.R. Dykes died as a result of a motor accident. His work had only begun, for he was on the threshold of greater achievements as demonstrated by his glorious yellow seedling which was named for him. His death was a shock and a Ioss to the entire world of gardeners. At a meeting of the British Iris Society held on June 16, 1926 it was resolved to award a medal to the hybridizer of the outstanding iris variety of each year in memory of Mr. Dykes and thus the Dykes Medal was created. It has become the most highly coveted, highly prized iris award dreamed of by all iris hybridizers. This is the highest iris award available and its name, the Dykes Medal, keeps his name alive and warm in all our hearts.

The World of Irises blog will be posting once a day all of the medal winners. The entire list of winners can be found at the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.