The American Iris Society Announces the 2021 Dykes Medal Winners

'DARING DECEPTION' and ‘RECKLESS ABANDON’ 

First awarded in 1927, the Dykes Medal is the highest award of the American Iris Society (AIS). It is named for William Rickatson Dykes (1877-1925), and is 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.

*Editor’s Note: Due to the pandemic last year, the American Iris Society Board of directors suspended garden awards. As a result, and only for this year, two medals will be awarded in each area. Previous awards winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.

Tall bearded iris 'DARING DECEPTION' (Thomas Johnson) image by Paul Black

'Daring Deception' (Thomas Johnson, R. 2012). Seedling#!TB127B. TB, 35" (89 cm). Midseason bloom. Standards white, light violet wash up midrib; style arms white; falls plush violet, wide white band, white spray on either side of beard; beards tangerine; slight fragrance. 'By Jeeves' X Blyth seedling# O77-A: ('Hold My Hand' x 'Brave Face'). Mid-America 2012. 

Tall bearded iris ‘RECKLESS ABANDON’ (Keith Keppel)

'Reckless Abandon' (Keith Keppel, R. 2009). Seedling 04-147A. TB, 38" (97 cm). Midseason bloom. Standards center sulphur to citron yellow (M&P 10-J-1/2) changing to warm white texture veined yellow toward outer portion, narrow 1/8" dandelion (9-L-4/5) edge; crests dandelion (9-L-4); falls burgundy black (much deeper than 56-H-12), large central area white to cream strongly veined burgundy black; beards solid deep chrome to cadmium yellow (9-L-7/8). Blyth seedling L304-1, 'Platinum Class' sibling, X 'Pirate Ahoy'. Keppel 2010. 

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 in the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia, and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.

Iris in Indiana: E.B. and Mary Williamson

by Jean Richter

Edward Bruce Williamson was born in 1877 on Marion, Indiana. His father Lent A. Williamson and an uncle founded the Wells County Bank in Bluffton, Indiana in 1888, where his father was president until 1918. His mother was Dorothea Kellerman Williamson. Bruce, as he was known to family and friends, graduated from Ohio State University in 1897, and then worked as Assistant Curator of Insects (his academic specialty) at the Carnegie Museum. He also taught high school science, and published numerous scientific articles on dragonflies, upon which (in addition to damselflies) he was a world-class authority.

He married Anna Tribolet in 1902, and the following year began working in his father's bank, first as a cashier, and then succeeding his father as president in 1918. The Williamsons had three foster daughters, Dorothea, Jane, and Mary.

E.B. Williamson (as he was known professionally), started growing irises soon after he married and obtained his home and garden in Bluffton. He began corresponding with J.N. Gerard regarding hybridizing irises, who gave him the rather astonishing advice that so many people had been breeding tall bearded iris that their potential for improvement was probably exhausted! At Gerard's suggestion, Williamson began breeding aril irises, probably the most difficult type of iris to grow in Indiana. Despite the difficulty, he was able to produce successful crosses with Iris susiana and Iris korolkowii. After a number of years, Morrison abandoned his hybridizing program with arils and gave his entire collection to hybridizer B.Y. Morrison. Charles Gersdorff, for many years the American Iris Society registrar, was impressed with some of Williamson's korolkowii hybrids and introduced them. Unfortunately, none are known to be extant today.

Williamson had a very unorthodox hybridizing method, gathering pollen from multiple cultivars, mixing the pollen in small pillboxes, and then applying the pollen to the flowers of iris  he thought would be good parents. He was assisted in this by his daughters Mary and Jane, and he sometimes also hired local schoolchildren to assist if he had particularly large numbers of flowers to hybridize.

This method produced unique seedlings of bearded iris, but was not successful with beardless iris, as usually bees had pollinated the flowers before he could get to them. One instance in which he did not use mixed pollen in a cross was one between Louisiana iris species Iris fulva and what is now called Iris brevicaulis. The resulting variety 'Dorothea Williamson' (named after his mother) was one of the first Louisiana iris hybrids, and the first bred by an American. 'Dorothea Williamson' (or its close relations) now grows semi-wild in many areas of the U.S., including places where native Louisiana iris are not found (such as the eastern seaboard).

When E.B. Williamson began to sell iris in 1918, he established a nursery named Longfield Iris Farm (named after the name of his father's house in Bluffton). Two years later he entered into a partnership with hybridizer Paul Cook, who would later become one of the world's most distinguished hybridizers himself.

E.B. Williamson's fame as an iris hybridizer came not from aril or Louisiana iris, however, but from a tall bearded iris that radically changed course of iris development in the U.S. He made many crosses of the collected tall bearded iris 'Amas.' Of all these crosses only a few yielded pods, and only one contained a seed - the largest bearded iris seed he had ever seen. From this seed grew the plant he introduced as 'Lent A. Williamson' after his father in 1918. This iris was one of the first tetraploid iris (four sets of chromosones) produced in the U.S., and an important advancement (nearly all modern tall bearded iris are tetraploid). Many hybridizers used this iris to create their own tetraploid iris, leading to it being called the "great progenitor."

'Lent A. Williamson' (1918)

photo by Mary Hess

Williamson himself used 'Lent A. Williamson' to produce the important iris 'Dolly Madison,' which can be found in the background of a myriad of modern iris.

'Dolly Madison' (1927)

photo by Mary Hess

Below are some other excellent iris Williamson introduced during the 1920s.

'Cinnabar' (1928)

photo by Mary Hess

'Gay Hussar' (1925) originally listed as IB, now BB

photo by Mary Hess

'Rhea' (1928) pentaploid (5 sets of chromosones)!

photo by Mary Hess

While working at the bank and in his iris fields, Williamson continued to do research on dragonflies and damselflies. He named an astounding 14 new genera and 92 new dragonfly species. His contributions to entomology were recognized by having a new genus of dragonfly named Williamsonia in his honor. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1928, and his bank failed in early 1929 (just before the Great Crash). Since his university position required his presence in Michigan, his daughters Mary and Jane took over the operation of Longfield Iris Farm.

E.B. Williamson was elected to the AIS board of directors in 1926, and elected vice president in 1928, a position he held until his death in 1933 after a brief illness. Longfield Iris Farm continued to introduce iris after his death. One of the best of these later introductions is 'Amigo,' a handsome and vigorous iris.

'Amigo' (1933)

photo by Mary Hess

Mary Williamson was born in 1909, and died in Bluffton in 1987. In the course of managing Longfield Iris Farm after her father died, she named, registered, and introduced a fabulous white and purple iris that became a classic almost immediately: 'Wabash.' When it won the Dykes Medal in 1940 it was already one of the most popular iris in the U.S. and Canada, and is still a very popular iris today.

'Wabash' (1936)

photo by Mary Hess

The matter of the true originator of 'Wabash' (E.B. or Mary Williamson) had been a matter of some controversy over the years. However, when she wrote a history of Longfield Iris Farm, Mary named herself as its hybridizer, and when the British Iris Society awarded the Dykes Medal for 'Wabash,' it also identified her as the originator. Subsequent research has fairly unequivocally proved that Mary Williamson was the originator of 'Wabash,' and one the first women hybridizers to win the Dykes Medal.

Another of Mary's important achievements was the popularization of miniature tall bearded iris, or "table irises" as they were known at the time. While her father referred to these smaller, more delicate iris as "runts," Mary saw their potential. E.B. allowed only a few of these iris to be introduced during his lifetime, and Mary continued working with them and introduced a number of others in the 1930s and 1940s. Alice White was another major advocate of these iris, and led a campaign within the AIS to have them recognized as a distinct class. The exacting standards for this new class, now called miniature tall bearded iris, were written by White using measurements provided by Mary Williamson. The Williamson-White Medal is awarded by the AIS annually to the best miniature tall bearded iris. While the award was named for E.B Williamson and Alice White, it is perhaps more appropriate to honor Mary Williamson who did so much to popularize these iris rather than her father.

The Williamsons both had a profound effect on the development of iris in the U.S., from E.B. Williamson's breakthroughs with Louisiana iris and tall bearded iris, to Mary's Dykes Medal winner and her popularization of miniature tall bearded iris.

I am greatly indebted to the material found in Clarence Mahan's wonderful book Classic Irises and the Men and Women Who Created Them, as well as to Mary Hess for the use of her beautiful photographs.

Dykes Medals in New Zealand

By Maggie Asplet

The New Zealand Dykes Medal can be awarded every second year by the British Iris Society on the recommendation of the New Zealand Iris Society.

This medal is awarded also in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia.  The Australasian Dykes Medal was first instituted in 1985 and allowed a medal to be awarded to New Zealand and Australian irises in successive years.  However the process of sending iris out of the country to be tested in Australia proved unworkable and as a result in 1992 the New Zealand Dykes Trial Garden system was set up.

 Frances Love holding her Dykes Medal

Picture thanks to Piki Carroll

Frances Love won the first New Zealand Dykes Medal in 1995 for the Siberian iris ‘Emma Ripeka’.  This iris is registered as 91 cm (36”) in height, with a mid-season bloom (October/November in NZ).  Standards are medium blue, style arms are sky blue and the falls are dark blue.  This is a seedling crossed with self.

It would take another 10 years before another Dykes Medal was awarded in New Zealand.

Iris 'Salute D'Amour'

Shirley Spicer first registered her iris “Salute D’Amour”, a Tall Bearded iris in 2001, and was awarded the New Zealand Dykes Medal in 2005.

This iris is described as being 84 cm (33’) in height and late season flowering (November in NZ).  The standards are light pink blush, styles arms soft coral pink and the falls are warm pink blush with soft white haft marking and a coral beard. This iris has a sweet fragrance.  Parentage is ‘Elysian Fields’ X ‘Flirtation Waltz’.

Seven years later the third Dykes Medal was awarded.

Iris 'Norma of Irwell'

Having registered his first iris in 1969, Ron Busch would have to wait until 2012 to be awarded his Dykes Medal for ‘Norma of Irwell’.

‘Norma of Irwell’ is a Tall Bearded iris first registered in 2008 and named after his wife.  It is described as being 86 cm (34”) in height, with late midseason flowering (Late October/early November).  The standards and style arms are deep purple and the falls deep violet-purple with white around the beard.  Beards are bronze tipped violet.

Finally, our fourth Dykes Medal was awarded just two years later in 2014.

Alison Nicoll holding a stem of Iris 'Atavus'

‘Atavus’ a Tall Bearded Iris bred by our very own President, Alison Nicoll, was awarded the Dykes Medal, at our Convention in Hamilton (2014).

Originally registered in 2006, ‘Atavus’ is 72 cm (28”) tall, a mid season flowering iris.  It is cream flushed lilac in the centre, style arms creams and lilac, the falls are strongly washed violet, has tan hafts and border; the beard is red.  This iris is flared with slight spicy fragrance.  Parentage is ‘Prince George’ X ‘Outrageous Fortune’.

How does our Dykes Medal System work in New Zealand?

Eligibility - Any New Zealand bred iris is to be eligible for testing.  Each enter is allocated a number, which is it knows as for the duration of the trial period.

Iris which have won the Begg Shield, McLachlan Trophy or the Lucy Delany Memorial Award should be sent to the Sykes Test Garden.

Entry – To enter plants for assessment send 1 preferably 2 rhizomes to each Dykes Test Garden.  No more than three different iris per breeder will be permitted in one cycle.

Judging – In the first year the iris will be allowed to settle and will not be judged.  In the following two seasons they will be judged by a panel of three judges which must include a senior judge, co-opted by the Director of each garden.  This may require several visits over the bloom season.

A copy of the judging papers is sent by each Test Garden Director at the end of each season’s judging to the Test Garden Co-ordinator for collating.  The average of the two seasons judging of each trail plant will be used to determine its performance in each of the Test Gardens.  The co-ordinator will then average the best two results from the three test gardens to determine the final number of points of each plant.

Growers will be given the results of their iris from the first year of judging on application to the co-ordinator.  Points are not published.

An iris which receives 70 points is eligible for an Honourable Mention; 75 points for an Award of Merit.

A Dykes Medal winner should receive 80 points or more.

2019 AIS National Convention

By Bryce Williamson

On April 23-27, 2019, in the 99^th year of The American Iris Society, Region 14, Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii, hosted the National Convention at San Ramon, California. In addition to meetings and trainings, the event featured three days of garden tours. This post is a sample what we saw in the gardens.

The four tour buses were split two and two and I ended up at the Horton Iris Garden Thursday morning. The weather had not cooperated with plans since it had been in the 90s, but there was still much to see. I really tried to find a weed in Mary Ann’s garden, but I did not succeed and that is no small accomplishment in a garden spread over acres of rolling landscape. It was here also that we had an early lunch after the bus start time of 7 AM. Special praise is need for the Sierra Foothills Iris Society who had provided a lavish spread of snacks for the attendees, many of us pretending to be dying of thirst and starving after the two-hour trip to the garden.

'Sweet Child of Mine'--Larry Lauer

'Dressed in Black'--Leslie Painter

'Luminager'--Stout 2016

After lunch, we drove through the state capital, Sacramento, to Elk Grove and Fran and Russ Shields’s Frannie’s Iris Garden. There seemed to have been a spirited competition between local iris societies because the Sacramento Iris Society had matched the lavish spread of snacks and cold drinks were especially welcome in the 90-degree heat. Of special interest was the Dykes Medal winner bed, gaving me the chance to renew acquaintance with famous irises some that I had not seen in 50 years.

Black Cherry Sorbet' (MTB)--Harris

'Queen's Circle'--Fred Kerr

'Blue Rhythm'--Whiting, Dykes Medal 1950

Friday attendees experienced the capricious, mercurial nature of Northern California weather when we drove to Sonoma to Rudy Ciuca and Joe Lawrence’s C&L Vineyard and arrived on a cold, foggy morning. With only 22 acres of farmland, Joe and Rudy have lots of irises and lots of grapevines. That morning several us, including yours truly, provided an hour of judges’ training in the guest iris beds. Here we also had lunch and we able to enjoy the quiet of the countryside as the fog burned off and the day warmed.

'Better Than Butter'--Black

'Wingman'--Schreiners

Meininger 1-F (easy to miss the flounces)

In the afternoon, we had free time in the historic town of Sonoma. Famous as the last California Missions, Sonoma was also the site of the declaration of the short-lived California Republic. A small town, Sonoma is famed for its fine wineries, boutique shops, and excellent restaurants.

On the final day of tours, we had yet another 7 AM start, this time to Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park, Union City. This is part of East Bay Regional Park system and they gave the gardener and park ranger Jeff Bennett permission plant a few irises on a ridge. I am not certain that they understood what they were getting; however, the park district has been amazingly supportive, providing the deer proof fencing for the plot, running a water line to the location, picking up the cost of materials, and, even, providing great signage for the convention. This planting of 800 guest irises and another 1000 named varieties is clearly a labor of love for Jeff Bennett. Local societies Clara B. Rees of San Jose, Sydney B. Mitchell of Oakland, and Mt. Diablo Iris Society all have pitched in to help. As one might expect, growing irises in virgin soil has wonderful results for the plants, though there was a little matter of an accumulation of years of weed seeds.

'Black Lipstick'--Keppel 2016

'What A Beauty' --Joe Ghio

Kelly TAFCS 12-13

The day after the tour by the iris society, the planting was opened to the public and the plan is to continue to add and improve this garden in the next years.

By lunch time, the famed fog had burnt off leaving us with a good view of San Francisco Bay to the west and we were told the famous Hayward earthquake fault was just a couple of hundred feet to the east.

After lunch we braved the weekend traffic and went over the Santa Cruz Mountains to Irene and Jim Cummins’s garden in Scotts Valley. Joe Ghio of Santa Cruz got them interested in irises and their garden is noteworthy for the integration of irises with other plant materials.

'Heat Is On'--Thomas Johnson

'Joy Returns'--Shadlow (rebloomer)

'Graffiti Art'--J. Painter 2016

Arriving back at the hotel, we had time to stop and rest before the evening awards banquet. The American honorary awards and garden awards voted by the judges were already known, so the highlight on the evening was the naming of the winners of the 5 cups from the garden visits.

The President’s Cup for best named variety from a Region 14 hybridizer was won by Rick Tasco of Superstition Iris Garden in Catheys Valley for his iris ‘Autumn Explosion’:

Image by Rick Tasco

The Franklin Cook Cup for best named variety from outside of Region 14 was won by Paul Black’s ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’:

The Ben R.  Hager Cup for best median was also won by Paul Black for IB ‘Black Comedy’. Paul Black’s irises are introduced by MidAmerica Iris Garden, Salem, Oregon:

The Lloyd Zurbrigg-Clarence Maham Seedling Cup went to Hooker Nichols’ 1978; Hooker Nichols' irises can be found at their garden website:

Image by Mikey Lango

Awarded for the first time in honor of Gerald Richardson, that award went to Irene and Jim Cummins for their use of irises in the whole garden:

Image by Mikey Lango

Larry Gaulter's Small Iris Garden

By Bryce Williamson

For the newcomer who might want to hybridize iris, you might be a bit put off when you hear that Schreiner's plants 50,000 seedlings, or that Keith Keppel raises 10,000 each year.  Rest easy, potential hybridizer!  Even a gardener  with limited space can successfully hybridize new and beautiful plants.  This post and the next will tell the story of two Region 14 hybridizers who were, and are, successful regardless of space limitations.

 'Drury Lane'   Photo by Alain Chapelle

When I joined the American Iris Society as a teenager, Larry Gaulter was a fixture of the region. He had been Regional Vice-President for a year and was serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Iris Society. At meetings of the Clara B. Rees Iris Society, Larry and his wife Frances would drive down from Hayward in the company of Walt and Vi Luihn.

 Larry with Melba Hamblen   Photo by Glenn Corlew

Larry lived in a tract home with a small back yard. Over time, he took over part of the back yards of the homes to either side of him.  From that limited space, a series of fine irises emerged, irises that I am convinced that did not receive enough praise while he was still alive.

Here are some wonderful Gaulter irises for you to judge for yourself.

 'Mademoiselle'   HIPS Archive

'Mademoiselle' was Larry’s first Award of Merit winner. From Schreiner and Whiting breeding stock, it would be a foundation of his lavender/orchid/blends.

'Claudia Rene'  Photo by Robert Schreiner

'Claudia Rene', named for one of his daughters, was in bloom at the first Region 14 Spring Meeting I attended.  The first day of the meet, the flowers were faded, but the next day fresh flowers opened, and as a new introduction it was bargain-priced at only 20.00.  I had to have it, and its seedlings were a mixed bag: many were rough, but quality also emerged.  My first introduction, 'Baroque', was a 'Claudia Rene' child.  Other hybridizers like Joe Ghio also used 'Claudia Rene' to great success.

'Laurie'    Photo by Wisconsin Iris Society

From 'Claudia Rene', Larry introduced 'Laurie',  and for years 'Laurie' and 'Babbling Brook' vied for the Dykes.   Sadly, 'Laurie' did not win. Twenty years after introduction, a well grown stalk of  'Laurie' still looked modern and fresh.

'Mary Frances'   Photo by Susanne Holland Spicker

Larry would finally win the Dykes Medal for 'Mary Francis', one of those irises that grows and blooms everywhere.  Still popular today, it has become an enduring classic.

Two other Gaulter irises have also become classics.  'Skating Party' won an Award of Merit and it has endure as a great white iris.

'Skating Party'   Photo by Susanne Holland-Spicker

For color and pattern, though, Larry's 'Persian Berry' is still unmatched.  It won an Award of Merit and is still widely grown and appreciated.

 'Persian Berry'  Photo by by Marilyn Campbell

I always enjoyed 'Drury Lane' for its bright color combination, but it never caught on with the public like some of Larry's other creations.

Larry was a positive role model for others—he became an early supporter of Don Denney and Jim McWhirter. That duo revived Cottage Gardens and many of their early introductions contain Gaulter irises as parents.

For Larry’s support of others within Region 14, the Region 14 Lifetime Achievement award bears his name. When looking at photos from the 1950’s onward, Larry and Frances can be seen in gardens throughout the West Coast.

It was somewhat fitting that Jim McWhirter would introduce Larry’s last introduction, the Award of Merit winning 'Alexander’s Ragtime Band'.

'Alexander's Ragtime Band'   Photo by Country Delight

It should be no surprise that both  'Mary Frances' and 'Skating Party' have been voted onto the Tall Bearded Iris Society’s Hall of Fame.

During his lifetime Larry  won a Dykes Medal, the Hybridizers Medal, and the AIS Distinguished Service Medal.  Not bad for someone working in a limited space in a backyard garden!